This article describes how Greenlandic municipalities operate. A summary of the evolution of municipal government in Greenland is followed by an overview of their demography, politics, and administration. A list of jurisdictions is provided through a study of municipal expenditures, with reference to the municipality of Narsaq (Narsap kommunia). The article concludes with an examination of the perspectives of municipal government in Greenland.

Landsat images of northern Axel Heiberg Island and northern Ellesmere Island, including part of the Ellesmere Island National Park Reserve in the Canadian high Arctic, are presented. These are believed to be the first Landsat images ever to be obtained of this region, which is north of latitude 80°N and once thought to be beyond the meaningful imaging range of Landsat. A general description of glaciological phenomena in the almost cloud-free images, and some of the attributes of the Ellesmere Island National Park Reserve, demonstrates some of the features and processes that can be imaged by Landsat in the region. New findings concerning the state and position of the front of the surge-type Otto Glacier, icebergs in Otto Fiord, and the extent and surface morphology of the Nansen Ice Plug indicate the capabilities of Landsat to contribute to original glaciological research in the region.

During the ‘Heroic Era’ of Antarctic exploration, which lasted from 1895 to 1917, nine huts were erected in Antarctica, three of Scandinavian design, three British, and three Australian. Although all of the huts were specially designed to house expedition personnel, each group drew on different precedents, regional architectural influences, and degrees of conscious innovation for polar conditions. Of particular note was the use of different insulation materials, some of which were traditional and some of which were new or experimental. The three groups of huts were very different in concept and construction, yet within each group there were successes and failures in terms of providing adequate comfort for their occupants. This paper looks at the details of design and construction of each hut, and at the factors that might have contributed to the success or failure of a particular hut. These factors included the theoretical thermal efficiency of the design and the construction materials, the effectiveness of the heating and ventilation systems installed, and the amount of floor space available to each man. It is concluded that efficiency depended on a combination of these factors rather than on any one, and that the ‘Heroic Era’ was probably too short a period of time for the best combination (if one existed) to be recognised and adopted to produce a consistently efficient Antarctic hut design.

During 664 round trips between London and Hudson Bay from 1670 to 1913,21 of the supply ships of the Hudson's Bay Company were wrecked, mainly in the Bay or in Hudson Strait; a further seven were severely damaged. The year 1864 was remarkable in that out of three ships making the outward voyage to the Bay, two ran aground on Mansel Island only one hour apart. One ship, Prince Arthur, was wrecked and abandoned. The other, Prince of Wales, was refloated and was able to reach York Factory with Prince Arthur's crew on board. There Prince of Wales was condemned; the crews of both ships returned to England on board Ocean Nymph. The events of the double shipwreck, the sojourn of the crew at York Factory, and the voyage home have been reconstructed, mainly on the basis of the journal of the medical officer of the Prince Arthur, the logs of both ships, and other documents in the Hudson's Bay Company Archives.

The Kola region of northwestern USSR is the most highly developed area of the circumpolar north. Development based on exploitation and industrial refinement of natural resources, especially minerals and fish, has produced severe environmental damage in Kola and in neighbouring Norway and Finland. This article reviews the region's resources, existing development strategy and damage, and propose an alternative strategy that is environmentally and socially more benign. Possibilities for reducing the region's ties to central planning authorities and integration of the economy with that of norther Europe are also considered.

Discrete auroral arcs frequently bridge the polar cap connecting the morning and evening sectors of the auroral oval along the line of the transpolar (electron) current. Very high-latitude stations that lie wholly within the oval during the earth's diurnal rotation pass under this bridge twice a day, giving morning and evening maxima. Stations at slightly lower latitudes on Spitsbergen lie within the oval in the evening but under, or even south of, the oval in the morning. From such stations the evening, but not the morning, maximum is readily observed. This study is primarily concerned with the orientation of discrete polar cap arcs in the evening skies over Spitsbergen. It shows that the geomagnetic alignment of these arcs is latitude-dependent between geomagnetic colatitudes 6 to 20°N. At the highest latitudes within this range, the arcs are in transpolar alignment, whereas at the lowest latitudes within the polar cap, they are oval-aligned. At intermediate latitudes, the arcs are observed in transitional phases between transpolar and ovalalignment. The solar alignment of discrete polar cap arcs is a function of corrected geomagnetic local time. In the early afternoon, solar alignment is poor but this gradually improves throughout the late afternoon until there is excellent alignment at the time of the evening maximum. Recent satellite studies of plasma convection in the polar ionosphere have helped to explain some of the visual characteristics of discrete polar cap aurora observed from Spitsbergen, particularly the irregular alignment of arcs in the region of the Harang discontinuity.

Differing conceptions of the relationship between humans and the environment shape policies regarding Arctic development and protection. From the fifteenth century to the early twentieth century, conquest and colonization perspectives prevailed. While vestiges of these views still color Arctic policy, the dominant approach of governments today is balanced development. On the horizon, alternative conceptions are gradually changing both policy decisions and decision-making processes in the Arctic. These include sustainable and regenerative development, rational ecology, ecofeminism, and indigenous perspectives.

An expedition of the Canada/China Dinosaur Project collected several large marine-reptile fossils on western Ellesmere Island in the summer of 1989. They were led to the area by a 1939 report that a large fossil skeleton had been seen north of Trold Fiord by a member of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police patrol in 1926. This paper examines the events of the original discovery and an unsuccessful attempt by David Haig-Thomas to locate the fossils in 1937–38. Haig-Thomas had visited the area in 1935 as a member of the Oxford University Ellesmere Land Expedition. His party had reached a fiord variously identified as Trold Fiord or Vendomc Fiord, but a study of his probable route suggests that it was neither. This inaccurate identification misled Haig-Thomas' later search. In 1989, pieces of fossil bone from a large marine reptile were collected at a site compatible with the 1939 description.

Approximately 39 000 tourists have visited Antarctica since 1957; numbers peryearare provided. Abrief history of sea and airborne tourism in Antarctica reveals past and current trends. The formation of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators and its role in the self-regulated tourism industry in Antarctica are considered, together with the implications of recently-promulgated Antarctic Treaty Recommendation XVI-13. The number of tourists visiting Antarctica is shown to exceed the combined number of scientists and support personnel from all National Antarctic Programs. It is concluded that the ATS provides a suitable framework within which to develop measures to protect Antarctica from tourist activity. However, regulations developed must be based on hard data on the size and impact of the industry to be effectively implemented.

William Speirs Bruce (1867–1921) had two consuming passions throughout almost the whole of his life: Scottish nationalism and polar science. His early life in London and Edinburgh is seen as a prelude to polar oceanographic exploration, culminating in the success of the Scotia Antarctic expedition, 1902–04. His later life was frustrated by the limited achievements of the Scottish Spitsbergen Syndicate (which was founded to exploit the mineral resources of Svalbard), by a perceived prejudice against him in government and professional societies in London, and by the lack of support for his Scottish Oceanographical Laboratory.

Seabirds were observed during the southward (December 1989) and homeward (March 1990) voyage of the Ninth Indian Expedition to Antarctica. Twenty-four species were observed, with high diversity between 40° and 60° S. A smaller variety of species, but greater numbers, were observed between latitudes 60° and 70° S. The number of species increased in the zone of high primary and secondary production. Many species showed seasonal shifts in distribution.

Edwin Jesse De Haven (1816–1865) led the first Grinnell expedition in search of the lost British explorer Sir John Franklin in 1850–1851. Since it was the ship's charismatic surgeon, Elisha Kent Kane, who wrote the popular account of the voyage, De Haven's achievements have generally been overlooked. De Haven joined the United States Navy when he was 13 and was master on the ill-fated Peacock during the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842) to the Antarctic under Charles Wilkes. He saw action in the Mexican War in 1848, and was serving under Matthew Fontaine Maury at the Naval Observatory when he was chosen to take command of the first United States Franklin search expedition. He retired from the navy at the age of 46 and died three years later.

Alaskans disagree sharply over the issue of a subsistence priority for hunting and fishing by rural residents, including most Alaskan Eskimos, Aleuts, and Indians. The issue highlights competing visions of Alaska's future; one based upon Euroamerican values and the other on indigenous rights and customary law. Recent political and legal developments, particularly the Alaska Supreme Court's 1989 McDowell decision invalidating the state of Alaska's rural priority, have undermined significantly subsistence protections. Failure of the state to restore this priority led the US federal government to take over subsistence management under provisions of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (PL 96–487). For Alaska's indigenous peoples, these events make clear the limitations of relying solely on state and federal governments for protecting subsistence. Efforts are underway to strengthen tribal governments and assert limited jurisdiction over hunting and fishing. A major goal is to achieve standing for negotiations with state and federal authorities over future co-management of subsistence resources.

During every austral summer since the International Geophysical Year 1957–58 several thousand scientists and support staff have worked in Antarctica. A more recent development is the annual advent of 4000–5000 tourists, who now probably outnumber expedition members in the area covered by the Antarctic Treaty System. Most tourists come by ship, visiting coastal areas of the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Orkney and South Shetland islands that arc readily accessible beween November and March: smaller numbers visit the Ross Dependency and Adelie Land sectors. This article reviews Antarctic Treaty and International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) attitudes to tourism, and outlines a preliminary study of shipborne tourism between late December 1991 and March 1992 on Half Moon Island, South Shetland Islands. Within one month (January) a survey team from the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, recorded 14 visits by six tour ships, bringing more than 2000 tourists. In addition, attitudes and expectations of visitors were studied on five ships. Arising from this study, a programme of visitor monitoring is planned as a joint project between British, Chilean, and Argentine scientific institutions during the next five years. Objectives are to find ways of minimizing both short-term and long-term impacts of tourists and other visitors on breeding birds and other ecological communities, and to provide a factual basis for regulation under the Antarctic Treaty System.

The formation of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission (AEWC) in 1977 was the first time that Native Alaskans had organized themselves to protect a specific hunting interest. The AEWC's success and prominence has led to the formation of other user-based management regimes for marine mammals in northern Alaska. This paper begins with a description of the creation and development of the AEWC as it fought the ban by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) on bowhead whaling and gained management authority for the Eskimo harvest. Then, three other regimes are examined, each of which focuses on a marine mammal species in northern Alaska. These are the Eskimo Walrus Commission, the Alaska and Inuvialuit Beluga Whale Committee, and the Agreement on Polar Bears in the Southern Beaufort Sea between the Inuvialuit Game Council and the North Slope Borough Fish and Game Management Committee. These regimes face the challenge of avoiding a management crisis rather than overcoming one. Without the incentive of a threat to end hunting, these regimes have not had the sense of direction that has enabled the AEWC to achieve its success. However, they have contributed to the management of certain species of wildlife, and are capable of contributing a great deal more.

During the last several years, the Antarctic Treaty System has confronted the world park versus mining issue, resulting in the signing on 4 October 1991, subject to ratification, of a protocol to the Antarctic Treaty, putting in place an environmental protection regime for Antarctica. This paper develops an economic case for the creation of a world park in Antarctica. The argument is based upon the international public good and common property resource characteristics of the seventh continent. The strength of the case is tested against the alternative economic uses of the Antarctic, especially mineral development. The possible creation of an Antarctic world park is evaluated in light of the recent policy events.

Achievement of provincial status has been the dream of many Yukoners since the early 1900s. This paper reviews the struggle for provincial status by Yukoners, and examines the hurdles that must be overcome to achieve provincehood, and the consequences of not being a province. It concludes with recommendations for building a strategy that could assist the Yukon Government in achieving the goal of provincehood.

By the early 1830s, American sealers expected free access to the waters and harbours of the Falkland Islands, an active rule over which had not been recognized by the United States. The US government, in the form of President Andrew Jackson and the State Department, adhered to a policy of freedom of the seas, and therefore backed the rights of American sealers to unrestricted access in the South Atlantic. After three sealing ships were impounded by the Argentinian authorities in the Falklands in 1831, the US Navy sloop Lexington, under the command of Captain Silas Duncan, destroyed the island group's capital at Puerto Soledad, and, with it, the Argentine military defences. The State Department informed the Argentine govermcnt that it had no claims, historic or actual, to the Falklands. The American policy of not recognizing the Argentine claims, which continued for half a century, did not interfere with British designs. In 1832–33 the British government issued orders for the Admiralty to send a warship to re-establish British control of the Falklands.

Data were obtained during an interdisciplinary project carried out on the Ostrova De-Longa (De Long Islands) in 1987–90. The archipelago—consisting ofthree islands discovered by an American expedition underGeorge Washington De Long in 1879—81 and two islands discovered by a Russian expedition led by Boris Vil'kitskiy in 1913— 14—have rarely been visited and even less investigated. Information relating to the glaciology, palaeogeography, flora, and palaeozoology from the end of the Pleistocene and the Early Holocene was studied. Traces of a Mesolithic culture from as far back as 8000 BP were discovered on Ostrov Zhokhova, and information about the adaptive capabilities and hunting practices of this aboriginal culture was obtained. Excavations indicate that the site explored on Ostrov Zhokhova is one of the oldest in the high Arctic.

Physico-chemical and biological studies during the austral summer of 1986–87 in the ice-edge and a region offshore of Antarctica indicated significant spatial differences in concentrations of nutrients, dissolved oxygen (DO), Ca, Mg, and chlorophyll a, and in the rates of primary production. The waters within the ice-edge region were richer in nutrients and DO and showed a four-fold increase in chlorophyll a(1.98 mg m-3) and a 10-fold increase in primary productivity (0.74 mg C m-3 h-1) as compared with offshore waters. In the ice-edge region, Mg was high (1319 mg kg-1), whereas values of Ca (421.7 mg kg-1) were within the normal range. Offshore Ca (423.8 mg kg-1) and Mg (1297 mg kg-1) were within the expected limits. In the ice-edge region, Ca/Cl varied from 0.0202 to 0.0229, with a mean of 0.0220, and Mg/Cl varied from 0.0637 to 0.0737, with a mean of 0.0687. These figures were slightly higher than those offshore (Ca/Cl: 0.0205 to 0.0224, mean 0.0214; Mg/Cl: 0.0630 to 0.0693, mean 0.0657), indicating the addition of Mg to the waters in the ice-edge region. Nutrients in the ice-edge region showed increasing concentrations at deeper levels irrespective of their relationship with DO, indicating large amounts of preformed nutrients, a characteristic of Antarctic waters attributable to intense upwelling. Chlorophyll a showed a direct relation with primary productivity and an inverse relation with Mg, suggesting the release of Mg from biogenic matter. Offshore, phosphate-phosphorus (PO4-P) was significantly correlated with nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) and inversely correlated with primary productivity and chlorophyll a, indicating the utilization of PO4-P during high production. Significantly elevated concentrations of chlorophyll a, primary productivity and Mg, marked by a considerable decrease in nutrients, were observed at a frontal zone between 64° and 62°S.