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Some aspects of Chinese-Australian cooperation in Antarctic Research over the past forty years
Get PDFChina and Australia have been collaborating in Antarctic activities since the early 1980s and that collaboration has grown and become more formalized as China’s Antarctic program has expanded. This collaboration has involved personnel exchange, logistic support, environmental protection and particularly scientific research. China and Australia have signed a series of memorandums and treaties of friendship and cooperation on Antarctic activities in the past few years. Relevant mechanisms of cooperation between expedition plans and programs have been established, and the exchange and cooperation in people, science and technology, services, and supplies are undertaken across a range of organizations. Here we overview the history of the bilateral collaboration and provide a few examples of the many areas of cooperation. These examples are focused on activities in Hobart, the key centre of the Australian Antarctic program
Self-organization: the governance of CAO fisheries from perspective of the global commons
Get PDFThe Central Arctic Ocean (CAO) is a global commons, and fishes in the CAO are common property resources. If humanity does not manage this region well, then this will lead to a “Tragedy of the Commons,” an old problem in human society. However, the two existing means of commons governance, privatization and government control, are not appropriate for the CAO. This study’s findings indicate that CAO fisheries management will most likely result from a process of self-organization. The openness of the CAO and the imbalance of powers, interests and responsibilities among the states that are involved will lead to a process of self-organized governance of CAO fisheries. There are four stages in this process: competition, synergy, establishment of governing principles and mechanisms, and expansion and evolution of influence. The outcome of CAO fisheries governance will be the result of compromise among the parties as no one actor is in a dominant position
A frozen collision belt beneath ice: an overview of seismic studies around the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains, East Antarctica
Get PDFThe Gamburtsev Antarctic Mountains Seismic Experiment (GAMSEIS, 2007–2010) was jointly conducted by the United States, China, and Japan during and after the International Polar Year 2007–2008. Broadband seismic stations were deployed across the ice-covered Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains (GSM) and other previously unexplored areas in the interior of East Antarctica. Using GAMSEIS data, published results not only have revealed the deep structure of Antarctica, but also improved our understanding of the tectonic evolution of Antarctica and the supercontinent Gondwana, and of the relationship between geothermal heat flux and glaciers. This contribution draws together the major findings from recent studies, and also offers further investigation into the relationship between tectonic history and the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The elevation of the GSM is largely supported by thickened crust, with Moho depths of ~60 km near the crest of the range. The GSM are underlain by thick (>200 km) and cold continental lithosphere that likely formed after collision of two ancient crustal blocks during the pan-African orogeny. Heat flux results obtained from seismic inversion support a model of ice sheet basal melting that depends more strongly on bedrock topography than on geothermal heat flux, while ice surface and ice thickness are inversely correlated with heat flux
Patterns of international governance in the Arctic and China’s approach
Get PDFThe process of rapid change in the Arctic is creating both opportunities and challenges. This paper highlights interactions between different actors in the Arctic in response to multidimensional environmental, political, commercial, and human challenges. It shows that international governance in the Arctic can be characterized by global, multilateral, and regional patterns derived from different mechanisms such as the Arctic Council or the Ilulissat declaration platform, and these interactions are based on common acknowledgment of challenges, mutual interests, and coordinated actions. The paper also examines China’s participation in international governance in the Arctic. Distinguish from non-Arctic states in a general sense, China as an important stakeholder has both the rights and the capacity to be engaged in multilevel governance patterns. The substantive contribution of China’s participation an explorer in scientific cooperation, a pioneer promoting environmental protection, a potential consumer and investor in relation to economic opportunities, and a promoter of local development are deeply interdepended with the future of development of three governance patterns relating to international governance in the Arctic
Supporting Arctic Science: A Summary of the White House Arctic Science Ministerial Meeting
Get PDFThis document summarizes the first-ever Arctic Science Ministerial, hosted by the
White House on September 28, 2016, as an action of the Arctic Executive Steering
Committee to advance international research efforts. It includes the meeting
agenda, a list of participants, a White House “fact sheet” that describes the outcomes
from the meeting, a Joint Statement of Ministers, and a list of media reports
on the event. The document also includes a compilation of two-page descriptions
of Arctic science support provided by the ministerial delegations (representing
24 governments and the European Union). These self-reported snapshots follow a
standardized format that includes (1) points of contact, (2) Arctic research goals,
(3) Arctic research policy, (4) major Arctic research initiatives, and (5) Arctic
research infrastructure
Structure and seasonal variability of fronts in the Southeast Indian Ocean along sections from Fremantle, Australia to Antarctic Zhongshan Station
Get PDFFour sections of expendable conductivity-temperature-depth (XCTD) profiles from Fremantle, Australia to Antarctic Zhongshan Station and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer-Aquarius (MODIS-A) sea surface temperature (SST) products were used to study the structure and seasonal variability of Southeast Indian Ocean fronts. Water mass analysis showed that surface water masses in the Southeast Indian Ocean were less salty in March than in November. Compared with November, the subtropical front (STF) moved southward about one degree of latitude in March, whereas seasonal variability of the subantarctic front (SAF) and polar front (PF) locations was not obvious. In March, the saline front moved northward about two degrees of latitude relative to the thermal front in the upper 100 m at the SAF, which was the northern boundary of sub-Antarctic surface water (SASW). Analysis of climatological SST gradients from the satellite data showed that regions of enhanced sea surface temperature (SST) gradients were collocated with frontal locations identified with the XCTD data using water mass criteria. The surface expression of the PF identified by the SST gradient was further south by about one degree of latitude relative to the subsurface expression of the PF identified by the northern boundary of cold water
Chinese Antarctic Magnetometer Chain at the Cusp Latitude
Get PDFA Chinese Antarctic Magnetometer (CAM) chain from Zhongshan Station (ZHS) to Dome-A (DMA) has been established since February 2009. A regular magnetometer is operated at ZHS, and four low power magnetometers are operated along the interior route from ZHS to DMA in the cusp latitude, extending over a distance of 1260 km. These stations fill an important void in the Antarctic magnetometer network. Furthermore, the CAM chain is magnetically conjugated with the Arctic region reaching from the Svalbard archipelago to Daneborg, on the east coast of Greenland. Conjugate measurements using the Arctic and Antarctic magnetometers provide excellent opportunities to investigate phenomena related to the coupling of the solar wind to the magnetosphere and ionosphere, such as magnetic impulse events, flux transfer events, traveling convection vortices and ultra-low frequency waves
International code for ships operating in polar waters: challenges to polar shipping safety rules in China
Get PDFWith the sea-ice diminishing steadily in the polar regions, there has been growing interest in new transit routes through polar waters using cost-effective transportation. Among the international regulators over polar shipping, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is the leading body concerned with drafting marine safety and environmental protection rules. The mandatory Polar Code (International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters) adopted by the IMO signals the consensus among maritime states to apply compulsory rules to vessels operating in Arctic and Antarctic waters. As the standing member of the IMO and a major global shipping power, China is preparing to adopt national regulatory standards to develop an adequate vessel infrastructure and crew training system. Proceeding in parallel with the developing polar shipping industry, China will also move ahead in comprehensive collaboration with the Nordic states regarding polar issues
The Sable for Evenk Reindeer Herders in Southeastern Siberia: Interplaying Drivers of Changes on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: Climate Change, Worldwide Market Econonomy and Extractive Industries
Get PDFBiodiversity and phylogenetic analysis of the gut microbiome of Euphausia superba Dana from the Rose Sea of the Antarctic Ocean
Get PDFMetabolites derived from marine symbiotic microorganisms have great potential as lead compounds for the discovery of novel marine drugs. Euphausia superba Dana, which lives in the Antarctic Ocean, is regarded as a new source of marine microbial natural products. However, no studies have examined the biodiversity of the symbiotic intestinal microbiome of E. superba. To address this issue, the species diversity and abundance of the gut microbiome of E. superba Dana from the Rose Sea of the Antarctic Ocean were analyzed by culture-independent high-throughput sequencing and pure culture methods. A comparison with gene databases revealed that the microbiome contained 61 known microbial species and a plethora of uncultivable microorganisms. Additionally, 7% of the species in the microbiome were currently unknown. The microbes belonged to 56 genera, eight of which, including Arthrobacter, Bacillus, Candidatus, Lactococcus, Lysinibacillus, Leuconostoc, Solibacillus, and Vibrio, were dominant, as were Vibrionaceae spp. Moreover, 81 microbial strains were isolated by the pure culture method, and they belonged to 36 genera, including Mobilicoccus, Rhodococcus, Arthrobacter, and Microbacterium. The results obtained by two different methods demonstrate the richness of the microbial biodiversity of the gut microbiome of E. superba, and it also suggests that they have good potential for the discovery of novel marine microbial species