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During the austral summer of 1996/1997 we studied south polar skuas at Svarthamaren, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, where the world's largest known colony of Antarctic petrels is found. Our censuses suggested approximately 250 full-grown skuas and 140,000 breeding pairs of petrels were present. During their breeding season, skuas did not visit the open sea at least 200 km from the site; they relied entirely on prey caught and scavenged from the petrel colony. Because the site is so isolated, we asked whether the prey (petrels) had swamped the predators (skuas), or whether there was evidence that predator numbers were limited by the size of the prey population. Particularly at the end of the petrel incubation period, we found a close correspondence between the energy required by adult skuas and their chicks, ascertained from time budget studies, and the rate at which petrel eggs disappeared from the colony. This suggests that, in this closed system, the predator population was limited by the prey population, and that predator swamping was not an advantage that petrels gained by nesting in this remote location.

In the region of the Schirmacheroase (71 °S, 12°E) various geodetic and glaciological research activities have been carried out in the last decade. Several times three geodetic-glaciological traverses were undertaken to study ice velocity, accumulation and ablation, and ice surface height changes. Repeated ground surveys show a significant decrease in surface heights by about 15 cm/y for a large blue-ice area. This paper presents the first interferometrically derived ice velocity field of the inland ice close to the Schirmacheroase. The interferometric analysis of the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data is performed in combination with ground-based information. Since only ERS-1&2 tandem mission image couples are available for this region a digital elevation model (DEM) is used to remove the effect of topography. Ice velocities up to 100 m/y are proved interferometrically for this part of the inland ice.

The main purpose of the present paper is to estimate the orthometric height of the GPS-station at Troll, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Located at approximately 1300 m Troll has been connected to the GIANT-network, but it's orthometric height remains undetermined. A local geoid has been determined based on available gravity anomalies and vertical angle mesurements. Information about the ice-thickness has been included in the terrain model. Based on tidal measurements the mean sea level was determined in Jutulgryta, a rift zone in the Fimbulisen ice shelf. Several gravity- and GPS-stations were measured between the two points (Jutulgryta and Troll), a distance of approximately 100 km.

As part of the pre-site survey in Dronning Maud Land for the European Project for Ice Goring in Antarctica (EPICA), the spatial variability of snow-layer thickness and snow chemistry was studied at two geographically different ice-core drill sites. The study aimed to quantify error bars on accumulation rates derived from firn and ice cores. One site is located on the polar plateau at Amundsenisen (76° S, 8° W) and the other in the coastal area at Maudheimvidda (73° S, 13° W). Medium-deep ice cores (100 m) and shallow firn cores (10-20 m) were drilled and snow pits (0.5-2 5 m) were dug at each site. At Amundsenisen a large (16 m x 6 m x 2.5 m deep) snow pit was dug. Snow structure in this large snow pit was mapped using optical surveying equipment, and photographically documented. Samples for analysis of nine ions and oxygen isotopes were collected along one depth profile. Density and in situ electrical conductivity measurements were made along three depth profiles! Snow-layer variability was studied in two different areas and at two different scales. At a regional scale, measured by snow-radar soundings, the variability was 8% on the polar plateau and 45% in the coastal area. The variability at a micro-scale in the large snow pit was 9%. The results indicate that ice cores from the polar plateau are more representative for a larger area than ice cores drilled in the coastal area There is no doubt that there are significant error bars on high-resolution accumulation data received from firn and ice cores, especially from the coastal area, but averaging over tens of years reduces the error in accumulation estimates.

During 1996-97 a European Project for Ice Goring in Antarctica (EPIGA) pre-site surveying traverse worked in the area between 70° S, 5° E and 75° S, 15° E in Dronning Maud Land. We present data obtained from 10 and 20 m deep firn cores drilled between the coast and 600 km inland (to 3450 m a.s.l.). The cores were analyzed for electrical conductivity measurements and total β activity to obtain accumulation data between known time horizons. In addition, some of the cores were analyzed for oxygen isotopes. Annual accumulation varies from 271 mm we. at Fimbulisen to 24 mm we at 2840 m a.s.l. Accumulation at core sites 2400-3000 m a.s.l. has increased by 16-48% since 1965 compared to the 1955-65 period. However, the core sites above 3250 m a.s.l. and one core location on the ice shelf show a decrease during the same period. Furthermore, no change can be detected at the most inland site for the period 1815-1996. In all the cores the last few years seem to have been some of the warmest in these records.

In the near coastal regions of Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, below-surface ice-melt in blue-ice areas has been observed. The low scattering coefficients of the large-grained blue-ice allow penetration of solar radiation, thus providing an energy source below the ice surface. The sub-surface meltwater is significant enough to show up on remote-sensing imagery in the form of ice-covered lakes. Adjacent snow-accumulation areas have much higher scattering coefficients and consequently limit solar radiation penetration in these regions. These snow and ice surfaces are generally below freezing, and little surface melting occurs. To assess the response of these melt features to changes in atmospheric forcings such as cloudiness, air temperature, and snow accumulation, a physically-based model of the coupled atmosphere, radiation, snow, and blue-ice system has been developed. The model consists of a heat transfer equation with a spectrally-dependent solar-radiation source term. The penetration of radiation into the snow and blue-ice depends on the surface albedo, and the snow and blue-ice grain size and density. Model simulations show that ice melt occurring in this area is sensitive to potential variations in atmospheric forcing. Under certain conditions more traditional surface melting occurs and, under other conditions, the existing melt processes can be shut down completely. In light of the sensitivity of this system to variations in atmospheric forcing, and the ability to view melt-related features using remote sensing, a tool exists to efficiently monitor variations in Antarctic coastal climate.

In the Jutulgryta area of Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, subsurface melting of the ice sheet has been observed. The melting takes place during the summer months in blue-ice areas under conditions of below-freezing air and surface temperatures. Adjacent snow-covered regions, having the same meteorological and climatic conditions, experience little or no subsurface melting. To help explain and understand the observed melt-rate differences in the blue-ice and snow-covered areas, a physically based numerical model of the coupled atmosphere, radiation, snow and blue-ice system has been developed. The model comprises a heat-transfer equation which includes a spectrally dependent solar-radiation source term. The penetration of radiation into the snow and blue ice depends on the solar-radiation spectrum, the surface albedo and the snow and blue-ice grain-sizes and densities. In addition, the model uses a complete surface energy balance to define the surface boundary conditions. It is run over the full annual cycle, simulating temperature profiles and melting and freezing quantities throughout the summer and winter seasons. The model is driven and validated using field observations collected during the Norwegian Antarctic Research Expedition (NARE) 1996–97. The simulations suggest that the observed differences between subsurface snow and blue-ice melting can be explained largely by radiative and heat-transfer interactions resulting from differences in albedo, grain-size and density between the two mediums.

Temperature, density and accumulation data were obtained from shallow firn cores, drilled during an overland traverse through a previously unknown part of Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. The traverse area is characterised by high mountains that obstruct the ice flow, resulting in a sudden transition from the polar plateau to the coastal region. The spatial variations of potential temperature, near-surface firn density and accumulation suggest that katabatic winds are active in this region. Proxy wind data derived from firn-density profiles confirm that annual mean wind speed is strongly related to the magnitude of the surface slope. The high elevation of the ice sheet south of the mountains makes for a dry, cold climate, in which mass loss owing to sublimation is small and erosion of snow by the wind has a potentially large impact on the surface mass balance. A simple katabatic-wind model is used to explain the variations of accumulation along the traverse line in terms of divergence/convergence of the local transport of drifting snow. The resulting wind- and snowdrift patterns are closely connected to the topography of the ice sheet: ridges are especially sensitive to erosion, while ice streams and other depressions act as collectors of drifting snow.

Published and unpublished information on the distribution and abundance of the Antarctic Petrel (Thalassoica antarctica) is reviewed. Currently 35 colonies with approximately half a million breeding pairs are known. All but one of these known colonies are situated in East Antarctica. However, an estimate derived from at sea studies in three of four apparent centers of oceanic occurrence suggests a population as high as four to seven million breeding pairs (10 to 20 million individuals). In spite of the tentative nature of such an estimate, the difference with the colony-derived figure strongly suggests the existence of large, currently undiscovered colonies, particularly in western Antarctica and Victoria Land, where a complete mismatch exists between bird observations at sea and known colonies. In eastern Antarctica, in addition to undiscovered colonies, some known ones could be considerably larger than currently documented.

We report in this study the distribution of 10Be in the top 40 m of the Renland ice core (East Greenland) and in a 30 m long core from DML (Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica) for the period 1931–1988. The two sites show differences in10Be content, the Antarctica site showing smaller variance and a lower average 10Be annual flux. Similarly, the average accumulation rate (cm water equivalent year−1) is higher in the Renland relative to DML. The variability in accumulation (precipitation) rates seems to explain part of the difference in10Be flux between the two polar sites. Cyclic fluctuations of 10Be flux correlate with the 11-year sunspot number and cosmic ray intensity than with the aa index (perturbation of the geomagnetic activity by the solar wind). Our data corroborate 10Be cyclic fluctuation pattern from the Dye 3 ice core and confirm a promising potential for correlation of global and local events.

The diet of the Antarctic petrel Thalassoica antarctica was studied during two seasons at Svarthamaren, an inland colony in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, and in the pack ice off the coast of Svarthamaren. The most important food (wet mass) at Svarthamaren was crustaceans (67%), fish (29%) and squid (5%); however, individuals collected in the pack ice took mostly fish (87%). The prey composition and lengths of prey are comparable to what has been documented in other studies on this species. Estimates of food consumption by birds breeding at Svarthamaren (ca. 250,000 pairs) suggest that approximately 6500 tonnes of crustaceans, 2800 tonnes of fish and 435 tonnes of squid are consumed during the breeding season. The annual consumptions of these birds are estimated to be 34,100 tonnes of crustaceans, 14,700 tonnes of fish, and 2300 tonnes of squid. Satellite telemetry data indicate that Antarctic petrels from Svarthamaren may fly more than 3000 km during one foraging trip, and thus may cover a huge ocean area to obtain their prey.