By Article 2(e) of the 1951 Treaty of Peace, Japan renounced ‘all claim to any right or title to or interest in connection with any part of the Antarctic area.’ This paper traces the process by which Australian diplomacy ensured the inclusion of such a provision in the Treaty and assesses the contemporary significance of the article. While in the unlikely event of the breakdown of the Antarctic Treaty System, Japan would be legally entitled to make a territorial claim on the basis of activities undertaken between the conclusion of the Peace Treaty and the coming into force of the Antarctic Treaty, such a claim would likely be weak. It is more probable that the Japanese government would assert that, just as Japan had had no rights to renounce in Antarctica, neither had any of the Antarctic claimants complied adequately with the provisions in international law for territorial acquisition.

In 1875, members of the British Arctic Expedition under the command of George S. Nares discovered two ancient-looking stone cairns on Washington Irving Island at the entrance to Dobbin Bay, eastern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. At least one of these cairns was destroyed by the expedition members to construct their own cairn. The possibility that these cairns were built by Norse voyagers to Kane Basin is supported by the large number of Norse artifacts recovered from Thule culture Inuit sites in the Bache Peninsula region just south of Washington Irving Island. Surveys of the island have identified scattered boulders marking the location of the cairns, but the question of the builders' identity still remains a mystery.

In mid-nineteenth century America, the Arctic adventures of Elisha Kent Kane were a common and central subject for the emerging mass media. Kane's exploits were retold through illustrated newspapers, magazines, and books, but his narratives found one of their widest audiences through the medium of the ‘panorama.’ Initially presented in fixed locations, these panoramas later traveled across the country, combining large moving canvasses with a variety of visual and theatrical effects. Kane's two Arctic expeditions were among the most popular subjects represented by panoramas in the period before the American Civil War. This article examines the history of the panorama as it reflected and shaped public interest in the Arctic regions, including earlier polar expeditions, and gives a detailed account of the Kane panoramas. Other optical media that represented Kane's exploits are also considered. Because of its broad audience and widespread appeal, the panorama, along with other emergent visual technologies, played a vital yet overlooked part, both in disseminating Kane's accomplishments and in elevating Kane to prominence and fame in the mid-nineteenth century.

This paper presents a simple model of processes by which soils develop in polar and high-altitude regions. It reviews influences of seasonal freezing, permafrost, and vegetation on soil formation; discusses recently formulated concepts of disturbance and damage; and draws attention to developments in remediation, especially possibilities for encouraging natural soil regeneration and rehabilitation processes.

This article demonstrates that, similar to the many cases of self-regulation of local commons, it is in certain conditions also possible to manage an international ocean-fishery without the use of direct coercion. The case study from the Svalbard Zone supports the argument of cooperative action theory: that a limited number of participants, rules at least partly designed by the users themselves, and a system of graduated punishment contribute to compliance with established rules. Based on observational data as well as in-depth interviews with Norwegian and Russian fishermen in the area, it seems particularly fruitful to conceive of the Norwegian Coast Guard not only as a state enforcement body in the Svalbard Zone, but its representatives also as constituent parts of a social system, a ‘seafaring community,’ in the area. When, due to jurisdictional dispute, it has been impossible to rely fully on external regulation in the area, the Coast Guard has taken upon itself the role of the mediator, admittedly representing state interests, but nevertheless aimed at achieving consensus with the fishing fleet on important regulation issues. Hence, the internal authority of this Arctic Ocean fisheries lies above all in the interface between fishermen's and inspector's arguments, and in the social relations accompanying the exchange of professional opinions.

During January and February 1997, two separate surveys of the birds and seals of the South Sandwich Islands archipelago were made, with further data obtained from the northern islands during February 1998. Together, these surveys provide the most recent and accurate estimates of breeding populations of most species, their distributions, and their habitat. Observations were made (1) from a small vessel operating close inshore, which surveyed approximately 92% of the archipelago's coastline, in addition to making shore counts at selected locations; (2) during a six-week shorebased field camp on Candlemas Island; and (3) opportunistically during helicopter-supported landings and airborne operations over all islands in the archipelago. The surveys recorded 16 species of breeding birds, including the first confirmation of breeding by black-bellied storm petrels (Fregetta tropica) and Antarctic terns (Sterna vittata), the second record of incubating king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus), and the location of many previously unrecorded seabird breeding sites. The population of chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica), at approximately 1.5 x 10 pairs is considerably less than the estimate of 5 x 10 pairs currently in use, and represents about 30% of the world population. Populations of chinstrap penguins, Antarctic fulmars (Fulmarus glacialoides), cape petrels (Daption capense), and snow petrels (Pagodroma nivea) in the South Sandwich Islands are of global significance. Five species of seals were recorded. At the time of the surveys, only Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) were confirmed to be breeding, and several new breeding sites were located. Pup numbers showed a small increase compared with the few earlier records, but the population has not undergone the large increases seen on South Georgia and at sites in the maritime Antarctic. The other four species recorded are considered highly likely to breed either within the archipelago or amongst pack ice that seasonally surrounds the islands.

In December 1993 a study of contaminated sites at Casey Station, Wilkes Land, Antarctica, was undertaken. The preliminary assessment of these contaminated sites is presented here. A register of contaminated sites for Casey Station was developed, based on a survey of past Antarctic expeditioners, relevant literature, and in-house reports relating to site usage and history. On this basis a sampling strategy was devised for the highest priority, potentially contaminated sites at Casey Station. Samples were collected from the refuse disposal site (tip site) at Thala Valley and the mechanical workshop/powerhouse areas of ‘Old’ Casey. The results indicated that copper, lead, and zinc were leaching from the tip site into adjacent Brown Bay, with ‘hot spots’ of high petroleum hydrocarbon levels. The mechanical workshop/powerhouse area was also shown to be contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and metals such as copper, lead, and zinc. Several recommendations were made, including the removal of rubbish mixed with soil at the bottom end of Thala Valley in such a manner as to prevent any further release of contaminants, with subsequent site monitoring to verify effective removal of contaminants to acceptable environmental levels. It was also recommended that further investigations be carried out on the ecosystem of Brown Bay, the large fuel spill site, the upper and lower fuel-storage areas, and the area around the incinerator. There is scope for monitoring the natural breakdown and migration of contaminants at the mechanical workshop/powerhouse site. This should include studies on bioremediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils. Mechanisms for arresting surface migration should be investigated in those sites identified. In addition to meeting some of the international obligations of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, this work also contributes towards the development of an approach to assessment and management of contaminated sites that is uniquely adapted to the Antarctic environment and could be applied at other Antarctic stations. to the assessment and management of contaminated sites that is uniquely adapted to the Antarctic environment. This approach could be utilised for site assessments at other Antarctic stations.

The Yamal Nenets have exploited reindeer via hunting and/or husbandry in northwest Siberia for several hundred years, although wild reindeer have been virtually absent on Poluostrov Yamal since the early 1900s. Nonetheless, the region retains large populations of wild animals, indicating that nomadic pastoralists, semi-domestic animals, and wildlife were not competing vigorously for resources or space prior to industrialization. Natural-gas development is a relative newcomer to the region, but has already had a significant impact on the bio-physical and socioeconomic environments. The withdrawal of lands for industrial infrastructure, in addition to direct and cumulative impacts from three decades of exploration, has led to a serious decline in the quantity and quality of the remaining tundrasuitable for reindeer pasture.

Available records indicate that some preferred fur-bearing game species have been significantly reduced in recent years, primarily by non-natives. At the same time, it appears that extensive grazing by the reindeer themselves is having an overall negative effect on the area's pastures. Specifically, reindeer grazing is resulting in the thinning of the organic layer on well-drained ground and the exposure of fine-grained sands. The surfaces of these patches are highly erodable and unstable, therefore spreading easily as long as they remain unvegetated. The significant expansion of such areas is a genuine threat as long as, first, industrial development continues to degrade the land, and, second, the numbers of reindeer remain at current levels or increase.

Oriented assemblages of parallel ridges and elongated lakes are widespread on the coastal lowlands of northeast Eurasia and Arctic North America, in particular, in Alaska, Arctic Canada, and northeast Siberia. So far, only the oriented lakes have been of much scientific interest. They are believed to be formed by thermokarst in perennially frozen ice-rich sediments, while their orientation is accounted for either by impact of modern winds blowing at right angles to long axes of the lakes (when it concerns individual lakes), or by the influence of underlying bedrock structures (in the case of longitudinal and transverse alignment of lake clusters).

En masse examination of space images suggests that oriented lake-and-ridge assemblages, not the oriented lakes alone, occur in the Arctic. Hence any theory about their formation should account for the origin and orientation of the assemblages as a whole. The existing hypotheses appear inadequate for this end, so this paper proposes that the assemblages were initially created by glacial activity, that is, by ice sheets that drumlinized and tectonized their beds, as well as by sub- and proglacial meltwater, and then they were modified by thermokarst, solifluction, and aeolian processes. This assumption opens up an avenue by which all known features of oriented landforms in the Arctic can be explained. The paper suggests that the oriented landforms in Siberia and Alaska are largely signatures of a marine Arctic ice sheet that transgressed from the north, while the Baffin Island and Mackenzie Delta forms were created by the respective sectors of the Laurentide ice sheet. The oriented features discussed belong to the last Late Glacial through the Early Holocene.

US policy toward the Antarctic between 1939 and 1949 reflected the inability of the Department of State and other government personnel to agree on the region's relevance to national security. Washington's intent to gain worldwide prestige by promoting a harmonious settlement of the dispute over sovereignty claims complicated the international situation to an extent that necessitated a shift to the status quo moratorium proposed by Chile. The United States finally attempted to rally support for this alternative that, in turn, complicated how to exclude the USSR. Although the risk of Soviet encroachment seriously concerned US officials, it posed less immediate dangers than letting conflict escalate between Britain, Chile, and Argentina.

This paper reviews the complex factors interacting in the movement of contaminants in soil subject to seasonal freezing. This includes those relevant to the soil itself, the contaminant itself, and environmental factors, all of which must be understood for prediction and effective design of remediation. Numerical modelers, as well as laboratory researchers examining behavior of small elements of the soil system, require reliable information on the range of full-scale system responses, but it is not feasible to acquire this by full-scale tests. Even field workers benefit from this information in planning data collection. Small physical models of contaminants moving through soil have routinely been limited in their usefulness because of differences in model fluid pressures and soil stresses, compared to full-scale conditions. However, small-scale centrifuge modeling presents the opportunity to produce correct and rapid physical simulation of full-scale system response using field soil and real contaminants, under the range of different boundary conditions. This paper discusses the existing recent centrifuge modeling work that supports the thesis that the technique can be applied to understanding and analyzing this complex problem. Five studies are reviewed: one on simulation of soil freezing effects in the absence of contaminants; three on the simulation of contaminant movement through saturated and unsaturated unfrozen soil, and heat transport effects through the fluid phase of unfrozen soils; and one that simulates the combination of contaminant movement in freezing soil.

Survey work by the British North East Greenland Project in the Scoresby Sund fjord complex between 70 and 72°N is documented. A number of sites are identified and described, as are two contemporary Inuit playhouses at a current fishing camp. It is indicated that there are opportunities for further archaeological recording within the Scoresby Sund fjord system, although sites within the inner fjord system do not appear to be numerous. Locating them will require determined fieldwork.

In the light of data from the Greenland ice sheet concerning the ice-age climate, and palaeoecological studies of interglacial and Early Holocene deposits, the concept that a large proportion of Greenland's plants and animals may have survived during the ice ages is evaluated. While ice-free areas (refugias) were present, it is concluded that only hardy, cold-adapted species could have survived, which also explains why so few clearly endemic species are present in Greenland. Most members of the present biota are considered to be postglacial immigrants. Some species came to Greenland by walking or flying, but most arrived by passive, long-distance, chance dispersal, carried by wind, sea currents, and, in particular, birds. Transport by birds may explain why so many species arrived from Europe, because vast numbers of geese in particular migrate from northwest Europe to Greenland.

Remote-sensing methods, using electromagnetic radiation detected by airborne and spaceborne instruments, have the potential to revolutionise the investigation of oil contamination in high latitudes. Spaceborne monitoring, in particular, offers many advantages, including: obtaining data from relatively inaccessible areas; day and night, all-weather observations; regular monitoring opportunities; spatial resolution of 20 m or better; and areal coverage of 30,000 square kilometres or more. Calibrated, spatially registered data can be readily integrated into geographic information systems for evaluation and prediction of spill behaviour. However, very little investigation of this potential has yet been undertaken. This paper reviews the possibilities for monitoring soil characteristics, including thermal regime, the presence of contamination, and long-term consequences of spills, for topography, hydrology, and vegetation cover.

Cyanobacteria and eukaryotic algae were investigated during three seasons in 18 plots established across Sverdrup Pass valley of central Ellesmere Island, 79°N, Canada. The sites differed in altitude, substratum, and other characteristics. A high species diversity totalled 136 taxa. Cyanobacteria accounted for 52 and eukaryotic algae 84 species. In both groups, numerous species did not correspond to any taxa described. However, high diversity did not always coincide with high algal abundance or biomass. On older and stable landscapes, visible crusts developed, containing mostly cyanobacteria, fungi, and other microbial components. Considerable variation in algal diversity and abundance was found among the sites. Also the southern, granitic portion of the pass was richer in green algae compared to its northern, dolomitic portion where motile cyanobacteria were more prominent. These micro-autotrophs occupied the soil profile to a depth of 7 cm. Their highest density was not at the surface but at 3–4 cm depth. One plot was contaminated by windblown copper-rich dust from a nearby outcrop and soil here was poorest in content of photosynthetic pigments, suggesting a local heavy-metal toxicity.

The significance of the thermodynamic relations of ice and water within the paniculate and porous soil medium has been widely demonstrated in recent decades. The existence of unfrozen water along with ice at temperatures below 0°C, because of capillary and mineral surface forces, is responsible for the specific thermal, mechanical, and hydraulic properties of soils exposed to seasonal or perennial freezing. The introduction of a hydrocarbon contaminant into this dynamic porous medium has significant consequences for the thermodynamics of the unfrozen water–ice interactions. Techniques recently developed have allowed examination of microstructures of soils exposed to freezing. It has been shown that freeze–thaw cycles produce complex changes in particle aggregation and pore space distribution, which in turn affect soil water energy. An examination of the microstructure of a hydrocarbon-contaminated, frostaffected soil revealed differences in morphology from that of similar but uncontaminated samples. These differences are in turn responsible for differences in hydraulic conductivity between uncontaminated and contaminated freezing soils.

The discharge in Tierney Creek from proglacial Chelnok Lake was recorded during the summer of 1987–1988. In addition, air temperature, water temperature, and radiation were recorded. Multiple linear regressions revealed that discharge could be predicted from recorded radiation and air temperature in late summer. In early summer, other factors such as wind must also be taken into account. Long-term discharge fluctuations displayed response times that decreased during the runoff season due to the opening of the meltwater channels on the ice-margin. During parts of the runoff season, flow variations were modulated by nocturnal freezing in the creek, a phenomenon still more pronounced in Onyx River in the Dry Valleys of Victoria Land. Hydrologically, Tierney Creek resembled Onyx River, but, in the Onyx, the flow pattern was more exclusively determined by low air temperatures than it was in Tierney Creek. In the Dry Valleys, streams whose lengths, gradients, and discharges are of the same magnitude as those of Tierney Creek, also display similar recession coefficients and time lags between flow peak and insolation peak.

The slow-motion collapse of the claim of Robert E. Peary to have discovered the North Pole raises the question: if Peary was not the first man to stand at the North Pole, who was? The answer appears to be the 24 members of a then-secret Soviet expedition who landed three airplanes on the Earth's axis in April 1948. They were able to make scientific observations during their three-day stay while battling cracking ice. This paper includes interviews with Pavel Senko, who believes he may be the only surviving member of the expedition.