Identification and characterization of yeasts isolated from the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula

Raised beach ridges on Livingston Island of the South Shetland Islands display variations in both quantity and source of ice rafted detritus (IRD) received over time. Whereas the modern beach exhibits little IRD, all of which is of local origin, the next highest beach (∼250 14C yr BP) has large amounts, some of which comes from as far away as the Antarctic Peninsula. Significant quantities of IRD also were deposited ∼1750 14C yr BP. Both time periods coincide with generally cooler regional conditions and, at least in the case of the ∼250 yr old beach, local glacial advance. We suggest that the increases in ice rafting may reflect periods of greater glacial activity, altered ocean circulation, and/or greater iceberg preservation during the late Holocene. Limited IRD and lack of far-travelled erratics on the modern beach are both consistent with the ongoing warming trend in the Antarctic Peninsula region.

Download Full-text

The Bellingshausen-Palmer meeting

Polar Record ◽

10.1017/s0032247414000783 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 51 (6) ◽

pp. 644-654 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Rip Bulkeley

Keyword(s):

Antarctic Peninsula ◽

South Shetland Islands ◽

The South ◽

Shetland Islands ◽

Contentious Issue ◽

Balanced Assessment ◽

Absolute Certainty ◽

South Shetlands ◽

The Antarctic

ABSTRACTThe celebrated meeting between Captain Bellingshausen of the Imperial Russian Navy and the American sealing skipper Nathaniel Brown Palmer, off the South Shetland Islands in February 1821, has often been described by following just one or other of the two men's divergent and in some respects irreconcilable accounts. The most contentious issue is whether or not Palmer told Bellingshausen about the existence of a body of land to the south of the South Shetlands, known today as the Antarctic Peninsula. This note attempts to reach a balanced assessment of the matter by examining evidence from both sides, including several previously unconsidered items. It concludes that, although the truth will never be known with absolute certainty, the basic American account is more plausible, by the narrowest of narrow margins, than the Russian.

Download Full-text

Southern elephant seal movements and Antarctic sea ice

Antarctic Science ◽

10.1017/s095410200000002x ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 3-15 ◽

Cited By ~ 53

Author(s):

H. Bornemann ◽

M. Kreyscher ◽

S. Ramdohr ◽

T. Martin ◽

A. Carlini ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Antarctic Peninsula ◽

South Shetland Islands ◽

Mirounga Leonina ◽

King George Island ◽

The South ◽

Elephant Seals ◽

Shetland Islands ◽

Pack Ice ◽

The Antarctic

Weaned pups and post-moult female elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) were fitted with satellite transmitters at King George Island (South Shetland Islands) between December 1996 and February 1997. Of the nine adult females tracked for more than two months, three stayed in a localized area between the South Shetland Islands and the South Orkney Islands. The other six females travelled south-west along the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula up to the Bellingshausen Sea. Two of them then moved north-east and hauled out on South Georgia in October. One female was last located north of the South Shetland Islands in March 1998. In total, eight females were again sighted on King George Island and six of the transmitters removed. The tracks of the weaners contrasted with those of the adults. In January, five juveniles left King George Island for the Pacific sector spending about four weeks in the open sea west of the De Gerlache Seamounts. Three of them returned to the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula in June, of which one was last located on the Patagonian Shelf in November 1997. The juveniles avoided sea ice while the adults did not. The latter displayed behavioural differences in using the pack ice habitat during winter. Some females adjusted their movement patterns to the pulsating sea ice fringe in distant foraging areas while others ranged in closed pack ice of up to 100%. The feeding grounds of adult female elephant seals are more closely associated with the pack ice zone than previously assumed. The significance of the midwater fish Pleuragramma antarcticum as a potential food resource is discussed.

Download Full-text

Natural iron enrichment around the Antarctic Peninsula in the Southern Ocean

Biogeosciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/bgd-6-7481-2009 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 7481-7515 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

M. V. Ardelan ◽

O. Holm-Hansen ◽

C. D. Hewes ◽

C. S. Reiss ◽

N. S. Silva ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Antarctic Peninsula ◽

Weddell Sea ◽

South Shetland Islands ◽

The South ◽

Total Acid ◽

Shetland Islands ◽

Iron Enrichment ◽

Bransfield Strait ◽

Natural Iron ◽

The Antarctic

Abstract. As part of the US-AMLR program that occupied 99 hydrographic stations in the South Shetland Islands-Antarctic Peninsula region in January–February of 2006, concentrations of dissolved iron (DFe) and total acid-leachable iron (TaLFe) were measured in the upper 150 m at 16 stations (both coastal and pelagic waters). The concentrations in the upper mixed layer (UML) of DFe and TaLFe were relatively high in Weddell Sea Shelf Waters (~0.6 nM and 15 nM, respectively) and lowest in Drake Passage waters (~0.2 nM and 0.9 nM, respectively). In the Bransfield Strait, representing a mixture of waters from the Weddell Sea and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), concentrations of DFe were ~0.4 nM and of TaLFe ~1.7 nM. The highest concentrations of DFe and TaLFe in the UML were found at shallow coastal stations close to Livingston Island (~1.6 nM and 100 nM, respectively). The ratio of TaLFe:DFe varied with the distance to land: ~45 at the shallow coastal stations, ~15 in the high-salinity waters of Bransfield Strait, and ~4 in ACC waters. Concentrations of DFe increased slightly with depth in the water column, while that of TaLFe did not show any consistent trend with depth. Our data are consistent with the hypothesis that the relatively high rates of primary production known from the central regions of the Scotia Sea are partially sustained by natural iron enrichment resulting from a northeasterly flow of iron-rich coastal waters originating in the South Shetland Islands-Antarctic Peninsula region.

Download Full-text

Massalongia olechiana (Massalongiaceae, Peltigerales), a new lichen species from the Antarctic

Polish Polar Research ◽

10.2478/v10183-011-0011-y ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 32 (2) ◽

pp. 117-121 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Vagn Alstrup ◽

Ulrik Søchting

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Antarctic Peninsula ◽

Lichen Species ◽

The Other ◽

The Arctic ◽

South Shetland Islands ◽

The South ◽

Shetland Islands ◽

The Antarctic ◽

A New Species

Massalongia olechiana (Massalongiaceae, Peltigerales), a new lichen species from the Antarctic A new species of lichenized ascomycete, Massalongia olechiana Alstrup et Søchting, sp. nov. (Massalongiaceae) is described from the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. The species is distinguished by laminal isidia and 5-7-septate ascospores. The relationships with the other species of the genus are discussed. From Massalongia carnosa, recorded from both the Arctic and the Antarctic, the new species is distinguished by its lack of isidioid squamules and in having pluriseptate ascospores instead of 1-septate ascospores.

Download Full-text

Ontogenetic changes in the feeding strategy of Lepidonotothen nudifrons (Pisces, Nototheniidae) off the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula

Polar Research ◽

10.1080/17518369.2017.1331558 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 36 (1) ◽

pp. 1331558 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Gabriela Blasina ◽

Andrea Lopez Cazorla ◽

Mariana Deli Antoni ◽

Daniel Bruno ◽

Matías Delpiani ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Antarctic Peninsula ◽

Feeding Strategy ◽

South Shetland Islands ◽

Ontogenetic Changes ◽

The South ◽

Shetland Islands ◽

The Antarctic

Download Full-text

Comparative populational study of Lepidonotothen larseni and L. nudifrons (Teleostei: Nototheniidae) from the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica

Polar Biology ◽

10.1007/s00300-019-02540-1 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 (8) ◽

pp. 1537-1547

Author(s):

Mariana Y. Deli Antoni ◽

Sergio M. Delpiani ◽

Mariano González-Castro ◽

Gabriela E. Blasina ◽

María C. Spath ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Antarctic Peninsula ◽

South Shetland Islands ◽

The South ◽

Shetland Islands ◽

Lepidonotothen Larseni ◽

The Antarctic

Download Full-text

The stratigraphy and geochronology of Adelaide Island

Antarctic Science ◽

10.1017/s095410209800056x ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 462-475 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Chris J. Griffiths ◽

Richard D. J. Oglethorpe

Keyword(s):

Antarctic Peninsula ◽

Volcanic Rocks ◽

South Shetland Islands ◽

The South ◽

Shetland Islands ◽

Step Heating ◽

Show Evidence ◽

Cretaceous Volcanism ◽

The Antarctic ◽

Adelaide Island

The Mesozoic-Cenozoic volcanic arc of the Antarctic Peninsula is represented on Adelaide Island by a sedimentary and volcanic succession intruded by plutons. 40Ar-39 Ar step-heating age spectra have been obtained from volcanic rocks and hornblende separates from sedimentary clasts of plutonic origin. These spectra show evidence for some argon loss, but, in general, have plateau ages which are consistent with the mapped stratigraphy and with other geochronological controls, suggesting that they approximate to original ages. As a result the following events in the evolution of Adelaide Island can be recognized:1) mostly marine Mesozoic sedimentation, 2) Early Cretaceous (c. 141 Ma) plutonism (recorded in clasts from conglomerates), 3) Cretaceous volcanism, 4) Late Cretaceous (possibly Tertiary) sedimentation, 5) Early Tertiary volcanism, which was acidic in eastern outcrops and intermediate elsewhere, and 6) Eocene intermediate volcanism and deposition of arc-derived conglomerates. Volcanism was possibly coeval with known Palaeocene-Eocene plutonic activity on Adelaide Island (part of the Antarctic Peninsula Batholith) and with volcanism of similar age in northern Alexander Island and the South Shetland Islands. The volcanism on Adelaide Island and the South Shetland Islands, at least, was associated with a westward migration of the Antarctic Peninsula arc.

Download Full-text