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As a result of intensive field activities carried out by several nations over the past 15 years, a set of accumulation measurements for western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, was collected, based on firn-core drilling and snow-pit sampling. This new information was supplemented by earlier data taken from the literature, resulting in 111 accumulation values. Using Geographical Information Systems software, a first region-wide mean annual snow-accumulation field was derived. In order to define suitable interpolation criteria, the accumulation records were analyzed with respect to their spatial autocorrelation and statistical properties. The resulting accumulation pattern resembles well- known characteristics such as a relatively wet coastal area with a sharp transition to the dry interior, but also reveals complex topographic effects. Furthermore, this work identifies new high-return shallowdrilling sites by uncovering areas of insufficient sampling density.

Siste halvdel av 1950-tallet var en viktig periode i norsk hvalfangst. Norge, som tidligere hadde vært den dominerende hvalfangstnasjonen, var som resultat av hard konkurranse kommet på defensiven i forhold til de andre hvalfangstnasjonene. Den høye hvaloljeprisen, som blant annet var forårsaket av Europas fettbehov i kjølvannet av den andre verdenskrig, resulterte i at nye nasjoner etter krigen engasjerte seg i hvalfangst. For å sikre seg en størst mulig andel av totalkvoten ønsket Sovjetunionen og Japan nå å foreta en kraftig utbygging av sine fangstflåter, noe som ville gjøre situasjonen enda vanskeligere for den norske hvalfangstnæringen. Det var av største viktighet at denne ekspansjonen ble stoppet, siden dette spørsmålet i norske hvalfangstkretser ble oppfattet som et være eller ikke være for norsk hvalfangst. De norske hvalfangstselskapene startet derfor en kampanje for å få regjeringen til å stanse de to landenes utbyggingsplaner. Mitt hovedfokus i denne oppgaven vil være å belyse hvalfangstnæringens rolle i utformingen av den norske hvalfangstpolitikken på 1950-tallet. For å kunne gi et svar på dette spørsmålet har jeg tatt for meg to av hvalfangstpolitikkens viktigste saker dette tiåret. Den første dreier seg om den nevnte kampen for å stanse Sovjetunionens og Japans ekspansjonsplaner, mens den andre dreier seg om kampen for en ordning med nasjonale kvoter. En studie av disse to sakene gir også innsyn i næringen som helhet. I tillegg til å kartlegge hvalfangstnæringens politiske innflytelse vil det også være viktig å gi en fremstilling av utviklingen innen hvalfangstreguleringen i denne perioden, altså siste halvdel av 1950-tallet. Med begrepet norsk hvalfangstpolitikk, mener jeg den politikken regjeringen utformet og som blant annet ble presentert på de årlige møtene i Den internasjonale hvalfangskommisjonen (IWC). For å kunne gi et godt svar på problemstillingen er det nødvendig å besvare flere underliggende spørsmål. Hvalfangstselskapene organiserte seg tidlig gjennom dannelsen av Norges Hvalfangstforbund. Dette var en organisasjon som kjempet for at hvalfangstredernes interesser ble ivaretatt. Hvalfangstrederne var i tillegg representert i Hvalrådet. Dette var et statlig organ som hadde en rådgivende funksjon i regjeringens utarbeidelse av den norske hvalfangstpolitikken. Følgende spørsmål blir derfor viktige i mitt arbeid: Hvilken rolle spilte Norges Hvalfangstforbund i utformingen av den norske hvalfangstpolitikken? Hvordan opererte næringens representanter for å få gjennomslag for sine interesser i Hvalrådet? Det vil også være nødvendig å kartlegge sammenhengen mellom Hvalrådet og regjeringen. I hvilken grad var Hvalrådets uttalelser utslagsgivende for den endelige norske hvalfangstpolitikken? Bortsett fra tiden da Norge stod utenfor Den internasjonale hvalfangstkonvensjonen, sendte landet hvert år en delegasjon til kommisjonens årlige møter. Det vil være viktig å undersøke i hvilken grad næringen var representert i disse delegasjonene. Møtte den norske delegasjonen med bundet mandat, eller hadde den en viss frihet til å forhandle? Mot slutten av oppgaven ønsker jeg å se komparativt på hvalfangstnæringens politiske innflytelse i forhold til landbruket og fiskerinæringen i den samme perioden. Oppnådde hvalfangstnæringen større politisk innflytelse sammenliknet med disse næringene, og hva skyldtes i tilfelle dette?

Macrobenthic soft-bottom molluscs were sampled in 30 stations located in the Bellingshausen Sea at depths ranging from 90 to 3304 m. The samples were collected using a quantitative grab box-corer during the cruises BENTART 03, from 24 January to 3 March 2003, and BENTART 06, from 2 January to 16 February 2006. Molluscs represent 1074 specimens belonging to 62 species of Polyplacophora, Gastropoda, Bivalvia and Scaphopoda. The bivalve Cyamiocardium denticulatum was the most abundant species (448 specimens). The abundance per station varied between 1 and 446 specimens. The Shannon–Wiener diversity index ranged between one specimen and 2.36, the Pielou evenness index ranged between 0.00 and 1 and species richness ranged from 1 to 14 species. Diversity showed great variations at different stations. After multivariate analysis (cluster analysis and nonmetrical multidimensional scaling) based on Bray–Curtis similarities, we were able to separate two principal clusters. The first cluster groups together species from shallower bottoms near Peter I Island and the Antarctic Peninsula, and the second cluster groups together species from deeper bottoms in the Bellingshausen Sea. The combination of environmental variables with the highest correlations with faunistic data was that of depth and coarse sand at the surface.

This review concerns crustaceans that associate with sea ice. Particular emphasis is placed on comparing and contrasting the Arctic and Antarctic sea ice habitats, and the subsequent influence of these environments on the life history strategies of the crustacean fauna. Sea ice is the dominant feature of both polar marine ecosystems, playing a central role in physical processes and providing an essential habitat for organisms ranging in size from viruses to whales. Similarities between the Arctic and Antarctic marine ecosystems include variable cover of sea ice over an annual cycle, a light regimen that can extend from months of total darkness to months of continuous light and a pronounced seasonality in primary production. Although there are many similarities, there are also major differences between the two regions: The Antarctic experiences greater seasonal change in its sea ice extent, much of the ice is over very deep water and more than 80% breaks out each year. In contrast, Arctic sea ice often covers comparatively shallow water, doubles in its extent on an annual cycle and the ice may persist for several decades. Crustaceans, particularly copepods and amphipods, are abundant in the sea ice zone at both poles, either living within the brine channel system of the ice‐crystal matrix or inhabiting the ice–water interface. Many species associate with ice for only a part of their life cycle, while others appear entirely dependent upon it for reproduction and development. Although similarities exist between the two faunas, many differences are emerging. Most notable are the much higher abundance and biomass of Antarctic copepods, the dominance of the Antarctic sea ice copepod fauna by calanoids, the high euphausiid biomass in Southern Ocean waters and the lack of any species that appear fully dependent on the ice. In the Arctic, the ice‐associated fauna is dominated by amphipods. Calanoid copepods are not tightly associated with the ice, while harpacticoids and cyclopoids are abundant. Euphausiids are nearly absent from the high Arctic. Life history strategies are variable, although reproductive cycles and life spans are generally longer than those for temperate congeners. Species at both poles tend to be opportunistic feeders and periods of diapause or other reductions in metabolic expenditure are not uncommon.

Precise knowledge of the phase relationship between climate changes in the two hemispheres is a key for understanding the Earth’s climate dynamics. For the last glacial period, ice core studies1,2 have revealed strong coupling of the largest millennial-scale warm events in Antarctica with the longest Dansgaard–Oeschger events in Greenland3,4,5 through the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation6,7,8. It has been unclear, however, whether the shorter Dansgaard–Oeschger events have counterparts in the shorter and less prominent Antarctic temperature variations, and whether these events are linked by the same mechanism. Here we present a glacial climate record derived from an ice core from Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, which represents South Atlantic climate at a resolution comparable with the Greenland ice core records. After methane synchronization with an ice core from North Greenland9, the oxygen isotope record from the Dronning Maud Land ice core shows a one-to-one coupling between all Antarctic warm events and Greenland Dansgaard–Oeschger events by the bipolar seesaw6. The amplitude of the Antarctic warm events is found to be linearly dependent on the duration of the concurrent stadial in the North, suggesting that they all result from a similar reduction in the meridional overturning circulation.

In 1970 the fourth and final volume of Arne Odd Johnsen and Joh. N. Tønnessens’s Den moderne hvalfangsts historie was published. The work represented a milestone in the writing about the development of the 20th century whaling industry. This paper reviews the literature that has been published in Norway and internationally on the history of modern whaling after Johnsen and Tønnessen, and analyses the focus, trends and direction in the research and writing on whaling history in the period.

Our knowledge of the biodiversity of the Southern Ocean (SO) deep benthos is scarce. In this review, we describe the general biodiversity patterns of meio-, macro- and megafaunal taxa, based on historical and recent expeditions, and against the background of the geological events and phylogenetic relationships that have influenced the biodiversity and evolution of the investigated taxa. The relationship of the fauna to environmental parameters, such as water depth, sediment type, food availability and carbonate solubility, as well as species interrelationships, probably have shaped present-day biodiversity patterns as much as evolution. However, different taxa exhibit different large-scale biodiversity and biogeographic patterns. Moreover, there is rarely any clear relationship of biodiversity pattern with depth, latitude or environmental parameters, such as sediment composition or grain size. Similarities and differences between the SO biodiversity and biodiversity of global oceans are outlined. The high percentage (often more than 90%) of new species in almost all taxa, as well as the high degree of endemism of many groups, may reflect undersampling of the area, and it is likely to decrease as more information is gathered about SO deep-sea biodiversity by future expeditions. Indeed, among certain taxa such as the Foraminifera, close links at the species level are already apparent between deep Weddell Sea faunas and those from similar depths in the North Atlantic and Arctic. With regard to the vertical zonation from the shelf edge into deep water, biodiversity patterns among some taxa in the SO might differ from those in other deep-sea areas, due to the deep Antarctic shelf and the evolution of eurybathy in many species, as well as to deep-water production that can fuel the SO deep sea with freshly produced organic matter derived not only from phytoplankton, but also from ice algae.

Different organochlorine compounds (OCs) were measured in the blood of breeding south polar skuas (Catharacta maccormicki) at Svarthamaren, Dronning Maud Land (Antarctica) and compared to those in two species of northern hemisphere gulls:  the Arctic glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus) and the subarctic great black-backed gull (Larus marinus). The skuas had 8% and 29% of the ∑OC levels (45 ng/g, wet weight) of glaucous gulls (591 ng/g) and great black-backed gulls (158 ng/g), respectively. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and p,p‘-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p‘-DDE) were very low in skuas compared to northern gulls, but the mean hexachlorobenzene (HCB) level was 1.7 times higher than in great black-backed gulls and one-third of the glaucous gull level. Mirex levels in skuas were among the highest reported in birds, the mean level being 3 and 26 times higher than those in glaucous gull and great black-backed gulls, respectively. In skuas, the mean levels of HCB, oxychlordane, p,p‘-DDE, and PCBs increased by about 30% during a 2-week period, and mirex increased by nearly 60%. In glacuous gulls, HCB, p,p‘-DDE, and PCBs increased by 10−20%. For HCB, mirex, and oxychlordane, only a relatively small proportion of the increase in skuas could be explained by changes in lipid pools and the levels at first sampling, compared to glaucous gulls. Thus, skuas were probably accumulating these compounds when present in Antarctica. p,p‘-DDE and PCB levels, in contrast, seemed much more stable in the skuas. Relatively high levels of mirex and HCB in south polar skuas are concerning with regard to potential adverse effects.

The seasonal haul-out pattern of itinerant male Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) was determined by regular counts at Mossman Peninsula, Laurie Island, South Orkney Islands, from 1996 to 2005. Small numbers of animals began to arrive at the beach in late December / early January (mean date 28 December ± 15 days, n = 10). Peak numbers of animals ashore changed considerably between seasons. In 1996, 1998 and 2001, peak numbers were registered in March (6/3, 18/3 and 6/3, respectively). Numbers peaked in 1997, 1999 and 2005 at the end of January / beginning of February (26/1, 2/2 and 28/1, respectively). In 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004 peaks were registered in the third week of February (15/2, 22/2, 14/2 and 20/2, respectively). Peaks in numbers of seals ashore also varied between years, being minimum during 2001 (2531 individuals) and maximum during 2006 (16 610 individuals). In March 1998 the coasts of Laurie Island were surveyed by navigating inflatable boats near the shoreline; 18 haul-out places were identified. The big differences in peak numbers, as well as in the dates of peak events among years, suggest that local conditions could have an effect on the numbers of animals hauled out in a given year. It may therefore be difficult to predict trends from summer censuses in non-breeding places.