Antarctica


Book Description

The most exciting initiative in the polar region was the International Polar Year (IPY) in 2007-2008, conducted as the 50th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958). The initiative greatly enhanced the exchange of ideas across nations and scientific disciplines to unveil the status and changes of planet Earth. This sort of interdisciplinary exchange helps us to understand and address grand challenges, such as rapid environmental change and its impact on society. In this regard, this book aims to compile the achievements of projects related to the IPY and post-IPY era, focusing especially on surface environmental variations associated with climate change, such as global warming.




Encyclopedia of the Antarctic


Book Description

Publisher description




The Antarctic Politics of Brazil


Book Description

This book focuses on the connection between Brazil and Antarctica, two regions that can be seen as distant and contrasting, but are physically, culturally and politically associated. Relying on archival material and previous literature, the book offers a thorough account of Brazil’s involvement with one of the most significant regions in the global environment. The author explores the place of Antarctica in geopolitical works and in the first initiatives involving Brazil and the continent, from the rise of geopolitical thought in Brazil in the 1930s up to the present day. He argues that the connection between Brazil and Antarctica is not without its difficulties, but it has been structured in many enduring ways. The book covers causes for the delay and eventual adoption of a now active foreign policy regarding the region, the policy’s early performance in Antarctica, its evolution as a consequence of domestic and international changes, the increasing interest in the environment, and further recent developments.




Late Cretaceous/Paleogene West Antarctica Terrestrial Biota and its Intercontinental Affinities


Book Description

One of the most intriguing paleobiogeographical phenomena involving the origins and gradual sundering of Gondwana concerns the close similarities and, in most cases, inferred sister-group relationships of a number of terrestrial and freshwater vertebrate taxa, e.g., dinosaurs, flying birds, mammals, etc., recovered from uppermost Cretaceous/ Paleogene deposits of West Antarctica, South America, and NewZealand/Australia. For some twenty five extensive and productive investigations in the field of vertebrate paleontology has been carried out in latest Cretaceous and Paleogene deposits in the James Ross Basin, northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula (AP), West Antarctica, on the exposed sequences on James Ross, Vega, Seymour (=Marambio) and Snow Hill islands respectively. The available geological, geophysical and marine faunistic evidence indicates that the peninsular (AP) part of West Antarctica and the western part of the tip of South America (Magallanic Region, southern Chile) were positioned very close in the latest Cretaceous and early Paleogene favoring the “Overlapping” model of South America-Antarctic Peninsula paleogeographic reconstruction. Late Cretaceous deposits from Vega, James Ross, Seymour and Snow Hill islands have produced a discrete number of dinosaur taxa and a number of advanced birds together with four mosasaur and three plesiosaur taxa, and a few shark and teleostean taxa.




Geoscientific Investigations From the Indian Antarctic Program


Book Description

Antarctica and the surrounding oceans are critical parts of the Earth system. The Earth’s history establishes that Antarctica’s core comprises a suite of crustal blocks that were once parts of various supercontinents. The geological record can provide critical insights into the evolution and processes of change in the Antarctic environment and the biota dependent on it. The development of geodetic infrastructure across Antarctica is imperative to facilitate the monitoring of its physical processes and to coordinate various infrastructure associated with Earth-monitoring techniques. Geoscientific Investigations From the Indian Antarctic Program is a reference that comprises geoscientific aspects of Antarctica through Indian scientific expeditions. It integrates them into a holistic understanding of Antarctica geoscience and its trajectory of change. Furthermore, it seeks to review scientific achievements and discuss what further accomplishments might be made in Antarctic geoscientific research and necessitates the evaluation of Indian geoscientific research from global perspectives. Covering topics such as geodynamical processes, mineralogical studies, and structural geology, this book is an indispensable reference source for polar researchers, geoscientists, geologists, geophysicists, oceanographers, hydrographers, surveyors, students and educators of higher education, researchers, and academicians.







Brazil in the Geopolitics of Amazonia and Antarctica


Book Description

From a pioneering perspective, the book contributes to the state-of-the-art contemporary Geopolitics by bringing together Amazonia and Antarctica in a single interdisciplinary volume. Three key issues are 1) the interconnectedness between these vital regions, 2) non-linearity, because they may lead to unpredictable effects on the Earth system, and; 3) emergence, which means the varied interactions between Amazonia and Antarctica may lead to unique results.







Fjord Systems and Archives


Book Description

"The current volume brings together a selection of papers which have variously, but not exclusively, been presented in recent years at one of three international meetings on the theme of Fjords. The first of these meetings on 'Fjord environments: past, present and future' was held as a workshop ...The second meeting was convened as a formal session (CGC-13) entitles 'Fjords: climate and environmental change' ..The third of these meetings, the 2nd International workshop on the theme Fjord environments: past, present and future ..." --p. [1].