Opinions are divided as to whether the area of Vestfold Hills was formerly covered by the East Antarctic ice sheet or S0rsdal Glacier. Striae orientations have been used to erect the model of extension of the ice sheet followed by a minor lateral expansion of Sørsdal Glacier, while basal till fabrics; distribution of weathered rock; and the nature, orientation, and distribution of moraines have been used to conclude that lateral expansion of Sørsdal Glacier alone can explain the evidence of the last glaciation of Vestfold Hills. A review of all available data supports the model of regional glaciation by an extended East Antarctic ice sheet. Lateral expansion of Sørsdal Glacier has probably only played a minor role in the glaciation of Vestfold Hills since the regional glaciation.

Controlling visitor impacts in polar regions continues to be important in both the Antarctic and Arctic. Concerns relate to impacts on the physical environment, cultural heritage, and host communities or scientific bases, as well as a recognition that safety and liability are major issues for governments, commercial operators, and local populations. Strategies for controlling tourists include visitor and operator codes and formal legislation. This paper summarises several approaches to visitor regulation in polar regions in order to illustrate the ways in which concerns about tourist impacts are being addressed. Similar issues arise throughout the polar regions, although in some places a particular emphasis might indicate a specific area of concern for a community, region, nation, or segment of the tourism industry. While a comprehensive strategy might be appropriate in many respects in the Arctic, it is also important to acknowledge the significance of more specific concerns. This paper first describes regulation of tourist behaviour and considers general issues of strategy effectiveness. Then it examines the approaches to visitor regulation used in the Antarctic and on S valbard as examples that may be of use in the further development of strategies in the Arctic. The paper then discusses an evolving strategy for control in the Northwest Territories, Canada. This strategy differs from these other approaches in that it targets a specific segment of the visitor population: those undertaking adventure expeditions.

Concentrations of calcium and phosphorus were measured in the neonatal dentine of 11 crabeater and 11 Weddell seal postcanine teeth with an energy-dispersive x-ray analyser. The extent of variation in elemental concentrations in different parts of the tooth, differences between species and individuals, and whether variation in elemental concentrations can provide information about dentine deposition mechanisms were assessed. No consistent patterns in elemental deposition in different parts of the tooth were found, but there were differences in concentrations between and within species. Post-natal dentine is composed of layers that appear alternately bright and dark in backscattered electron images. The elemental composition of neonatal dentine was closer to the dark bands than to those that appeared bright. It is suggested that the composition of neonatal dentine is more similar to the dark than the bright layers of dentine because of nutritional stresses that were occurring during mineral deposition.

This paper presents the results of a radiocarbon dating study of snow petrel (Pagodroma nivea) nest sites in central Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Mumiyo (a sub-fossilized accumulation of regurgitated proventricular oil) samples were collected from 15 snow petrel nest sites at nunataks in the northern Ahlmannryggen, Gjelsvikfjella, and Mühlig-Hofmannfjella.

Radiocarbon dating revealed Holocene ages of ca 8500 years and less for all but one of these mumiyo samples. A sample collected at S varthamaren in the Muhlig-Hofmannfjella was dated as old as ca 34,000 a BP, indicating that at least some areas of that mountain escaped the scouring action of glaciers during the last glacial period. Similar pre-Holocene ages have been determined for a small number of mumiyo samples in previous studies. Mumiyo accumulations from some nests indicate periods of occupation as long as 6000 years, whereas the radiocarbon age and volume of other mumiyo samples suggest short periods of frequent nesting activity. As expected, sub-samples extracted from the lower layers of mumiyo pieces generally displayed greater ages than sub-samples from upper layers of the same piece. However, there was no clear-cut correlation between the age of a mumiyo sample and its height above the present ice level. It is suspected that this lack of correlation is due to some of the mumiyo samples being displaced previously through rockfalls.

John Biscoe's voyage of discovery in the ships Tula and Lively, undertaken at the directive of the owners of the firm Messrs Enderby between 1830 and 1833, was the third expedition to circumnavigate Antarctica at a high latitude. This paper presents a digest and assessment of meteorological and oceanographic data recorded by Biscoe on that voyage. These observations, which are not normally easily accessible, substantiate the reputation of Biscoe as an assiduous and careful observer, and, when compared, they expand on the observations made during earlier circumnavigations by James Cook (1772–1775) and Thaddeus Bellingshausen (1819–1821).

This paper examines how different technologies of exploration and mapping transformed human understanding of the Antarctic in the period 1918–1960. In the aftermath of the ‘heroic’ expeditions, European and American governments began to invest considerable monies in support of national expeditions for the purpose of claiming and mapping the polar continent. The collection of practical geographical information during the inter-war period was overtaken by the advent of polar aviation and aerial mapping in the 1930s. The aeroplane and the aerial camera played key parts in expanding stores of knowledge about the continent and altering perceptions of place. Finally, the paper considers the 1955–1958 Trans-Antarctic Expedition (TAE). This venture was significant because it was widely understood to be the final chapter in the geographical and scientific assualt on the Antarctic. The TAE was the high point of polar achievement, as a range of technologies were brought to bear on the surface of the Antarctic icesheet. Thereafter, the cultural and political significance of the polar continent changed in the face of new challenges for human exploration in the realms of outer space and the Moon.