Polar Research (E-Journal)
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Review of Tourism and change in polar regions: climate, environment and experience and Cruise tourism in polar regions: promoting environmental and social sustainability?
No full textThese two edited volumes, which cover much of the same ground, both begin from a common premise: polar tourism, as its been experienced by wealthy travellers for over a century, has a very definite shelf life. With the acceleration of global climate change, the Arctic and Antarctic are being changed, changed rapidly, perhaps permanently and, if one pays attention to the news, seemingly by the day. When combined with popular documentaries and feature films like An inconvenient truth, March of the penguins and Happy feet potential polar tourists have been sensitized to see the polar regions not as implacably hostile wastes once challenged only by the likes of Nansen, Amundsen, Scott and Shackleton but as irreplaceably fragile zones that, once lost, will take some essential part of the planet with them.(Published: 21 April 2011)Citation: Polar Research 2011, 30, 7152, DOI: 10.3402/polar.v30i0.715
Coastal erosion dynamics on the permafrost-dominated Bykovsky Peninsula, north Siberia, 1951-2006
No full textThis study investigates the rate of erosion during the 1951-2006 period on the Bykovsky Peninsula, located north-east of the harbour town of Tiksi, north Siberia. Its coastline, which is characterized by the presence of ice-rich sediment (Ice Complex) and the vicinity of the Lena River Delta, retreated at a mean rate of 0.59 m/yr between 1951 and 2006. Rates ranged from 434 m of erosion to 92 m of accretion during these 56 years and exhibited large variability (?=45.4). Ninety-seven percent of the rates observed were less than 2 m/yr and 81.6% were less than 1 m/yr. No significant trend in erosion could be recorded despite the study of five temporal subperiods within 1951-2006. Erosion modes and rates actually appear to be strongly dependant on the nature of the backshore material, erosion being stronger along low-lying coastal stretches affected by past or current thermokarst activity. The juxtaposition of wind records monitored at the town of Tiksi and erosion records yielded no significant relationship despite strong record amplitude for both data sets. We explain this poor relationship by the only rough incorporation of sea-ice cover in our storm extraction algorithm, the use of land-based wind records vs. offshore winds, the proximity of the Peninsula to the Lena River Delta freshwater and sediment plume and the local topographical constraints on wave development.Keywords: coastal erosion, permafrost, Arctic, climate change, Russia(Published: 15 September 2011)Citation: Polar Research 2011, 30, 7341, DOI: 10.3402/polar.v30i0.734
The occurrence of coreless winters in central Spitsbergen and their synoptic conditions
No full textTen warm-core winters were distinguished in the period 1975/76-2007/08, drawing on data from the Svalbard Airport weather station in central Spitsbergen and using the conditions tm-1 < tm and tm > tm+1 (t is the monthly mean temperature while m-1, m and m+1 denote subsequent winter months) and the parameter of a coreless rate, cr (the ratio of the second, a2, to the first, a1, harmonic of the annual temperature wave). Composite maps of sea-level pressure and z 500-hPa means, as well as anomaly maps, were constructed separately for the mid-winter warm events and for the cold months before and after warming. Using the clustering method, different pressure patterns were recognized among the days of mid-winter warm spells. The occurrence of coreless winters in central Spitsbergen seems to be largely controlled by the position, extent and intensity of large-scale atmospheric systems, mainly the Icelandic Low. When the low spreads to the east and its centre is over the Barents Sea the inflow of air masses from the northern quadrant is observed over central Spitsbergen. This inflow of cold air of Arctic origin to the island takes place during the months preceding and following warm mid-winter events. Different circulation conditions appear when the Icelandic Low gets deeper than usual and shifts northwards, which coincides with warm spells. Sometimes a secondary cyclonic centre is located over Fram Strait and its warm sector encompasses Svalbard.Keywords: Spitsbergen; coreless winters; air temperature; circulation; polar climate(Published: 13 December 2011)Citation: Polar Research 2011, 30, 12218, DOI: 10.3402/polar.v30i0.1221
Antarctic bacterial isolates that produce cold-active extracellular proteases at low temperature but are active and stable at high temperature
No full textWe report the isolation and identification of bacteria that produce extracellular cold-active proteases, obtained from water samples collected near the Uruguayan Antarctic Base on King George Island, South Shetlands. The bacteria belonged to the genera Pseudomonas (growth between 4 and 30°C) and Flavobacterium (growth between 4 and 18°C). In all cases, extracellular protease production was evident when reaching the stationary phase at 18 and 4ºC, but was not detected at 30ºC. The zymogram revealed the secretion of one extracellular protease per isolate, each with different relative electrophoretic mobility. The extracellular proteases produced at 4ºC showed thermal activity and stability at 30ºC. Both activity and stability at temperature higher that 10ºC have no physiological meaning because the isolates do not experience such temperatures in the Antarctic environment; however, the possible ecological value of cold-active and -stable extracellular proteases is discussed.Keywords: Antarctic, cold-active enzymes, protease (Published: 22 April 2011) Citation: Polar Research 2011, 30, 7123, DOI: 10.3402/polar.v30i0.712
Global southern limit of flowering plants and moss peat accumulation
No full textThe ecosystems of the western Antarctic Peninsula, experiencing amongst the most rapid trends of regional climate warming worldwide, are important “early warning” indicators for responses expected in more complex systems elsewhere. Central among responses attributed to this regional warming are widely reported population and range expansions of the two native Antarctic flowering plants, Deschampsia antarctica and Colobanthus quitensis. However, confirmation of the predictions of range expansion requires baseline knowledge of species distributions. We report a significant southwards and westwards extension of the known natural distributions of both plant species in this region, along with several range extensions in an unusual moss community, based on new survey work in a previously unexamined and un-named low altitude peninsula at 69º22.0’S 71º50.7’W in Lazarev Bay, north-west Alexander Island, southern Antarctic Peninsula. These plant species therefore have a significantly larger natural range in the Antarctic than previously thought. This site provides a potentially important monitoring location near the southern boundary of the region currently demonstrated to be under the influence of rapidly changing climate trends. Combined radiocarbon and lead isotope radiometric dating suggests that this location was most likely deglaciated sufficiently to allow peat to start accumulating towards the end of the 19th century, which we tentatively link to a phase of post-1870 climate amelioration. We conclude that the establishment of vegetation in this location is unlikely to be linked to the rapid regional warming trends recorded along the Antarctic Peninsula since the mid-20th century.Antarctic plants, distribution limits, peat accumulation, dating(Published: 4 October 2011)Citation: Polar Research 2011, 30, 8929, DOI: 10.3402/polar.v30i0.892
Letter-to-the-Editor: Making science animations: new possibilities for making science accessible to the public
No full textLubchenco challenges scientists to: ‘‘ address the most urgent needs of society, in proportion to their importance; communicate their knowledge and understanding widely in order to inform decisions of individuals and institutions; and exercise good judgment, wisdom, and humility’’. As participants in the International Polar Year (IPY) of 2007-08, we hope we contributed to the first challenge. Here we address the second challenge, effective science communications.(Published: 28 December 2011)Citation: Polar Research 2011, 30, 15315, DOI: 10.3402/polar.v30i0.15315 Access the supplementary material to this article: Full set of animations (please see Supplementary files in the column to the right, under Article Tools)
Near-surface eddy dynamics in the Southern Ocean
No full textThe Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is a crucial component of the global ocean conveyor belt, acting as a zonal link among the major ocean basins but, to some extent, limiting meridional exchange and tending to isolate the ocean south of it from momentum and heat income. In this work we investigate one of the most important mechanisms contributing to the poleward transfer of properties in the Southern Ocean, that is the eddy component of the dynamics. For this particular purpose, observations obtained from near-surface drifters have been used: they represent a very useful data set to analyse the eddy field because of their ability to catch a large number of scales of motion while providing a quasi-synoptic coverage of the investigated area. Estimates of the eddy heat and momentum fluxes are carried out using data taken from the Global Drifter Program databank; they refer to Surface Velocity Program drifter trajectories collected in the area south of 358S between 1995 and 2006. Eddy kinetic energies, variance ellipses, momentum and heat fluxes have been calculated using the pseudo-Eulerian method, showing patterns in good agreement with those present in the literature based on observational and model data, although there are some quantitative differences. The eddy fluxes have been separated into their rotational and divergent portions, the latter being responsible for the meridional transports. The associated zonal and depth-exponentially integrated meridional heat transport exhibits values spanning over a range between -0.4 PW and -1.1 PW in the ACC region, consistent with previous estimates.Keywords: Antarctic Circumpolar Current; eddy fluxes; Global Drifter Program data; Lagrangian oceanography; Helmholtz decomposition(Published: 30 December 2011)Citation: Polar Research 2011, 30, 11203, DOI: 10.3402/polar.v30i0.1120
Review of Polar lakes and rivers: limnology of Arctic and Antarctic aquatic systems by Warwick F. Vincent and Johanna Laybourn-Parry
No full textThere are a number of books on polar ecosystems around including a few that are specifically devoted to lakes or ponds, but there is really no up-to-date, comprehensive work that covers all freshwater systems including running waters, both in the Arctic and Antarctic. This book fulfils such a demand and, clearly, few would be more competent to do this job than the two editors of this volume.(Published: 11 January 2011)Citation: Polar Research 2011, 30, 5928, doi: 10.3402/polar.v30i0.592
Princess Elisabeth Antarctica: an International Polar Year outreach and media success story
No full textOne of the priorities of the fourth International Polar Year (IPY) was to increase awareness of the polar regions and polar science among the general public through education, communication and other forms of outreach. This paper reports on the media coverage of Princess Elisabeth Antarctica (PEA), Belgium’s ‘‘zero-emission’’ Antarctic research station designed by the nonprofit International Polar Foundation (IPF) to run on wind and solar energy and to employ state-of-the-art forms of energy management and other ‘‘green’’ technology. This paper provides background information on PEA, a review of IPF’s media strategy for the project, a description of media coverage of the station and a discussion of the way in which the IPF’s main messages were reported in the media. IPF staff surveyed approximately 300 media reports released between February 2004, when the PEA project was announced to the general public, and June 2010, when the IPF presented their findings at the IPY conference in Oslo. PEA was featured 580 times in print and web media in Belgium, and 303 times outside Belgium. Major international agencies such as the Associated Press, Agence France Presse, the BBC, Al-Jazeera and Reuters covered the project. On television and radio, PEA was featured in news broadcasts from all four major television networks in Belgium, most major radio stations and 34 different television and radio news outlets outside Belgium. The paper concludes that the media coverage for PEA was significant and suggests reasons why the project was so widely reported.Keywords: Media and outreach; media strategy; Antarctic research stations; energy management system; renewable energy; reducing environmental footprint(Published: 30 December 2011)Citation: Polar Research 2011, 30, 11153, DOI: 10.3402/polar.v30i0.1115
Killer whale (Orcinus orca) photo-identification in the eastern Canadian Arctic
No full textWe identified individual killer whales (Orcinus orca) using recent (2004-09) photographs to obtain a minimum count of whales that use eastern Canadian Arctic waters. Fifty-three individuals were identified from nine different sightings; 11 individuals from western Hudson Bay sightings and 42 from the areas around northern and eastern Baffin Island. One whale was resighted: an adult female or large juvenile photographed 17 days and 375 km apart at Churchill, Manitoba, and off-shore of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, in August 2007. With only one individual re-sighted, the number of individuals that use this area is likely much larger. No re-sightings occurred between Arctic killer whales and individuals photographed off the coast of Newfoundland. Our results represent the minimum number of killer whales sighted in eastern Canadian Arctic waters and provide the foundation for further killer whale research. Little is known about Arctic killer whales and, as a top predator, it is unclear what effect they have on Arctic marine ecosystems.Keywords: Abundance; Baffin Island; Canada; distribution; High Arctic; Hudson Bay; photographs(Published: 23 May 2011)Citation: Polar Research 2011, 30, 7203, DOI: 10.3402/polar.v30i0.720