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The types and distributions of anthropogenic rubbish have been documented at Bunger Hills, East Antarctica. The area has been the site of scientific research stations from 1958 to the present. Rubbish types include deliberately or negligently discarded items (gas cylinders, broken glass), abandoned unserviceable equipment (boats, vehicles, scientific equipment), spills (chemicals, fuel, oil) and the slow collapse of old buildings. Some rubbish remained where it was left, while other material was redistributed by strong winds. Modern expeditioner training should limit the production of new rubbish, while inadvertent wind dispersal of rubbish from old station buildings could be minimized by better management of these structures and their surrounds. Buildings and other constructed items need ongoing maintenance if they are not to break down and be distributed by wind, or they should be removed within a reasonable period.

In this paper, we synthesize recorded observations of moss, lichen and bird species in Bunger Hills, East Antarctica, and assess the role of environmental controls, including sediment, salinity, moisture and geology, on species' distributions. The distribution of snow petrels (Pagodroma nivea) appears to be associated with geology; they nest by preference in crevices in bedrock outcrops around the margins of the hills or wherever jointed cliffs are found. South polar skuas (Catharacta maccormicki) are seen throughout Bunger Hills, where they nest and prey on snow petrels. Mosses and lichens were most abundant around the ice margins where fresh snow and ice meltwater are abundant. In the central area of Bunger Hills, where the highest salt concentration in sediments is found and exposure to abrasion by wind-driven mineral sand grains and ice particles is greatest, mosses and lichens are reduced in abundance and diversity. Exposure of parts of Bunger Hills from the ice sheet throughout the Last Glacial Maximum,c.20 kabp, means that some land and lakes could have acted as regional refugia and as a locus of recolonization of other ice-free areas.

Contrary to earlier beliefs, crustaceans are present in ice-covered lakes of Antarctica. Interpretation of the significance of this has been hampered by the absence of robust identification of taxa present. We examine cyclopoid copepods from three widely separated lakes. All belong to the michaelseni group of the genus Diacyclops, which is widespread across Continental Antarctica, but do not fit into any existing species. Two new species were identified from eastern Antarctica, D. walkeri from Pineapple Lake (Vestfold Hills) and D. kaupi from Transkriptsii Gulf (Bunger Hills). Most significant was a dense population of a new epibenthic species (D. joycei) associated with microbial mats in Lake Joyce, one of the smaller McMurdo Dry Valleys lakes. This represents the first record of adult cyclopoid copepods from the ice-covered lakes of the Transantarctic Mountains. Continental Antarctica is the centre of diversity for this group of crustaceans and we argue that this is better explained by persistence through past glacial advances rather than by recent post-glacial colonization. The existence of a species endemic to Lake Joyce but apparently absent from other Dry Valleys lakes is discussed in relation to our understanding of the history of the McMurdo Dry Valleys lakes and their faunas.

The planktonic haptophyte Phaeocystis has been suggested to play a fundamental role in the global biogeochemical cycling of carbon and sulphur, but little is known about its global biomass distribution. We have collected global microscopy data of the genus Phaeocystis and converted abundance data to carbon biomass using species-specific carbon conversion factors. Microscopic counts of single-celled and colonial Phaeocystis were obtained both through the mining of online databases and by accepting direct submissions (both published and unpublished) from Phaeocystis specialists. We recorded abundance data from a total of 1595 depth-resolved stations sampled between 1955–2009. The quality-controlled dataset includes 5057 counts of individual Phaeocystis cells resolved to species level and information regarding life-stages from 3526 samples. 83% of stations were located in the Northern Hemisphere while 17% were located in the Southern Hemisphere. Most data were located in the latitude range of 50–70° N. While the seasonal distribution of Northern Hemisphere data was well-balanced, Southern Hemisphere data was biased towards summer months. Mean species- and form-specific cell diameters were determined from previously published studies. Cell diameters were used to calculate the cellular biovolume of Phaeocystis cells, assuming spherical geometry. Cell biomass was calculated using a carbon conversion factor for prymnesiophytes. For colonies, the number of cells per colony was derived from the colony volume. Cell numbers were then converted to carbon concentrations. An estimation of colonial mucus carbon was included a posteriori, assuming a mean colony size for each species. Carbon content per cell ranged from 9 pg C cell−1 (single-celled Phaeocystis antarctica) to 29 pg C cell−1 (colonial Phaeocystis globosa). Non-zero Phaeocystis cell biomasses (without mucus carbon) range from 2.9 × 10−5 to 5.4 × 103 μg C l−1, with a mean of 45.7 μg C l−1 and a median of 3.0 μg C l−1. The highest biomasses occur in the Southern Ocean below 70° S (up to 783.9 μg C l−1) and in the North Atlantic around 50° N (up to 5.4 × 103 μg C l−1). The original and gridded data can be downloaded from PANGAEA, doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.779101.

Accurate projections of future climate changes in regions susceptible to drought depend on a good understanding of past climate changes and the processes driving them. In the absence of longer term instrumental data, paleoclimate data are needed. In this study we develop a precipitation reconstruction for Rebecca Lagoon (41°11′S, 144°41′E), northwest Tasmania. First, the relationship between scanning reflectance spectroscopy measurements of sediment cores in the visible spectrum (380–730 nm) and instrumental precipitation record (1912–2009) was used to develop a model to reconstruct precipitation back in time. Results showed that the ratio of reflectance between 660 and 670 nm (i.e., reflectance at 660 nm/reflectance at 670 nm; a measure of pigment diagenesis) was significantly related to annual precipitation. A calibration model was developed (R = − 0.56, pauto < 0.001, RMSEP = 43.0 mm yr− 1, 5 year triangular filtered data, calibration period 1912–2009). Second, this calibration-in-time model was used to reconstruct late Holocene precipitation changes over the last ~ 3000 years. This showed relatively dry conditions from ca. 3100–2800 cal yr BP, wet conditions from ca. 2800–2400 cal yr BP, dry conditions from ca. 2400–2000 calyr BP, and variable conditions after this. Relatively wet conditions occurred from ca. 500 cal yr BP to the late AD 1800 s (ca. 50 cal. yr BP). The precipitation reconstruction indicates that conditions were relatively dry for the 20th century compared to the last ~ 3000 years. In particular, the dry period measured in recent decades is one of the most intense in at least the last 500 years. As precipitation in this region is primarily driven by the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds, these changes are discussed in terms of shifts in westerly wind strength and/or position.

Meltwater habitats in the Darwin Glacier region, Victoria Land (80°S), were sampled in December 2007 and January 2009 to characterize their microbial and metazoan ecology, nutrient status and geochemistry. Targeted areas included terrestrial ponds of the Grant Valley, Lake Wellman, Tentacle Ridge and Diamond Hill, and supraglacial ponds and cryoconite holes of the lower Darwin Glacier. Geochemistry ranged from Na-Cl dominated terrestrial ponds to Na-HCO3dominated, dilute supraglacial ponds and cryoconites. All showed the nitrate enrichment typical of inland ponds of Victoria Land (up to 13 g.l-1NO3-N), with some precipitating nitratine (NaNO3) salt. Elevated pH indicated ongoing photosynthetic processes. Benthic microbial mats were thin and poorly developed, dominated by oscillatoriacean cyanobacteria. Nitrogen-fixing genera were generally absent and diatoms were rare. A large (20 μm long)Cyanothecespecies was the most abundant cyanobacterium in the water and in sediments of the cryoconites. DNA finger-printing identified distinct differences in cyanobacterial and bacterial community structure between the cryoconites, terrestrial ponds and ponds on glacial margins. Eleven metazoan species were identified, with rotifers being the most abundant. Pond substrate (terrestrial rock, ice-cored moraine or supraglacial ice) proved to be a more significant influence on biogeochemistry than other aspects of geography or climatic conditions.

Evidence is provided from a sediment core from saline Abraxas Lake, Vestfold Hills, that indicates that the lake existed through the Last Glacial Maximum. It can therefore be concluded that at least part of the Vestfold Hills also remained ice-free through the Last Glacial Maximum, or at most was covered by a thin, non-erosive cold-based ice sheet. The evidence for the continued existence of Abraxas Lake includes a 14C date that significantly predates the Last Glacial Maximum (though this cannot be considered direct proof of the existence of the lake prior to the Last Glacial Maximum); the presence of saline porewater throughout the core, including in compacted sediments deposited during the glacial period, which implies that the lake obtained its salt prior to any Holocene marine highstand; and the occurrence of marine-derived fauna from the onset of significant biological activity late in the Pleistocene. The occurrence of ice-free land in the Vestfold Hills and similar oases suggests that the margin of the polar ice cap did not reach far beyond its current position at the Last Glacial Maximum, at least in regions now occupied by these oases.

Paratrochammina minutissima n. sp. is described from Abraxas and Ace Lakes in the Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica. The species is characterized by very small size (120 mm diameter), 4K chambers in the final whorl, weak adherence of particles to the tectin chamber lining and a relatively prominent proloculus. Similar species occur in the fully marine environment and often in the abyssal ocean. Subfossil tests were observed in sediment cores from Abraxas Lake and nearby Ace Lake. Apparently, living specimens also occurred in plankton samples from Abraxas Lake, possibly indicating a lifestyle partly attached to zooplankton or floating debris, or floating unattached on density surfaces within the meromictic lake. The distribution of subfossil Paratrochammina minutissima in the sediments of Ace Lake was consistent with a marine origin for the species, while the distribution in the Abraxas Lake sediment indicated that the lake might predate the last glacial maximum.

The origins of the freshwater fauna that inhabits Antarctic lakes are poorly known. The species present today could be relict species that have survived Quaternary glaciations on the continent, or Holocene migrants from more temperate regions. One approach to investigating these questions is to study faunal microfossils in lake sediment. This approach was applied to a 293 cm sediment core from Lake Boeckella, located at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The microfossils indicated that most of the metazoan species that occur in the lake today have been present since soon after the lake�s formation c. 5.5 ka ago. In particular, the centropagid copepod Boeckella poppei (Mra´zek) has been present throughout the lake�s history, suggesting a local source for this species. The development of biodiversity in the lake with time was in general more consistent with local (Antarctic) rather than distant (South American) sources, though an alternative explanation is that dispersal to Antarctica was more efficient in the mid-Holocene. Evidence of dispersal from extra-continental sites comes from the scattered occurrence throughout the core of Eubosmina chilensis (Daday), a South American species that does not reach the Antarctic or the sub- Antarctic islands at present, and which failed to establish a permanent population in the lake.

We profiled five ice-covered lakes and two ice-covered fiords of Ellesmere Island at the northern limit of High Arctic Canada to examine their environmental characteristics, and to evaluate the long-term limnological consequences of changes in their surrounding landscape through time (landscape evolution). All of the ecosystems showed strong patterns of thermal, chemical, and biological stratification with subsurface temperature maxima from 0.75 to 12.15 °C; conductivities up to 98.1 mS cm–1 (twice that of seawater) in some bottom waters; pronounced gradients in nitrogen, phosphorus, pH, dissolved inorganic and organic carbon, manganese, iron, and oxygen; and stratified photo synthetic communities. These ecosystems form an inferred chronosequence that reflects different steps of landscape evolution including marine embayments open to the sea, inlets blocked by thick sea ice (Disraeli Fiord, Taconite Inlet), perennially ice-capped, saline lakes isolated from the sea by isostatic uplift (Lakes A, C1, C2), and isolated lakes that lose their ice cover in summer. The latter are subject to entrainment of saline water into their upper water column by wind-induced mixing (Lake Romulus; Lake A in 2000), or complete flushing of their basins by dilute snowmelt (Lake C3 and Char Lake, which lies 650 km to the south of the Ellesmere lakes region). This chronosequence illustrates how changes in geomorphology and other landscape properties may influence the limnology of coastal, high-latitude lakes, and it provides a framework to explore the potential impacts of climate change.

The lipid composition was determined for 5 species of polychaete annelids collected by the Deep Submergence Vehicle ALVIN from high temperature chimneys at the 2500 m depth hydrothermal vent field of the East Pacific Rise. These are the first lipid biomarker analyses reported for these hydrothermal vent polychaetes. Lipid content was low in all samples (1.6–35.9 mg g –1 wet mass) and was dominated by polar lipid (78–90% of total lipid) with 8–19% sterol (ST), and very low storage lipid (triacylglycerol and wax ester). Total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were moderately high (22–31% of total fatty acids (FA)) with extremely low or no docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6(n-3)). Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5(n-3)) levels were 5–6% in Alvinella pompejana and A. caudata and 10.3–13.7% in an errantiate polychaete (likely Hesionidae) and Hesiolyra bergii . There were greater PUFA and a greater EPA/AA (AA is arachidonic acid, 20:4(n-6)) ratio in the anterior versus the posterior half of A. pompejana , which may correlate to the strong temperature gradient reported in its tube. Total nonmethylene interrupted diunsaturated fatty acids (NMID) were 4–9% of total FA for most polychaete species and included several 20:2 and 22:2 components. The principal monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) included 18:1(n-7)c (14–19%), 16:1(n-7)c (2.6–10%) and 20:1(n-11)c (3–7% of total FA). These polychaete species may desaturate and elongate the bacterial-derived 18:1(n-7)c to obtain the essential FA EPA and AA. The major ST in the polychaetes is cholesterol (89–98% of total ST) with less cholesterol in the gut contents of A. pompejana . Other ST included 24-ethylcholesterol (1.5–5% of total ST) with lesser amounts of 24-methylenecholesterol, desmosterol, lathosterol, 24-methylcholesterol, 24-ethylcholesterol, and the stanols dehydrocholestanol and cholestanol. The high ST levels could play a role in thermal adaptation of membranes at the hydrothermal vent environment. Differences in the FA profiles separated the closely related species A. pompejana and A. caudata from Paralvinella grasslei , H. bergii , and the errantiate polychaete (likely Hesionidae).

The sediment record of the fauna of Ace Lake, a saline meromictic lake in the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica, consists of copepod eggs, spermatophores and exoskeletal fragments, rotifer and tintinnid loricae, and foraminiferal and folliculinid tests. The relative abundance of these remains, along with other characteristics of the core, allows the development of a coherent picture of the progress of Ace Lake from a species-poor, freshwater lake early in the Holocene to a biodiverse marine basin following a marine transgression. Subsequent sea level fall reformed Ace Lake as a saline lake and productivity initially increased after isolation. After a major event, possibly associated with overturn of the meromictic lake, biodiversity and productivity decreased, and have continued to do so until the present.

New populations of the two species of calanoid copepods known to inhabit freshwater lakes in East Antarctica, Boeckella poppei (Mrázek, 1901) and Gladioferens antarcticus Bayly, 1994, have recently been discovered. The morphology of the populations of B. poppei showed significant differences, notably a reduction in the armature of the male fifth leg, when compared with typical specimens from the Antarctic Peninsula and South America. Gladioferens antarcticus had previously been recorded from a single lake in the Bunger Hills, but has now been recorded from three further lakes in this region. A recent review of Antarctic terrestrial and limnetic zooplankton suggested that neither of these species can be considered an East Antarctic endemic, with B. poppei being listed as a recent anthropogenic introduction and G. antarcticus a ‘marine interloper’. We conclude differently: B. poppei has been present in isolated populations in East Antarctica for significant lengths of time, possibly predating the current interglacial, while G. antarcticus is a true Antarctic endemic species whose ancestors have been present in the region since before Australia separated from Antarctica.

Thick ice cover is a feature of cold-temperate, polar, and alpine lakes and rivers throughout much of the year. Our observations from Canadian lakes and rivers across the latitudinal gradient 46‐808N show that their overlying ice contains low concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) relative to the underlying waters. The CDOM exclusion factor (water/ice) ranged from 1.4 to 114 and was typically greater than twice the exclusion factor for inorganic solutes. Application of synchronous fluorescence analysis to lake ice samples and experimentally frozen lakewater indicated that only less complex, lower molecular weight molecules were retained within the ice. Consistent with this analysis, DOC-specific absorption showed that the DOC in the ice was generally less colored than that in the underlying waters. The reduced CDOM absorption within the ice allowed relatively high ultraviolet (UV) transmission despite the elevated scattering within the ice and resulted in UV diffuse attenuation coefficients up to eight times lower in the ice than in the underlying waters. This relatively low attenuation by the ice would cause organisms trapped near the surface by inverse stratification to experience high UV exposure prior to ice breakup. The ice exclusion effect gives rise to a concentrated zone of CDOM and DOC that is likely to favor heterotrophic and mixotrophic processes and influence biogeochemical interactions.

Epishelf lakes, positioned between ice-free areas and floating ice shelves or glaciers, are unusual tidal, but largely freshwater, environments found in both the Arctic and the Antarctic. The greatest concentration of these lakes is in the Bunger Hills, East Antarctica (66°S, 100°E). We present and discuss temperature and salinity profiles for five epishelf lakes from this region, most of which show unusual properties. White Smoke Lake is fresh and cold (

An extensive terrestrial drainage system, centred on Algae Lake in southern Bunger Hills, is described. The 25-km-long Algae River is the third longest known in Antarctica after Onyx River (Wright Valley, Victoria Land) and Druzhby River (Vestfold Hills, Queen Elizabeth Land). Algae River receives meltwater from the Antarctic ice sheet, Apfel Glacier, and ephemeral and permanent snow banks in the ice-free area of the Bunger Hills. Water flows through a series of epiglacial lakes before reaching the extensive Algae Lake, which in turn has an outlet to Transkriptsii Gulf, a largely fresh-water, tidal epishelf lake connected to the ocean under the Edisto Ice Tongue and Shackleton Ice Shelf. Total flow from Algae Lake was estimated to be greater than 1 x 107m3a-1from data collected in the 1986/87 summer. Some portions of the drainage system that were flowing during the 1946/47,1985/86, 1986/87, 1994/95, 1995/96, and 1998/99 summers were not flowing during the 1999/2000 summer, indicating the variable nature of discharge in the river and emphasising that parts of the drainage network may become disconnected readily.

The geochemical processes occurring within meromictic Lake A (maxdepth 120 m) on northern Ellesmere Island, Canada, were investigated to determinethe history of the lake and to provide a baseline for future studies. The lake contained seawaterdiluted by freshwater input that had been mixed prior to the lake's isolation from tidalaction. Input of freshwater after isolation of the lake created vertical stratification resultingin the creation of distinct oxic, suboxic and anoxic zones. Dissolved oxygen was present to 13 m,and sulphide beneath 32 m. Manganese and iron cycling dominated the redox chemistrybetween these depths. Total manganese concentrations reached 176 μM, higher thanin most other natural stratified lake or marine environments.

Lake A is a meromictic, perennially ice-covered lake located at the northern limit of North America (latitude 83°N, Ellesmere Island, Canada). In early June 1999, only 0.45% of incident photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) was transmitted through its 2-m ice and 0.5-m snow cover. Removal of snow from 12 m2 increased PAR under the ice by a factor of 13 and biologically effective ultraviolet radiation (UVR) by a factor of 16 (from 0.4% to 6.3% of incident). The diffuse attenuation coefficient (Kd) for UVR was substantially lower in the ice than in the underlying freshwater (e.g., 50% lower at 320 nm), indicating the exclusion of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) during freeze-up or the subsequent degradation of CDOM retained in the ice. Peak phytoplankton concentrations occurred immediately under the ice, and a broad maximum of photosynthetic sulfur bacteria and associated sulfur particles was observed over the depth interval 20–45 m at

The zooplankton assemblages of Lake A and Disraeli Fjord, northern Ellesmere Island (83°N, 75°W), were surveyed in early summer 1999. In permanently ice-covered Lake A, two glacial relict calanoid copepod species (Drepanopus bungei and Limnocalanus macrurus) were found in the top 30 m. All developmental stages of the more abundant D. bungei were present, whereas only adults of L. macrurus were found. Analysis of gut contents showed that L. macrurus preyed upon the smaller species. A net tow sample of zooplankton from Disraeli Fjord was mainly composed of D. bungei and L. macrurus, along with two marine cyclopoid copepods (Oncaea borealis and Oithona similis). These two zooplankton communities occur within unusual environments that are strongly influenced by perennial ice and snow. They will be subject to major habitat disruption should the current warming trends continue in the north polar region.

Early explorers in the Canadian high Arctic described a fringe of thick, landfast ice along the 500-km northern coast of Ellesmere Island. This article shows from analyses of historical records, aerial photographs, and satellite imagery (ERS-1, SPOT, RADARSAT-1) that this ancient ice feature (‘Ellesmere Ice Shelf’) underwent a 90% reduction in area during the course of the twentieth century. In addition, hydrographic profiles in Disraeli Fiord (83°N, 74°W) suggest that the ice-shelf remnant that presently dams the fiord (Ward Hunt Ice Shelf) decreased in thickness by 13 m (27%) from 1967 to 1999. Mean annual air temperatures at nearby Alert station showed a significant warming trend during the last two decades of this period, and a significant decline in the number of freezing degree days per annum. The ice-dammed fiord provides a stratified physical and biological environment (epishelf lake) of a type that is otherwise restricted to Antarctica. Extensive meltwater lakes occur on the surface of the ice shelf and support a unique microbial food web. The major contraction of these ice–water habitats foreshadows a much broader loss of marine cryo-ecosystems that will accompany future wanning in the high Arctic.

The presence of crustaceans in some Antarctic lakes adds a level of complexity to the food webs of these environments. The grazing pressure of the crustaceans on phytoplankton and other protists, and the role they play in controlling food web structure, has not yet been examined in any detail. This paper presents the first data on grazing pressure of crustacean zooplankton in continental Antarctic lakes. In this study the grazing rates of Paralabidocera antarctica in saline Ace Lake, Vestfold Hills, were assessed using a radio-tracer method. Clearance rates ranged from approximately 1 to 8 ml ind.−1 day−1, depending on developmental stage. Due to their high abundance, nauplii exhibited the highest daily carbon ingestion rates. The population cleared about 3% of the water column per day, accounting for a significant fraction of primary production. P. antarctica has a considerable impact on the carbon cycle in Ace Lake and, by inference, in the other lakes in which it occurs.

The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf (83 degrees N, 74 degrees W) is the largest remaining section of thick (10 m) land-fast sea ice along the northern coastline of Ellesmere Island, Canada. Extensive meltwater lakes and streams occur on the surface of the ice and are colonized by photosynthetic microbial mat communities. This High Arctic cryo-ecosystem is similar in several of its physical, biological and geochemical features to the McMurdo Ice Shelf in Antarctica. The ice-mats in both polar regions are dominated by filamentous cyanobacteria but also contain diatoms, chlorophytes, flagellates, ciliates, nematodes, tardigrades and rotifers. The luxuriant Ward Hunt consortia also contain high concentrations (10(7)-10(8) cm-2) of viruses and heterotrophic bacteria. During periods of extensive ice cover, such as glaciations during the Proterozoic, cryotolerant mats of the type now found in these polar ice shelf ecosystems would have provided refugia for the survival, growth and evolution of a variety of organisms, including multicellular eukaryotes.

Paleobiological approaches reveal the long-term (Myr) survival of Antarctic terrestrial, marine and freshwater fauna in glacial refugia, which provides constraints for models of past ice sheet extent.

Mixing in Ellis Fjord, Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica, is controlled by processes which are influenced by the extent of ice formation. A study of water temperature and salinity at a site near the middle of the fjord was undertaken from May 1994 to February 1995 after a summer (1993–94) in which the ice cover of the fjord was largely retained. Vertical mixing resulting from the exclusion of salt during the limited winter formation of ice was insufficient to mix completely the non-meromictic basins of the fjord. In contrast, a previous study during a winter with far more ice production recorded much stronger vertical mixing throughout the fjord. Warming and freshening of the fjord during the 1994–95 summer, when the ice again did not melt significantly, was attributable to the flow of warmer, less saline water along the fjord. This process was probably related to the formation of tidal jets at the narrow and shallow entrance to the fjord, and was thus influenced by the ice conditions around the entrance. These jets would also have introduced significant amounts of extra-fjord water (along with any resident biota) into the fjord.

The annual cycle of dissolved nutrients and the fugacity of CO2 (fCO2), calculated from the concentration of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and pH, was studied over a 14-month long period (December 1993 to February 1995) at a site in Prydz Bay near Davis Station, Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica. Significant spring decreases in fCO2 began under the sea-ice in mid-October, when both water column and sea-ice algal activity resulted in the removal of nutrients and DIC and increased pH. Minimum fCO2 (

The major influences on the salinity and water level of an Antarctic lake are parameterized and a palaeohydrological model linking the palaeosalinity of an Antarctic lake to the palaeohydrology of the lake is developed. Climatic change in this lake is recorded in the evaporative loss trend reconstructed from water level and lakewater salinity estimates. A decrease in salinity betweeñ700 and 200 years BP corresponds with c. 5 m increase in water level over the same time period. Both water level and lakewater salinity then stabilize in the last ~200 years BP. The palaeohydrological model derived from the changes inferred in salinity and water level shows that there is no significant change in evaporation for the last ~700 years but that a lower evaporation period is evident at ~150–200 years BP suggestive of a mild ‘Little Ice Age’ event in the Vestfold Hills.

Thirty-four permanently stratified water bodies were identified in a survey of the Vestfold Hills. Of these, 21 were lakes, six were seasonally isolated marine basins (SIMBs), and seven were marine basins with year round connection to the open ocean. The basins varied markedly in salinity (4 g l−1 to 235 g l−1), temperature (−14°C to 24°C), depth (5 m to 110 m), area (3.6 ha to 146 ha) and surface level (−30 m to 29 m above sea level). The stratification in all the basins was maintained by increases in salinity. During winter, a thermohaline convection cell was present in all lakes and SIMBs directly beneath the ice cover. These cells were the result of brine exclusion from the forming ice, and increased in density throughout winter, penetrating progressively deeper into the lake. Minimum stability, and therefore the maximum likelihood of turnover, occurred at the time of maximum ice formation in spring. At the end of the period of ice formation, the convection cell broke down, and stratification of the surface water occurred. When the ice melted completely, lenses of relatively fresh water capped the lakes, which reduced the effect of wind mixing. Net meltwater input increased the stability of the meromictic basins, while periods of lower water level resulted in deeper penetration of the thermohaline convection cell, increasing the possibility of turnover and destratification.

Modern and Pleistocene polar carbonates occur in East Antarctica in shelf, coast, lakes and marginal to underneath glaciers, associated mainly with glacigene muds, boulder tills and diamictites. Shelf carbonates (in Prydz Bay) are calcitic and unlithified, and consist mainly of sponges, bryozoans, echinoderms, bivalves and diatoms. Coastal carbonates (in the Vestfold Hills) are calcitic and contain faunal assemblages similar to those on the shelf, with calcareous algae, microbial mats, minor peloids and cements. Lake carbonates are aragonitic micrites and peloids. Carbonates close to glaciers (the Loken Moraines) are aragonitic and contain abundant ooids with intragranular fibrous cements. Subglacial carbonates are aragonitic micrites and peloids. Carbonate mineralogy changes from mainly low-Mg calcite in marine shelf to aragonite in brackish to freshwater dominated inland regions.

Patchiness in the horizontal distribution of sympagic organisms was studied at an Antarctic coastal site during autumn. A hierarchical sampling design (nested ANOVA) was used to assess variation in the biota on scales from metres to kilometres. Metazoan abundance, chlorophyll concentration and salinity were measured in 54 sea ice cores. The metazoan fauna was dominated by nauplii of the copepod Paralabidocera antarctica (6 × 104 to 4 × 105 m−2). Other copepods present included Stephos longipes, Oncaea curvata, Oithona similis, Ctenocalanus citer, and unidentified harpacticoid copepods. Chlorophyll a concentrations were generally much higher than values recorded at other sites at the same time of the year, reaching a maximum of 78 mg m−2. Metazoan abundances did not correlate strongly with chlorophyll or salinity. Significant variability in abundance of P. antarctica and O. similis, and chlorophyll concentration occurred at the scale of kilometres, whereas salinity and other metazoan abundances were not significantly variable at any of the scales examined. Considerable variation was evident at scales of less than one metre.

Chlorophyll a, primary productivity and grazing by copepods on phytoplankton were measured in the upper water column during the summer of 1994/1995 at a coastal site near Davis Station, East Antarctica. Chlorophyll a was at a maximum in mid-December, then dropped markedly as the coastal fast ice melted and broke‐out. Phytoplankton biomass increased again from mid‐ to late‐February. Copepods accounted for at least 65% of zooplankton biomass in the water column before sea ice break‐out, whereas larval polychaetes and ctenophores dominated after ice break‐out. Oncaeacurvata was the numerically dominant species throughout the study. The highest grazing rate (8.7 mg C␣m−3␣d−1) was recorded on 21 December when O.␣curvata accounted for 64% of the total. Grazing had decreased markedly by 28 December (0.9 mg C m−3 d−1); again O. curvata accounted for over 50% of the total ingested. Copepod grazing increased after ice break-out until the last experiment on 20 February (⋍5 mg C␣m−3␣d−1). The main species responsible for grazing during this period were O. curvata, Oithonasimilis, Calanoidesacutus and unidentified copepod nauplii. It was estimated that copepods removed between 1 and 5% of primary productivity.

The autotrophic ciliate Mesodinium rubrum Lohmann was observed during winter and spring in saline lakes ranging in salinity from 2 to 78‰ in the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica. The ciliate remained active during winter, and contained chlorophyll even though the level of light available for photosynthesis was minimal. No evidence of encystment as a means of survival during winter was observed. A seasonal study in one of the lakes, Ace Lake, revealed that M. rubrum was present throughout the year at abundances ranging from 1×104 to 3.5×105 cells l-1. During the winter period, when little light penetrated the lake’s ice cover, cells were most common immediately under the ice at 2 m, where cell numbers were typically 8×104 cells l-1.

Polar oceans are chemically sensitive to anthropogenic acidification due to their relatively low alkalinity and correspondingly weak carbonate buffering capacity. Here, we compare unique CO2 system observations covering complete annual cycles at an Arctic (Amundsen Gulf) and Antarctic site (Prydz Bay). The Arctic site experiences greater seasonal warming (10 vs 3°C) and freshening (3 vs 2), has lower alkalinity (2220 vs 2320 μmol/kg) and lower summer pH (8.15 vs 8.5), than the Antarctic site. Despite a larger uptake of inorganic carbon by summer photosynthesis, the Arctic carbon system exhibits smaller seasonal changes than the more alkaline Antarctic system. In addition, the excess surface nutrients in the Antarctic may allow mitigation of acidification, via CO2 removal by enhanced summer production driven by iron inputs from glacial and sea-ice melting. These differences suggest that the Arctic system is more vulnerable to anthropogenic change due to lower alkalinity, enhanced warming and nutrient limitation.

We review the post-glacial climate variability along the East Antarctic coastline using terrestrial and shallow marine geological records and compare these reconstructions with data from elsewhere. Nearly all East Antarctic records show a near-synchronous Early Holocene climate optimum (11.5-9 ka BP), coinciding with the deglaciation of currently ice-free regions and the optimum recorded in Antarctic ice and marine sediment cores. Shallow marine and coastal terrestrial climate anomalies appear to be out of phase after the Early Holocene warm period, and show complex regional patterns, but an overall trend of cooling in the terrestrial records. A Mid to Late Holocene warm period is present in many East Antarctic lake and shallow coastal marine records. Although there are some differences in the regional timing of this warm period, it typically occurs somewhere between 4.7 and 1 ka BP, which overlaps with a similar optimum found in Antarctic Peninsula terrestrial records. The differences in the timing of these sometimes abrupt warm events in different records and regions points to a number of mechanisms that we have yet to identify. Nearly all records show a neoglacial cooling from 2 ka BP onwards. There is no evidence along the East Antarctic coastline for an equivalent to the Northern Hemisphere Medieval Warm Period and there is only weak circumstantial evidence in a few places for a cool event crudely equivalent in time to the Northern Hemisphere's Little Ice Age. There is a need for well-dated, high resolution climate records in coastal East Antarctica and particularly in Terre Adelie, Dronning Maud Land and Enderby Land to fully understand the regional climate anomalies, the disparity between marine and terrestrial records, and to determine the significance of the heterogeneous temperature trends being measured in the Antarctic today. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.

Nathalie A.Cabrol,EdmondA.Grin, GuillermoChong,EdwinMinkley,AndrewN. Hock,Youngseob Yu, Leslie Bebout, Erich Fleming, Donat P. Ha¨der, Cecilia Demergasso,John Gibson, Lorena Escudero, Cristina Dorador, Darlene Lim, Clayton Woosley,Robert L. Morris, Cristian Tambley, Victor Gaete, Matthieu E. Galvez,Eric Smith, Ingrid Ukstins Peate, Carlos Salazar, G. Dawidowicz, and J. Majerowicz

[1] The High Lakes Project is a multidisciplinary astrobiological investigation studying high-altitude lakes between 4200 m and 6000 m elevation in the Central Andes of Bolivia and Chile. Its primary objective is to understand the impact of increased environmental stress on the modification of lake habitability potential during rapid climate change as an analogy to early Mars. Their unique geophysical environment and mostly uncharted ecosystems have added new objectives to the project, including the assessment of the impact of low-ozone/high solar irradiance in nonpolar aquatic environments, the documentation of poorly known ecosystems, and the quantification of the impact of climate change on lake environment and ecosystem. Data from 2003 to 2007 show that UV flux is 165% that of sea level with maximum averaged UVB reaching 4 W/m2. Short UV wavelengths (260–270 nm) were recorded and peaked at 14.6 mW/m2. High solar irradiance occurs in an atmosphere permanently depleted in ozone falling below ozone hole definition for 33–36 days and between 30 and 35% depletion the rest of the year. The impact of strong UVB and UV erythemally weighted daily dose on life is compounded by broad daily temperature variations with sudden and sharp fluctuations. Lake habitat chemistry is highly dynamical with notable changes in yearly ion concentrations and pH resulting from low and variable yearly precipitation. The year-round combination of environmental variables define these lakes as end-members. In such an environment, they host ecosystems that include a significant fraction of previously undescribed species of zooplankton, cyanobacterial, and bacterial populations.

Ice covers all but the most saline of the Vestfold Hills' lakes for about 8–12 months of each year and precludes wind-induced turbulent mixing over the winter, when strong winds are most frequent. Nevertheless, the progressive growth of ice volume through the austral winter and spring months generates haline convection capable of mixing the water column to a depth at least as great as that achieved by wind-induced turbulence in the summer ice-free period. Further, cold and very saline brines may form at the shallow periphery of a lake and flow downslope, penetrating to the lake centre below the convectively mixed layer. Detailed temperature profiles of hypersaline Organic Lake provide the first evidence for these density currents in saline lakes of the Vestfold Hills. These data indicate a dynamic responsiveness to periods of relatively cold weather, and that the resulting density currents may be sufficiently small in volume to have little effect on the anoxia of bottom layers in these meromictic lakes. Alternating periods of negative and positive water balance may also be significant in the formation and destruction of meromixis in these saline lakes, which lack outflow streams. If a lake has been through a period of negative water balance, becoming relatively more saline, and then begins to be diluted during a subsequent period of positive water balance, the winter haline convection will penetrate to progressively shallower depths and deeper layers may stagnate, marking the onset of meromixis. An increase in the water level of Organic Lake over ten years indicates the speed with which the Vestfold Hills' lakes may experience significant change in salinity despite the generally small catchments of these lakes.

A survey of reduced sulfur gases in the lakes of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica, was undertaken to elucidate the environmental factors affecting the distribution of these compounds. The oxygenated water of all lakes was found to contain low levels of dimethylsulfide (DMS) (0–30 nM) and no other sulfur compounds. The meromictic lakes show considerable variation in the speciation and concentration of the reduced sulfur compounds present in the anoxic bottom water. Meromictic lakes of low salinity (< 80%) possessed anoxylimnia nearly devoid of dimethylsulfide (DMS) but with high concentrations of H2S. In these lakes it appeared that rates of degradation of DMS were as fast as production. Lakes of intermediate salinity (80–185%) had high concentrations of both sulfur species while lakes of salinity greater than 185% had no H2S but high concentrations of DMS. The absence of hydrogen sulfide was attributed to the absence of sulfate-reducing bacteria. The observed DMS concentrations were the result of the balance between the production and degradation of DMS by bacteria. At high salt concentrations either the degradation processes became relatively less efficient or more DMS was produced in response to increased salinity.

The concentrations of dimethylsulfide (DMS), dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) were measured in water collected from the Southern Ocean 10 km offshore from Davis Station, Antarctica, during the period May 1987 to January 1988, inclusive. During winter and spring, when the sea-ice was up to 1.9 m thick, DMS, DMSP and DMSO concentrations were low (0.2 to 1.5 nM), as were phytoplankton numbers. The maximum concentration of the sulfur compounds generally occurred in the top 10 m of the water column. DMS levels rose dramatically from early December onwards, reaching a peak of 290 nM at a depth of 15 m in January. This concentration is higher than reported elsewhere in the ocean. These high concentrations occurred at the same time as a bloom of the algaPhaeocystis pouchetii. A significant correlation occurred between DMS concentration and cell numbers of the alga. The ratio of DMS concentration to the number of cells of the alga was considerably higher than reported for blooms of this species elsewhere in the ocean. Up to 10% of the total global flux of DMS to the atmosphere may emanate from antarctic seas.

The biogeography of Antarctic lacustrine diatoms is incompletely known due in part to the absence of information from some important ice-free regions. In the first detailed study of the diatoms of the Bunger Hills, 29 species were identified in near-edge microbial mats of lakes ranging in salinity from fresh to 77‰. Most of the species present had previously been recorded in other East Antarctic coastal oases. The distribution and relative abundance of diatoms within the Bunger Hills were strongly influenced by salinity, but other factors, notably the characteristics of lakes in the immediate area of a particular lake, also played important roles.

The observed threefold changes in &#937 ARAG shown here over a few months are of the same order of magnitude as those conditions used in artificial laboratory CO2 experiments. This makes the Antarctic coastal oceans a perfect natural mesocosm to investigate resilience of Southern Ocean marine ecosystems to ocean acidification.

Reports of severe stratospheric ozone depletion over the Arctic have heightened concern about the potential impact of rising ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation on north polar aquatic ecosystems. Our optical measurements and modelling results indicate that the ozone-related UV-B influence on food web processes in the Arctic Ocean is likely to be small relative to the effects caused by variation in the concentrations of natural UV-absorbing compounds, known as chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM), that enter the Arctic basin via its large river inflows. The aim of our present study was to develop and apply a simple bio-optical index that takes into account the combined effects of attenuation by atmospheric ozone and water column CDOM, and photobiological weighting for high-latitude environments such as the Arctic Ocean. To this end, we computed values for a biologically effective UV dose rate parameter ("weighted transparency" or T*) based on underwater UV measurements in high-latitude lakes and rivers that discharge into the Arctic Ocean; measured incident UV radiation at Barrow, Alaska; and published biological weighting curves for UV-induced DNA damage and UV photoinhibition of photosynthesis. The results underscore how strongly the Arctic Ocean is influenced by riverine inputs: shifts in CDOM loading (e.g., through climate change, land-use practices, or changes in ocean circulation) can cause variations in biological UV exposure of much greater magnitude than ozone-related effects.

The occurrence of high chlorophyll-a concentrations (up to 11.6μgl−1) at shallow depths within Ellis Fjord, eastern Antarctica, during spring and summer, coincided with the development of a stratified water column. Macronutrient concentrations during periods of high chlorophyll-a levels were very low. Phosphate concentrations decreased to 0.2 μM, nitrate to 0.4 μM and silicate to 3.9 μM. High rates of nutrient depletion early in the season can be explained by strong sea-ice algal mat development. An Si∶N∶P uptake ratio of 25.5∶13.8∶1 indicates a strong demand for silicate. Minimum silicate levels were below those necessary for maximum diatom growth and probably contributed to the successional shift from diatoms to phytoflagellates.

Ellis Fjord, located in the Vestfold Hills of East Antarctica (68.5°S, 78°E), exhibits a range of environments, from essentially marine at its sea-ward end, to permanently stratified basins with hypersaline brines at its inland end. The drainage basin of the fjord contains small areas of mosses and lichens, but no higher plants, and supplies fresh water to the fjord in ephemeral summer melt streams. Direct anthropogenic inputs are negligible or non-existent, as are those from other mammals and birds. The fjord exhibits unusual biological and chemical properties, and offers the opportunity to study oceanic processes in isolation and at small scales. It also has the logistical advantage of proximity to the facilities of Australia's year-round Davis research station.

Organic matter collected in sediment traps at a nearshore marine site in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica, displayed a pronounced seasonal variation in carbon isotopes (expressed as δ 13 C OM ). Winter values were fairly constant near −20‰ before increasing to above −15‰ in response to inputs from sea-ice algae in early spring. Particulate organic matter obtained directly from sea-ice cores exhibited very high δ 13 C OM values, typically −15‰ but as much as −8‰, much above the values of organic matter suspended in the water column below the sea ice. The sea-ice algae contributed ∼20% of the annual flux of organic matter, and the δ 13 C OM measurements from a sediment core at the site suggest that this value is representative of the recent past. All of these carbon isotopic compositions are considerably above the extremely δ 13 C-depleted compositions (generally −25‰ to −30‰) that have been found in many other Antarctic and Southern Ocean studies. The elevated δ 13 C OM values derive from considerable depletion of dissolved carbon dioxide and nutrients within the sea ice and to a lesser extent within stratified surface waters induced by melting sea ice. Thus, elevated δ 13 C OM values in Southern Ocean sediment cores may indicate the presence of sea-ice-hosted algae, rather than temperature or surface CO 2 pressure ( p CO 2 ) variations.

Dimethylsulfide (DMS) concentrations in seawater collected on a regular basis from May 1987 until February 1988 at a site 10 km offshore from Australia's Davis antarctic research station (68°35’ S, 77°52’ E) were measured and found, during a bloom of the unicellular alga Phaeocystis pouchetii, to be higher (up to 290 nM) than any previously reported for the ocean. A correlation was found between DMS levels and cell numbers of P. pouchetii. The amount of DMS present in the water samples per cell of the alga in this study was found to be significantly higher than recorded in two studies in the Northern Hemisphere. The seawater concentrations of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), the biological precursor of DMS, was also measured and was found to be present for most of the year at levels above that of DMS. The results suggest that it is possible that the antarctic region contributes significantly to the atmospheric sulfur budget.