Efficiency, effectiveness, value for money, importance - these seem to be the mantras of the present age. They are applied to all areas of human activity, including science, yet finding scientifically robust and independent methods of assessing them is difficult. In science how can we show that one group is more effective than another, that the ideas of one individual are more important than those of others, that money invested in one type of research provides better value than in another? In industry the success of most research is measured in new products and profits. But for blue-skies research whose outputs are papers in the scientific literature, the IS1 Citation Index and its various derivatives is still the principal quantitative method used. Its inadequacies for assessments have been detailed - wrong names, linked groups, variable half lives for different subjects, over citation of review and method papers etc. Yet, such is the simplicity ofthe system, many still use the citation value to decide on the destination of their next submission or the value of previously published material.

According to the newest version of the US Soil Taxonomy permafrost-affected soils are Gelisols. Antarctic Gelisols in the cold deserts of the Ross Sea sector are formed under extreme conditions of low temperature and aridity. The main soil forming processes are oxidation and salinization, with almost complete absence of organic matter. The oldest soils date from around 13 Ma. The origin of most soil salts is atmospheric, linking these soils to those in other parts of the world through atmospheric processes. The soils have water contents in the active layer of the most arid areas <1%. With decreasing latitude or proximity to the coast in East Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula, soil water contents increase and the soils support a range of soil organisms and plant species. At latitudes ≤66°S organic matter accumulation and several other pedogenic processes such as cryoturbation, mineral weathering, brunification, acidification, podzolization and redoximorphism occur. In addition, these soils receive nitrogen and phosphorus from seabirds. In most places summer thaw lasts little more than six weeks; thaw depths range from around 10–100 cm. A critical factor in the soil development is the albedo of the soil surface, since the absorbed energy controls weathering processes. The extreme fragility of the soils in the arid Ross Sea sector is largely due to the absence of structure, cohesion, moisture and organic materials. Recovery from physical human disturbances is in the order of hundreds to thousands of years. In East Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula plant and organisms growth is similarly slow and ecosystems are susceptible to human impact. The occurrence of many old soils at high inland elevation indicates that little response to global climatic change would be expected there. For the much younger soils in East Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula, when mean annual summer temperatures are higher, responses to global change and change in sea level may be significant.

Two specimens of Dolichiscus spinosetosus were collected by means of an Agassiz trawl and a small dredge in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica. This species is characterized by a large number of strong spines on the dorsal side, some of these possessing tubercular tips. The dorsum is characterized by many smaller and shorter blunt spines and numerous long simple setae all over the body (on spines, pereonites and pleotelson). Dolichiscus acanthaspidus Schultz, 1981 is the taxon most closely related to this new species, but the new species has more setae and tubercular spines on all parts of the body and two caudolateral spines instead of one behind the supraocular ones.

We analysed growth of the arborescent Antarctic cheilostome bryozoan Cellaria incula by stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis. The growth of one complete branch of C. incula takes one year, i.e. owing to the bifurcate colony structure two new branches grow from each branch of the previous generation. The maximum age of a C. incula colony is likely to be more than 14 years. Annual production-to-biomass ratio is 0.67, the highest value hitherto measured for any benthic invertebrate south of 62°S. Comparatively fast growth and high productivity identify C. incula as a pioneer species which is able to quickly occupy spatial niches produced by iceberg scouring on the Antarctic shelf.

Meiofaunal community structure in coastal sediments of Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea) was related to quantity and biochemical composition of sedimentary organic matter. The sediments were generally characterized by large amounts of chloropigments and labile compounds (dominated by proteins), indicating high inputs of primary organic matter. Meiofaunal densities were very high and comparable to those from the most productive areas worldwide. Sediments with high densities of the scallop had low meiofaunal densities especially in the top 2 cm, suggesting that scallop clapping contributed to meiofauna resuspension. However, it is not possible to exclude the probability that meiofauna are part of the scallop beds apparently have an important role in structuring meiofaunal communities with nematodes dominant where Adamussium colbecki is absent, and gastrotrichs dominant (44–51%) in A. colbecki beds, reaching the highest density reported so far.

Mixing in Ellis Fjord, Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica, is controlled by processes which are influenced by the extent of ice formation. A study of water temperature and salinity at a site near the middle of the fjord was undertaken from May 1994 to February 1995 after a summer (1993–94) in which the ice cover of the fjord was largely retained. Vertical mixing resulting from the exclusion of salt during the limited winter formation of ice was insufficient to mix completely the non-meromictic basins of the fjord. In contrast, a previous study during a winter with far more ice production recorded much stronger vertical mixing throughout the fjord. Warming and freshening of the fjord during the 1994–95 summer, when the ice again did not melt significantly, was attributable to the flow of warmer, less saline water along the fjord. This process was probably related to the formation of tidal jets at the narrow and shallow entrance to the fjord, and was thus influenced by the ice conditions around the entrance. These jets would also have introduced significant amounts of extra-fjord water (along with any resident biota) into the fjord.

Surface and subsurface sediments from a helipad in Bunger Hills were collected ten years after accidental contamination with a small quantity (probably < 10 litres) of petroleum products. The contaminants are dominated by Jet A2 synthetic lubricating oil which exhibits no evidence of degradation or environmental mobility. In contrast, Jet A1 turbine kerosene is less abundant at the surface than at 20 cm depth. There is no evidence for biodegradation of the Jet A1 in the subsurface sample, suggesting that kerosene is environmentally mobile in the surface sediments.

Examination of the holotype of Sipho gaini Lamy, 1910, attributed by recent authors to the genus Chlanidota (Buccinulidae), revealed that this species belongs to the genus Belaturricula and is a senior synonym of Belaturricula antarctica Dell, 1990. A redescription of the shell, anterior alimentary system, and radular morphology of Belaturricula gaini is provided. The genus Belaturricula is transferred to the family Conidae (sensu Taylor et al. 1993) on the basis of its radula, which is composed of hollow marginal teeth. The presence of a large shell, prominent operculum, acinous salivary glands, radular teeth with narrow bases in B. gaini, as well as the absence of buccal lips and rhyncodeal introvert, all indicate affinities with the conid subfamily Clathurellinae. Because the radula of Pontiothauma ergata Hedley (1916) is nearly indistinguishable from that of Belaturricula gaini, we reassign Hedley's species to the genus Belaturricula as Belaturricula ergata (Hedley, 1916).

Five species of myctophid fishes were collected by trawl from the Elephant Island region of the Antarctic Peninsula between 60°30′–62°S and 55°–61°30′W. Two species, Gymnoscopelus braueri and Krefftichthyes anderssoni were lipid-rich (406–456 mg g−1 dry weight whole fish) with wax esters (WE) the major lipid class. In three species, G. opisthopterus, G. nicholsi, and Electrona carlsbergii, triacylglycerols (TAG) were the major lipid. All fish had oily bones, with values up to 471 mg g−1 dry weight in the vertebral centra of K. anderssoni. The principal fatty acids of the TAG-rich myctophids included the monoenes 18:1(n-9) and 20:1. There were lower levels of 16:0 and 18:0 saturated fatty acids. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were present at higher abundance in the TAG-rich E. carlsbergii and G. opisthopterus, with lower levels in G. nicholsi. In comparison, the WE-dominated species contained lower levels of PUFA than in the TAG-rich species. The principal fatty acids of the WE-rich myctophids included the monoenes 18:1(n-9), 16:1(n-7), and 18:1(n-7), with lower levels of the saturated acids 16:0 and 18:0. Fatty alcohols were dominated by 16:0 and 14:0 and the monounsaturated 18:1(n-9) with 16:1(n-7), 18:1(n-7), and 20:1(n-9). Based on the fatty acid profiles, the diet of G. opishtopterus and G. nicholsi, previously thought to be mainly Euphausia superba, is suggested to include copepods and other zooplankton with only a minor krill component, possibly consisting of other species than E. superba.

Estimates of births and standing age-distributions were combined to estimate the size of the southern elephant seal population at Marion Island at various times during its decline. To estimate births each year from 1986 through 1997 we used the number of adult females hauled out on 15 October, which is the peak haulout date for breeding elephant seal females at all breeding sites in the Indian Ocean. A conversion factor (3.15) was derived from the standing age-distributions, and applied to estimates of annual births to yield total population size. The population at Marion Island declined 37.5% overall from 1986–97 at an annual rate of 4.3% from 1986–91 and c. 2.5% yr−1 afterwards.

New apatite fission-track (AFT) ages from Heimefrontfjella and Mannefallknausane indicate that the Mesoproterozoic basement and Permian sedimentary cover rocks were heated to c. 100°C during the Mesozoic. Heating was due to the burial by up to 2000 m of Jurassic lavas at c. 180 Ma, when the area was affected by the Bouvet/Karoo hot spot. Near the developing coastline, the lava pile was quickly eroded and in part deposited on the continental shelf as pebbly and coarse-grained volcaniclastic sandstones. The AFT data indicate that farther inland the lava pile was not eroded until c. 100 Ma, and the Palaeozoic unconformity between the Mesoproterozoic basement and Permo–Carboniferous sedimentary rocks as a reference plane remained at temperatures of c. 80°C. Formation of an up to 800 m b.s.l. deep graben in from Heimefrontfjella as well as flexural uplift and rapid denudational cooling of the not extended crust from Heimefrontfjella southwards occurred at c. 100 Ma. It is speculated that a period of major plate reorganisation and new rifting at c. 100 Ma is responsible for affecting a much wider continental margin as far inland as Heimefrontfjella and producing a total relief in excess of 3500 m.

Because of the lack of a definitive air link to an international gravity base station, the Antarctic Peninsula gravity network was originally, and still is, tied to the Potsdam gravity system via long ship links to South America (Renner 1981, Kennett 1965). An indirect link from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientific station at Rothera to an International Gravity Standardisation Net 1971 (IGSN 71) base station in the UK had previously been made via a link to the BAS gravity station on the Falkland Islands in Port Stanley (McGibbon 1988). Whilst the apparent gravity difference between Port Stanley and the base station in the UK had been calculated via a two-way air tie using a LaCoste and Romberg meter (McGibbon 1988) and later strengthened with three two-way air ties using four LaCoste and Romberg meters (Bassett 1987), the link between Port Stanley and Rothera was based on a one-way tie that included a lengthy ship borne passage (McGibbon 1988). The weakness of this link insured that the adopted gravity value at Rothera continued to be based on the ship ties made by Griffiths et al. (1964) and Kennett (1965). This note describes the strengthening of the gravity link between Rothera and Port Stanley and the subsequent reassignment of the adopted gravity value at Rothera Station.

The circum-Antarctic clam Laternula elliptica (King & Broderip 1831) is the largest infaunal bivalve of the Southern Ocean. It mostly lives in water depths of less than 100 m (highest densities from 20–30 m; e.g. Ahn 1994), in soft or semi-consolidated substrates from sandy mud to gravelly sand (Soot-Ryen 1951, Nicol 1966). Animals are deep-burrowing (to >0.5 m; Zamorano et al. 1986) and consequently have large siphons. These are fused, highly muscular and covered by thick, rugose periostracum, and are capable of partial retraction only (Burne 1920). The ecology of L. elliptica was likened by Ralph & Maxwell (1977) to that of Mya arenaria L. in northern temperate and Arctic waters.