Prince Gustav Ice Shelf, situated between James Ross Island and Trinity Peninsula at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, West Antarctica, has retreated rapidly between 1989 and 1995. This paper re-examines historical accounts of the area and plots the position of the ice shelf at various times, from 1843 onwards. These results show that an episode of rapid retreat between 1957 and 1959 preceded the recent rapid retreat, and that the ice shelf has been retreating for most of the period since 1843. The mechanisms underlying the two periods of rapid retreat are considered.

The first recorded wintering on Svalbard occurred in 1630–1631. Eight English whalemen were accidentally left behind for the winter. Having no equipment with which to survive the harsh climate, they sailed and rowed their shallop to Bell Sownd (Bellsund), a fjord south of where they were stranded, to an English whaling station where they found a house in which they survived. The location of this whaling station has never previously been established, but, based on archaeological surveys, test excavations, and the story published by one of the winterers, it has now been located at Laegerneset, on the eastern side of Recherchefjorden.

The eight men's most serious problem was obtaining sufficient food for the winter, and therefore food was rationed carefully. An analysis has been made based on the food stock they had when winter set in. Fresh supplies from hunting during late winter and spring were probably vital in keeping the men healthy. Although they undoubtedly would have been able to manage on the food they had collected during the autumn on a basis strictly of caloric intake, it is debatable whether they would have avoided scurvy without fresh meat during the long winter.

The morphology of seven soil ciliate species from continental Antarctica was investigated using live observation and protargol impregnation. Observations on two populations of Protospathidium serpens corroborate the view that this species usually has a single, more-or-less nodular, macronucleus distinguishing it from P. muscicola, which possesses 10–30 nodules. The Antarctic specimens of Protospathidium terricola differ inconspicuously from the type population in that they are slightly larger, have fewer ciliary rows (17 vs 21), and the fragments of the circumoral kinety are less distinctly separated from each other. Spathidium seppelti nov. spec, resembles 5. bavariense, but has 100–200 macronuclear nodules and a conical depression in the dorsal third of the oral bulge. Odontochlamys wisconsinensis nov. comb, (basionym: Chilodonella wisconsinensis Kahl, 1931) has four right field kineties and an oral basket consisting of 14 rods; the dorsal brush is near the anterior margin and usually consists of four cilia. The Antarctic population of Pseudochilodonopsis mutabilis possesses a regular dorsal hump and only 12–14 (about 15 in Austrian type population) phary ngeal rods. Oxytricha opisthomuscorum has six dorsal kineties with long cilia and a buccal cirrus near the anterior end of the paroral membrane. The Antarctic specimens of Sterkiella histriomuscorum have fïve transverse cirri. Their morphogenesis differs slightly from that of a population having four transverse cirri in that the daughter's anlagen are more distinctly separated and some temporal sequences are different.

This brief analysis of the life and personal outlook of one of the officers on Sir John Franklin's Northwest Passage expedition (1845–1848) begins a long-overdue process of reconstructing the background, attitudes, and motivation of those serving on Erebus and Terror. A great deal of recent research and speculation has considered the reasons behind the failures of Franklin's last expedition, but, although forensic science may prove useful in helping to discover what happened to Captain Crozier and his companions, it is equally important to understand those men's beliefs while they lived. This article looks at the career and religious background of John Irving, the Third Officer of HMS Terror.

During 1996, Russia's Northern Sea Route (NSR) continued to attract international attention. While overall tonnage carried along the NSR declined to approximately two million tonnes, more operations in the Russian maritime Arctic involved foreign flag ships. Ships of Arctic Shipping Services, a Russian-Finnish joint venture company, delivered fuel supplies to ports along the length of the Russian Arctic coast. Twenty-four polar and sub-Arctic icebreakers remained in the Russian fleet as of 1 January 1996. Notable research results of the International NSR Programme, published in 1996during year three of this international effort, provided additional insights into the potential commercial aspects of the NSR as an international waterway. Demonstration projects were also conducted in the Russian Arctic during winter 1996, using satellite radar technology for sea-ice monitoring.