A 2500-year sea level change record in Fildes Peninsula, Antarctica

A detailed record of sea level changes during the last 2500 years is preserved in the northernwest coast of Fildes Peninsula in Antarctica. Fourteen marine alga layers were deposited in the beach with an altitude of 2.80 m, and one diatom layer deposited in the ancient lake on the terrace with an altitude of 6.84 m. A radiocarbon age of 695±70 aBP was obtained for the modern marine alga, and the age was used in correction for the carbon reservoir effect of the marine alga. Sea level fell 4.98 m from the 4th century B.C. to the early 13th century, at an average of -0.31 cm/a, then rose about 0.78 m during the early 13th to the middle 18th century, at an average of 0.14 cm/a. It has risen about 0.16 m since the middle 18th century, at an average of 0.07 cm/a.     

Tardigrades from Signy Island,South Orkney Islands,with particular reference to freshwater species

Seventeen species of Tardigrada from lakes and catchments on Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, are described. Two species, Echiniscus punctus and Isohypsibius laevis are new to science, and two, Oreella minor and Pseudechiniscus suillus, are new to the Signy Is. records.     

The non-marine Crustacea of Antarctica and the Islands of the Southern Ocean: biodiversity and biogeography

A total of 101 verified species and eight ordinal taxa represent the non-marine Crustacea on Antarctica and the islands of the Southern Ocean. The largely terrestrial Isopoda and Amphipoda are confined to some sub-Antarctic and cool temperate islands while the predominantly freshwater Anostraca, Anomopoda, Copepoda (=Calanoida, Cyclopoida, Harpacticoida) and Ostracoda (Podocopida) occur throughout the region. Holocene sea-level rises fragmented freshwater and terrestrial species ranges on New Zealand, Auckland, Campbell, and possibly other South Pacific islands, leaving a legacy of vicariant taxa. Tertiary species probably survived Pleistocene glaciation in aquatic refugia on the New Zealand/South Pacific, Falkland, Crozet and Kerguelen archipelagoes, but there are no valid records of Tertiary Antarctic Crustacea. All 40 Continental and Maritime Antarctic freshwater records can be ascribed to the historic introduction of anthropogenic aliens, Holocene immigration of colonists, returning re-colonists and marine species 'marooned' in epishelf and other coastal lakes.     

Biodiversity and biogeography of non-marine Mollusca on the islands of the Southern Ocean

There are no terrestrial and freshwater molluscs associated with Continental nor Maritime Antarctica. The malacofaunas of the cool-temperate and sub-Antarctic islands of the Southern Ocean are extremely depauperate, comprising a mere 68 site-records of 51 species from 27 genera in 13 families. The South Atlantic records are confined to the Falkland Islands, which harbour nine species (one bivalve, five pond snails and three terrestrial aliens), and South Georgia, where there is one Notodiscus sp. (Charopidae). The fauna of the South Indian Ocean islands of Prince Edward, Crozet, Kerguelen and Heard, comprises two alien slugs and endemic Notodiscus hookeri (Charopidae). The majority of species occur on the South Pacific Ocean Islands of Macquarie, Campbell, Auckland, Snares, Antipodes, Bounty and Chatham to the south and east of New Zealand. The Chatham fauna is dissimilar to that on the other South Pacific Islands, though both represent vicariant remnants of common South Pacific Is./New Zealand Athoracophoridae, Charopidae and Punctidae. There is, other than the broad South Indian Ocean distribution of Notodiscus hookeri, little evidence of Holocene dispersal and colonization. Indeed the Southern Ocean is an effective barrier and the different regional (South Atlantic/Indian/Pacific) faunas are principally vicariant and derived from local survivors of Pleistocene glaciation.     

南极瑞穗站大气光学特征研究

本文利用南极瑞穗站１９７９年太阳可见光波段直接辐射的分光测量和微气象观测资料＾［１－２］。分别计算了整层大气、分子大气、臭氧和气溶胶的散射和吸收所构成的光学厚度τｔ（λ）、τＲ（λ）、τ０３（λ）和τａ（λ）及埃斯屈朗浑浊度系数β和波长指数ａ，并与北京和拉萨的相应值进行了比较＾［３－５］。文中对波长指数和埃斯屈朗浑浊度系数及整层大气垂直光学厚度与大气稳定度参数、湍流热通量的关系也进行了讨论。     

Bryozoa of the First Italian Antarctic Oceanographic Expedition (Terra Nova Bay,Ross Sea). I. Flustridae Smitt, 1867

An account is given of the species belonging to the bryozoan family Flustridae Smitt, 1867, collected during the First Italian Antarctic Oceanographic Expedition. A total of seven species pertaining to five genera have been determined: Carbasea curva (Kluge), Flustra angusta Kluge, Flustra tenuis Kluge, Austroflustra vulgaris (Kluge), Klugeflustra drygalskii (Kluge), Klugeflustra vanhoffeni (Kluge) and Nematoflustra flagellata (Waters).     

Petrology and mineral chemistry of new ureilites found in Grove Mountains, Antarctica

Petrography and mineral chemistry of two new ureilites, GRV 021512 and 022931, from the Grove Mountains, Antarctica, are reported in this paper. GRV 021512 exhibits a typical ureilite texture, and consists of 48.3% olivine, 9.4% pigeonite and 38.1% carbonaceous interstitial material and/or reduction product. GRV 022931 has a cataclastic porphyritic texture, and consists of 19.1% olivine and 14.1% pigeonite embedded in 66.3% carbonaceous interstitial material and/or reduction product. The coarse-grained olivine and pigeonite in both meteorites have homogeneous cores, and they are FeO-rich within the range of the ferroan subgroup （subgroup I） of olivine-pigeonite ureilites. All olivine grains of the meteorites show reduction zones along boundaries and cracks. Abundant diamond coexists with graphite as graphite-rich patches and veins in the carbonaceous interstitial material. Petrogenesis of both meteorites and the origin of diamond are discussed.     

Molecular organic geochemical peculiarities of lacustrine core sediments in Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, Antarctica

The peculiarities of lipids in lacustrine core sediments from Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, Antarctica, are reported. The origin of high-molecular-weight n-alkanes, alkenes,fatty acids, alcohols is supposed to be related to the abundant moss occurring in the sediments.Abundant iso-and anteiso-fatty acids that occur in the sediments indicate a relatively strong bacterial activity in non-ice-cover zone than in other regions in Antarctica. The C18:2 unsaturated fatty acids mainly originate from autochthonous algae in the sediment pool, and the C18:2/C18:0ratios in the profile are controlled more by paleotemperatures than source assemblies. Long-chain alkenones were identified in freshwater lacustrine sediment in Antarctica for the first time, of which Prymnesiophyceae is assumed to be the source organism. High relative abundance of C37:4honologue in long-chain alkenone well correlates to the severely cold climate in Antarctica.     

Decreasing trend of temperature in Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica in the past 150 years

A 50-m firn core drilled in Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica, during the 1996/1997 Chinese First Antarctic Inland Expedition, has been measured for d 18O and major ions. Based on the high quality of the seasonal variations of major ions, the firn core was dated with errors within ±3 years. The features of the temperature change in the past 150 years in the investigated region have first been studied based on the oxygen isotope in the upper 32.93 m of the firn core. Results show that the temperature decreased nearly by 2℃ in Princess Elizabeth Land in the past 150 years. On the background of the global, especially the Southern Hemispheric warming in the past 150 years, a temperature decline of 2℃ in Princess Elizabeth Land likely reflects the impacts of the unique Southern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation, the Antarctic Circumpolar Wave (ACW) and the special terrain (such as the large drainage basins) on the coastal regions of Antarctica.