In the summer of 1908 the Mission Océanographique Arctique Française sailed from Dunkirk aboard the ketch Jacques Cartier. Sponsored by the Société d'Océanographie du Golfe de Gascogne and led by Charles Bénard, its major aims were to study the fisheries potential of the Barents Sea, to explore Gusinaya Zemlya on the south island of Novaya Zemlya, to chart and sound the bays and straits of that area, to carry out geological investigations, and to make a traverse of Matochkin Shar, which bisects Novaya Zemlya. The expedition established itself at Belush'ya Guba, from where Bénard and his companions explored much of Gusinaya Zemlya and surveyed, sounded and charted the adjacent waters. An attempt at crossing the south island, made by the medical officer Candiotti, was unsuccessful. Later, accompanied by the Russian geologist Vladimir Aleksandrovich Rusanov, Candiotti sailed through Matochkin Shar and made the first crossing of the north island, from Neznayemyy Zaliv to Krestovaya Guba. The expedition ended on rather a sour note: Bénard abandoned his ship and crew at Arkhangel'sk, leaving the organizing committee with the problems of unravelling the mess and repatriating the crew.

Garrow Lake (area 418 ha, greatest depth 47 m), Little Cornwallis Island, NWT, Canada, is the northernmost recorded hypersaline meromictic lake, Covered 11 months annually with ice up to 2.4 m thick and internally stratified, its waters at 20 m reach temperatures of 9.1°C from solar heating throughout the year. Salinity varies from less than 0.01% at the surface to over 75% at the bottom. Isostatic uplift isolated the lake from the sea about 3000 BP. Isotope dating indicates that the bottom water has been unmixed for nearly 2500 years. An advancing permafrost wedge appears to have forced brine from pores in rock strata below the watershed into a talik (chimney) in the lake centre. From November 1981 the lake has received approximately 100 tonnes/hr of mine tailings rich in lead and zinc. Dissolved oxygen introduced along with the slurry may be important in reducing anaerobic photosynthetic bacteria. Biotic diversity is low. Only one vertebrate, Myoxocephalus quadricornis (four-horned sculpin), occurs in the lake. The zooplankton consists of only one species, Limnocalanus macruras; phytoplankton includes 51 taxa dominated by flagellates.

The constitutional development of the Yukon and the Northwest Territories has become a topic which is debated with increasing frequency and by an ever-widening group of participants. Provincial status is seen by many as the logical, ultimate goal. Admission of new provinces to the confederation, previously a rather straightforward process, depends on conditions which the Constitution Act of 1982 has altered. For the first time candidates are now required to be fiscally sound prior to admission. In this paper the circumstances in which Canada's northern territories might become fiscally viable are investigated, using simulation analysis. It is concluded that fiscal viability awaits the development of some of the frontier mega-projects proposed in recent years.

A load moving on sea ice, whether the weight of a vehicle or the pressure exerted by a low-flying aircraft, produces a deflection which can in extreme cases cause ice failure. The magnitude and shape of the deflection profile depends on the weight and speed of the vehicle) and also the the ice thickness and properties, with flexuralgraviry waves radiating from the source at speeds above a critical value. This wave pattern was studied in detail on flat, snow-free sea ice in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Surface strain was measured directly and microcracking activity monitored to correlate measured strain with possible generation of dangerous cracks. Speeds of up to 28 m sec-1 (60 mph) were achieved with a pickup truck, and up to 80 m sec-1 with a US Navy C131 aircraft. Initial comparison between theory and experimental results is very encouraging.

Noaa Avhrr and Landsat MSS imagery acquired between January and November 1986 has shown substantial changes in the Antarctic coastline near the Filchner Ice Shelf, Larsen Ice Shelf and Thwaites Glacier. In the Filchner Ice Shelf area some 11,500 km of ice calved from mid-April onward. In the Larsen Ice Shelf area two large bergs calved between February and August. The combined volume of ice from these two events equals approximately three years' normal calving from the entire Antarctic coastline. In the Thwaites Glacier area several changes appear to have occurred at the base of Thwaites Iceberg Tongue and Thwaites Glacier Tongue.