Atmospheric Halos


Book Description




Ocean, Ice, and Atmosphere


Book Description

In this latest oceanology volume of the Antarctic Research Series, polar scientists describe and model air-sea and ice-ocean interactions, the formation and chemistry of deep and bottom waters, regional circulations, tidal heights and currents, ocean bathymetry, interannual variability and the Antarctic Slope Front.




Entomology of Antarctica


Book Description

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Antarctic Research Series, Volume 10. The existence of insects, mites, and their relatives on the antarctic continent is of great interest to many. These terrestrial arthropods may be said to be the dominant land animals in the absence of land vertebrates and many major groups of invertebrates. They are important in the simple food cycles which involve most segments of the land flora and microorganisms, and they play a part in soil formation. Thus a knowledge of their ecology is essential to the understanding of various biotic balances and processes. That several species live in the area of 85°S latitude in the face of harsh climatic factors is of great concern to the ecologist and the physiologist—therin lie many unanswered questions for future research.




Geology and Seismic Stratigraphy of the Antarctic Margin


Book Description

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Antarctic Research Series, Volume 71. The Antarctic Ice Sheet has greatly affected global climate, sea level, ocean circulation, and southern hemisphere biota during Cenozoic times. Much of our understanding of the evolution of the ice sheet has been inferred from isotopic studies on distant deep-ocean sediments, because few Cenozoic rocks are exposed on the Antarctic continent. Yet, large differences occur between past ice volumes inferred from isotopic studies and those inferred from low-latitude sea-level variation. The massive quantities of glacially transported terrigenous sediments that lie beneath the Antarctic continental margin provide an additional, more direct record of the inferred ice sheet fluctuations. Volume 68 addresses the history of ice sheet fluctuations as recorded by geological and geophysical investigations of selected areas of the Antarctic continental margin. As described below, the volume gives data and results from on-going research by a major multinational project directed toward better understanding the impact of Antarctic Ice Sheet fluctuations on global sea levels and climates.




Volcanism in Antarctica: 200 Million Years of Subduction, Rifting and Continental Break-up


Book Description

This memoir is the first to review all of Antarctica’s volcanism between 200 million years ago and the Present. The region is still volcanically active. The volume is an amalgamation of in-depth syntheses, which are presented within distinctly different tectonic settings. Each is described in terms of (1) the volcanology and eruptive palaeoenvironments; (2) petrology and origin of magma; and (3) active volcanism, including tephrochronology. Important volcanic episodes include: astonishingly voluminous mafic and felsic volcanic deposits associated with the Jurassic break-up of Gondwana; the construction and progressive demise of a major Jurassic to Present continental arc, including back-arc alkaline basalts and volcanism in a young ensialic marginal basin; Miocene to Pleistocene mafic volcanism associated with post-subduction slab-window formation; numerous Neogene alkaline volcanoes, including the massive Erebus volcano and its persistent phonolitic lava lake, that are widely distributed within and adjacent to one of the world’s major zones of lithospheric extension (the West Antarctic Rift System); and very young ultrapotassic volcanism erupted subglacially and forming a world-wide type example (Gaussberg).




Volcanoes of the Antarctic Plate and Southern Oceans


Book Description

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Antarctic Research Series, Volume 48. This volume attempts to present both a comprehensive overview of the south polar and subpolar volcanic provinces, and summary data on the status of knowledge of each volcano or volcano group. This broad region, covering roughly 6% of the Earth's surface, is infrequently visited and yet truly international. Its geoscience literature is dispersed in many journals, monographs, symposium volumes, and expedition reports, in many nations, and we hope that this summary will make it more widely available. The preparation of the volume has been a project of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI) through its Working Group on Antarctic Volcanology. It represents a substantial update and expansion of IAVCEI's 1960 Catalogue of Active Volcanoes for Antarctica (edited by W.H. Berninghausen and M. Neumann van Padang). The organization and format of the volume, conventions followed, and other items of information are presented below.




The Opening of a New Landscape


Book Description

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Special Publications Series. This book, beautifully illustrated with dozens of extraordinary photographs, not only tells the history of the expeditions to explore the Columbia Glacier, but also shows how warming over the last century in combination with internal physics of the glacier act to produce dramatic and unpredictable responses to climate change. In a giant transformation, not only are we losing an enormous storehouse of fresh water, but we also bear witness to the opening up of a new landscape as more and more of the land surface formerly covered by ice and snow becomes exposed to sunlight and so welcomes new communities of flora and fauna. More than just a science story, this is a fascinating picture of how science and scientists work, of how science is carried out and advances. One of the world's leading experts on the Columbia Glacier, W. Tad Pfeffer, scientist, writer, and photographer, is uniquely qualified to have written this absorbing and dynamic testament to this wonder of nature.




Birds of the Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic


Book Description

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Antarctic Research Series, Volume 24. The Antarctic Research Series is a medium for authoritative reports on the extensive scientific research being done in Antarctica. The series has elicited contributions from leading scientists; it seeks to maintain high scientific and publication standards. The scientific editor for each volume is chosen from among recognized authorities in the discipline or theme that it represents, as are the reviewers on whom the editor relies for advice. Research results appearing in this series are original contributions too long or otherwise inappropriate for publication in standard journals. The material is directed to specialists actively engaged in the work, to graduate students, to scientists in closely related fields, and to laymen versed in the environmental sciences. Some volumes comprise a single monograph. Others are collections of papers with a common theme.







Antarctic Subglacial Aquatic Environments


Book Description

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 192. Antarctic Subglacial Aquatic Environments is the first volume on this important and fascinating subject. With its underlying theme of bridging existing knowledge to future research, it is a benchmark in the history of subglacial lake exploration and study, containing up-to-date discussions about the history and background of subglacial aquatic environments and future exploration. The main topics addressed are identification, location, physiography, and hydrology of 387 subglacial lakes; protocols for environmental stewardship and protection of subglacial lake environments; details of three programs aiming to explore Vostok Subglacial Lake, Ellsworth Subglacial Lake, and Whillans Subglacial Lake over the next 3–5 years; assessment of technological requirements for exploration programs based on best practices for environmental stewardship and scientific success; and knowledge of subglacial lakes as habitats for microbial life and as recorders of past climate and ice sheet change. Its uniqueness, breadth, and inclusiveness will appeal to microbiologists and those interested in life in extreme environments, paleoclimatologists and those interested in sedimentary records of past changes, glaciologists striving to understand how water beneath glaciers affects their flow, and those engaged in developing technology to undertake direct measurement and sampling of extreme environments on Earth and in the solar system.