Pub Date : 2022-09-28DOI: 10.1017/S095410202200030X
Juan José Lucci, María Alegre, Leandro Vigna
Abstract This paper tracks the progress of renewable energy deployment at Antarctic facilities, introducing an interactive database and map specifically created for this purpose. Goals, challenges and lessons learnt from these operations are also reported. The data and assessments presented are based on a literature review of government reports, academic articles, online resources, news outlets and interviews conducted with personnel of Antarctic stations. As of 2021, 29 facilities have incorporated renewables in their energy systems, but only one permanent and four summer stations use renewables to meet more than 50% of their energy needs. Four main goals behind the development of renewable energy systems have been identified: fuel cost savings; reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions footprint in alignment with national decarbonization targets; electricity supply for scientific equipment during the winter months; and the development and/or testing of new technologies. The extreme weather conditions and complex logistics of Antarctica put both solar and wind systems under huge stress, which generates operational, technological and budgetary challenges that are also explored in this work.
{"title":"Renewables in Antarctica: an assessment of progress to decarbonize the energy matrix of research facilities","authors":"Juan José Lucci, María Alegre, Leandro Vigna","doi":"10.1017/S095410202200030X","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S095410202200030X","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper tracks the progress of renewable energy deployment at Antarctic facilities, introducing an interactive database and map specifically created for this purpose. Goals, challenges and lessons learnt from these operations are also reported. The data and assessments presented are based on a literature review of government reports, academic articles, online resources, news outlets and interviews conducted with personnel of Antarctic stations. As of 2021, 29 facilities have incorporated renewables in their energy systems, but only one permanent and four summer stations use renewables to meet more than 50% of their energy needs. Four main goals behind the development of renewable energy systems have been identified: fuel cost savings; reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions footprint in alignment with national decarbonization targets; electricity supply for scientific equipment during the winter months; and the development and/or testing of new technologies. The extreme weather conditions and complex logistics of Antarctica put both solar and wind systems under huge stress, which generates operational, technological and budgetary challenges that are also explored in this work.","PeriodicalId":50972,"journal":{"name":"Antarctic Science","volume":"34 1","pages":"374 - 388"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45684566","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-07DOI: 10.1017/S0954102022000268
Jacqueline L. von Salm, C. Witowski, M. Amsler, C. Amsler, J. McClintock, B. Baker
Abstract The western Antarctic Peninsula harbours a diverse benthic marine community where dense canopies of macroalgae can dominate the shallow subtidal zone (0–40 m or greater). In the lower portion of this range (below 25–35 m depending on topography), invertebrates such as sponges and echinoderms can be found in greater abundance due to reduced competition for space from the algal species. Dendrilla antarctica (previously Dendrilla membranosa) is a common demosponge that thrives in both communities and is known for producing diterpene secondary metabolites as a defence against sympatric sea star and amphipod predators. Omnivorous mesograzers such as amphipods inhabit both communities; however, they are in greatest abundance within the macroalgal canopy. Due to the differences between habitats, it was hypothesized that specific amphipod species not susceptible to the defensive metabolites of D. antarctica would take refuge from predators in the chemically defended sponge. Analysis of the metabolome and amphipod communities from sponges in both habitats found correlations of metabolic profile to both abundance and habitat. These studies serve to inform our understanding of the complex ecosystem of the Antarctic benthos that stands to be dramatically altered by the rapidly changing climate in the years to come.
{"title":"Amphipod diversity and metabolomics of the Antarctic sponge Dendrilla antarctica","authors":"Jacqueline L. von Salm, C. Witowski, M. Amsler, C. Amsler, J. McClintock, B. Baker","doi":"10.1017/S0954102022000268","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102022000268","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The western Antarctic Peninsula harbours a diverse benthic marine community where dense canopies of macroalgae can dominate the shallow subtidal zone (0–40 m or greater). In the lower portion of this range (below 25–35 m depending on topography), invertebrates such as sponges and echinoderms can be found in greater abundance due to reduced competition for space from the algal species. Dendrilla antarctica (previously Dendrilla membranosa) is a common demosponge that thrives in both communities and is known for producing diterpene secondary metabolites as a defence against sympatric sea star and amphipod predators. Omnivorous mesograzers such as amphipods inhabit both communities; however, they are in greatest abundance within the macroalgal canopy. Due to the differences between habitats, it was hypothesized that specific amphipod species not susceptible to the defensive metabolites of D. antarctica would take refuge from predators in the chemically defended sponge. Analysis of the metabolome and amphipod communities from sponges in both habitats found correlations of metabolic profile to both abundance and habitat. These studies serve to inform our understanding of the complex ecosystem of the Antarctic benthos that stands to be dramatically altered by the rapidly changing climate in the years to come.","PeriodicalId":50972,"journal":{"name":"Antarctic Science","volume":"34 1","pages":"349 - 360"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41363254","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-03DOI: 10.1017/S0954102022000281
P. S. Câmara, P. Convey, Vinícius Alves Ferreira, P. H. Togni, J. R. Pujol-Luz
Abstract We report the first formal record of the Indian meal moth Plodia interpunctella from a location within the Antarctic Treaty area, with the capture of a live adult male within the Brazilian Comandante Ferraz research station on King George Island, South Shetland Islands. This species is a well-known pest of stored products and is widely recorded in synanthropic situations such as food stores globally. No other adults or immature stages have been observed on the station. While there is no suggestion that P. interpunctella could survive or establish in the natural environment beyond the station, this observation highlights the ever-present threat of unintended anthropogenically assisted transfer of non-Antarctic species into human facilities on the continent, with some such species proving extremely difficult to eradicate if they successfully establish within these facilities.
{"title":"First record of the Indian meal moth Plodia interpunctella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) at a research station in Antarctica","authors":"P. S. Câmara, P. Convey, Vinícius Alves Ferreira, P. H. Togni, J. R. Pujol-Luz","doi":"10.1017/S0954102022000281","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102022000281","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract We report the first formal record of the Indian meal moth Plodia interpunctella from a location within the Antarctic Treaty area, with the capture of a live adult male within the Brazilian Comandante Ferraz research station on King George Island, South Shetland Islands. This species is a well-known pest of stored products and is widely recorded in synanthropic situations such as food stores globally. No other adults or immature stages have been observed on the station. While there is no suggestion that P. interpunctella could survive or establish in the natural environment beyond the station, this observation highlights the ever-present threat of unintended anthropogenically assisted transfer of non-Antarctic species into human facilities on the continent, with some such species proving extremely difficult to eradicate if they successfully establish within these facilities.","PeriodicalId":50972,"journal":{"name":"Antarctic Science","volume":"34 1","pages":"361 - 364"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46468451","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-03DOI: 10.1017/S0954102022000293
E. Rudolph, D. Hedding, W. Nel
Abstract Sub-Antarctic Marion Island's glacial history has acted as a control on abiotic terrestrial processes and the colonization and distribution of biotic species found on the island today. Recent chronological studies have shown an early deglaciation of the island and identified new geomorphological features associated with past ice dynamics. These permit a reassessment of ice extent during and after the island's last local glacial maximum. In this paper, we provide a revised reconstruction of the island's palaeo-ice extent by using a geomorphology-based approach to delineate palaeo-ice margins and demarcate possible glacial basins. The model presented here provides the needed spatial context for future studies on the variations in the distribution of species (e.g. microorganisms and plant species) and abiotic processes and forms (e.g. soil development and periglacial landforms). In addition, it highlights areas that require improved geophysical assessment in order to produce a more complete island-scale reconstruction of former ice extents (e.g. the west coast).
{"title":"A spatial model of Marion Island's palaeo-ice extent","authors":"E. Rudolph, D. Hedding, W. Nel","doi":"10.1017/S0954102022000293","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102022000293","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Sub-Antarctic Marion Island's glacial history has acted as a control on abiotic terrestrial processes and the colonization and distribution of biotic species found on the island today. Recent chronological studies have shown an early deglaciation of the island and identified new geomorphological features associated with past ice dynamics. These permit a reassessment of ice extent during and after the island's last local glacial maximum. In this paper, we provide a revised reconstruction of the island's palaeo-ice extent by using a geomorphology-based approach to delineate palaeo-ice margins and demarcate possible glacial basins. The model presented here provides the needed spatial context for future studies on the variations in the distribution of species (e.g. microorganisms and plant species) and abiotic processes and forms (e.g. soil development and periglacial landforms). In addition, it highlights areas that require improved geophysical assessment in order to produce a more complete island-scale reconstruction of former ice extents (e.g. the west coast).","PeriodicalId":50972,"journal":{"name":"Antarctic Science","volume":"34 1","pages":"365 - 373"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42177111","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-01DOI: 10.1017/S0954102022000177
C. Batchelor, B. Frinault, Frazer D. W. Christie, A. Montelli, J. Dowdeswell
Abstract Pockmarks are sea-floor depressions that form when gas or liquid escapes from underlying sediments. Although they are a common feature of both glaciated and lower-latitude continental shelves, pockmarks have not been reported previously from the north-east Antarctic Peninsula margin. Here we use high-resolution geophysical data acquired using autonomous underwater vehicles to map > 240 pockmarks in three locations along the north-east Antarctic Peninsula shelf. The pockmarks are 0.4–45 m wide and 0.1–2.5 m deep, encompassing both smaller unit-pockmarks and larger normal-pockmarks. The high resolution of our data enables the identification of subdued features associated with the pockmarks, including acoustic flares within the water column, ejecta rims, intra-pockmark blocks and possibly even biological structures. The overprinting of subglacial and ice-marginal landforms by the pockmarks constrains their timing of formation to the last ~11 ka. The high density of pockmarks within the surveyed areas, together with geophysical evidence for the active seepage of gas to the sea floor, suggests that the expulsion of subsurface fluids is a widespread process on the north-east Antarctic Peninsula shelf that could have important implications for benthic biodiversity and the global carbon cycle.
{"title":"The morphology of pockmarks on the north-east Antarctic Peninsula continental shelf","authors":"C. Batchelor, B. Frinault, Frazer D. W. Christie, A. Montelli, J. Dowdeswell","doi":"10.1017/S0954102022000177","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102022000177","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Pockmarks are sea-floor depressions that form when gas or liquid escapes from underlying sediments. Although they are a common feature of both glaciated and lower-latitude continental shelves, pockmarks have not been reported previously from the north-east Antarctic Peninsula margin. Here we use high-resolution geophysical data acquired using autonomous underwater vehicles to map > 240 pockmarks in three locations along the north-east Antarctic Peninsula shelf. The pockmarks are 0.4–45 m wide and 0.1–2.5 m deep, encompassing both smaller unit-pockmarks and larger normal-pockmarks. The high resolution of our data enables the identification of subdued features associated with the pockmarks, including acoustic flares within the water column, ejecta rims, intra-pockmark blocks and possibly even biological structures. The overprinting of subglacial and ice-marginal landforms by the pockmarks constrains their timing of formation to the last ~11 ka. The high density of pockmarks within the surveyed areas, together with geophysical evidence for the active seepage of gas to the sea floor, suggests that the expulsion of subsurface fluids is a widespread process on the north-east Antarctic Peninsula shelf that could have important implications for benthic biodiversity and the global carbon cycle.","PeriodicalId":50972,"journal":{"name":"Antarctic Science","volume":"34 1","pages":"313 - 324"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42905820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-01DOI: 10.1017/s0954102022000323
K. Hendry
Imet Leanne Armand for the first time about 10 years ago at the 4th Polar Diatom TaxonomyWorkshop, hosted at Cardiff University, and I'll never forget enthusing with her about life, diatoms and everything. Diatoms are a major group of algae that form the basis of most Antarctic marine ecosystems. They make their microscopic but beautifully ornate shells or frustules out of silica, and so they have an absolute requirement for dissolved silicon in their environment. As the diatom cells die, they sink, and a portion becomes buried in marine sediments. This burial helps to sequester organic matter away from the atmosphere but, in addition, produces a unique archive of ecology and oceanographic conditions going back through time. Different species of diatoms prefer living under different conditions, such as in sea ice rather than the open ocean or in cold versus warm waters. Conveniently, the different shell morphologies are genetically controlled, so different species can easily be distinguished by the trained eye! This means that it's possible to examine the changes in species through time, reading the pages of this book to reconstruct changes in the extent of sea ice or water temperatures. Such palaeoceanographic information is vital for quantifying climate sensitivity and for improving climate models and future projections, especially in a place so central to the global climate as the Southern Ocean. This was where Leanne found her academic home. Shells had been a fascination of hers for years, and she spoke about how she spent her childhood combing beaches near her home city of Adelaide for mementos (Heard 2001). Her interest thoroughly sparked, she excelled at biology at school and decided to read the subject at Flinders University. It was as an undergraduate that she gained an interest in fossils, carrying out her undergraduate research thesis in vertebrate palaeontology (e.g. Armand et al. 2000) after transferring to the Australian National University (ANU). For her PhD, she stayed at ANU, but she shifted her attention to the study of diatom fossils from the Southern Ocean and how they can be used to reconstruct past changes in sea-surface temperature and sea-ice extent (e.g. Armand 1997, 2000, Armand et al. 2005). Her career boomed from there on, including a prestigious European postdoctoral fellowship hosted by Université d'Aix-Marseille. It was there that Leanne worked on modern diatom ecology in the Southern Ocean, including taking part in the Kerguelen: Compared Study of Ocean and Plateau in Surface Water (KEOPS) project, a natural iron fertilization experiment carried out near the Kerguelen Plateau (Blain et al. 2007, Armand et al. 2008a). She then moved back to Australia, taking up positions in Tasmania and Macquarie University, before returning to ANU. She was appointed the Director of the Australian and New Zealand International Ocean Discovery Program Consortium (ANZIC), becoming a leader in the international scientific ocean drillin
{"title":"Life, diatoms and everything: a tribute to Leanne Armand","authors":"K. Hendry","doi":"10.1017/s0954102022000323","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102022000323","url":null,"abstract":"Imet Leanne Armand for the first time about 10 years ago at the 4th Polar Diatom TaxonomyWorkshop, hosted at Cardiff University, and I'll never forget enthusing with her about life, diatoms and everything. Diatoms are a major group of algae that form the basis of most Antarctic marine ecosystems. They make their microscopic but beautifully ornate shells or frustules out of silica, and so they have an absolute requirement for dissolved silicon in their environment. As the diatom cells die, they sink, and a portion becomes buried in marine sediments. This burial helps to sequester organic matter away from the atmosphere but, in addition, produces a unique archive of ecology and oceanographic conditions going back through time. Different species of diatoms prefer living under different conditions, such as in sea ice rather than the open ocean or in cold versus warm waters. Conveniently, the different shell morphologies are genetically controlled, so different species can easily be distinguished by the trained eye! This means that it's possible to examine the changes in species through time, reading the pages of this book to reconstruct changes in the extent of sea ice or water temperatures. Such palaeoceanographic information is vital for quantifying climate sensitivity and for improving climate models and future projections, especially in a place so central to the global climate as the Southern Ocean. This was where Leanne found her academic home. Shells had been a fascination of hers for years, and she spoke about how she spent her childhood combing beaches near her home city of Adelaide for mementos (Heard 2001). Her interest thoroughly sparked, she excelled at biology at school and decided to read the subject at Flinders University. It was as an undergraduate that she gained an interest in fossils, carrying out her undergraduate research thesis in vertebrate palaeontology (e.g. Armand et al. 2000) after transferring to the Australian National University (ANU). For her PhD, she stayed at ANU, but she shifted her attention to the study of diatom fossils from the Southern Ocean and how they can be used to reconstruct past changes in sea-surface temperature and sea-ice extent (e.g. Armand 1997, 2000, Armand et al. 2005). Her career boomed from there on, including a prestigious European postdoctoral fellowship hosted by Université d'Aix-Marseille. It was there that Leanne worked on modern diatom ecology in the Southern Ocean, including taking part in the Kerguelen: Compared Study of Ocean and Plateau in Surface Water (KEOPS) project, a natural iron fertilization experiment carried out near the Kerguelen Plateau (Blain et al. 2007, Armand et al. 2008a). She then moved back to Australia, taking up positions in Tasmania and Macquarie University, before returning to ANU. She was appointed the Director of the Australian and New Zealand International Ocean Discovery Program Consortium (ANZIC), becoming a leader in the international scientific ocean drillin","PeriodicalId":50972,"journal":{"name":"Antarctic Science","volume":"34 1","pages":"279 - 280"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45730195","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-01DOI: 10.1017/S0954102022000256
M. Myers, P. Doran, K. Myers
Abstract We present an analysis of the 20 year snowfall dataset in Taylor Valley and the results of a new snow cover monitoring study. Snowfall has been measured at four sites in Taylor Valley from 1995 to 2017. We focus on valley-floor snowfall when wind does not exceed 5 m s-1, and we exclude winter from our analysis due to poor data quality. Snowfall averaged 11 mm water equivalent (w.e.) from 1995 to 2017 across all stations and ranged from 1 to 58 mm w.e. Standard deviations ranged from 3 to 17 mm w.e., highlighting the strong interannual variability of snowfall in Taylor Valley. During spring and autumn there is a spatial gradient in snowfall such that the coast received twice as much snowfall as more central and inland stations. We identified a changepoint in 2007 from increasing snowfall (3 mm w.e. yr-1) to decreasing snowfall (1 mm w.e. yr-1), which coincides with a shift from decreasing temperature to no detectable temperature trend. Daily camera imagery from 2007 to 2017 augments the snowfall measurements. The camera imagery revealed a near tripling of the average number of days with snow cover from 37 days between 2006 and 2012 to 106 days with snow cover between 2012 and 2017.
{"title":"Valley-floor snowfall in Taylor Valley, Antarctica, from 1995 to 2017: spring, summer and autumn","authors":"M. Myers, P. Doran, K. Myers","doi":"10.1017/S0954102022000256","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102022000256","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract We present an analysis of the 20 year snowfall dataset in Taylor Valley and the results of a new snow cover monitoring study. Snowfall has been measured at four sites in Taylor Valley from 1995 to 2017. We focus on valley-floor snowfall when wind does not exceed 5 m s-1, and we exclude winter from our analysis due to poor data quality. Snowfall averaged 11 mm water equivalent (w.e.) from 1995 to 2017 across all stations and ranged from 1 to 58 mm w.e. Standard deviations ranged from 3 to 17 mm w.e., highlighting the strong interannual variability of snowfall in Taylor Valley. During spring and autumn there is a spatial gradient in snowfall such that the coast received twice as much snowfall as more central and inland stations. We identified a changepoint in 2007 from increasing snowfall (3 mm w.e. yr-1) to decreasing snowfall (1 mm w.e. yr-1), which coincides with a shift from decreasing temperature to no detectable temperature trend. Daily camera imagery from 2007 to 2017 augments the snowfall measurements. The camera imagery revealed a near tripling of the average number of days with snow cover from 37 days between 2006 and 2012 to 106 days with snow cover between 2012 and 2017.","PeriodicalId":50972,"journal":{"name":"Antarctic Science","volume":"34 1","pages":"325 - 335"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47398143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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