scholarly journals New data on the taxonomic composition of macroinvertebrates in marine habitats from the Livingston Island, Antarctica

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyubomir Kenderov ◽  
Vesela Evtimova ◽  
Plamen Mitov ◽  
Apostol Apostolov ◽  
Eliza Uzunova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Taxonomic Composition ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
Research Station ◽  
The South ◽  
Sandy Bottom ◽  
Tidal Zone ◽  
Marine Habitats ◽  
Livingston Island ◽  
South Shetlands ◽  
The Antarctic

Antarctic marine organisms are characterised by a significant level of endemism. This is due to geological, climatological and oceanographic reasons, such as the break-up of Antarctida from Gondwana during the Cretaceous; the formation of a circumpolar current; the extremely low water temperatures (close to freezing); the short summer seasons. The South Shetland Islands (West Antarctic Peninsula) are one of 29 known biogeographic areas in the Southern Hemisphere (Griffiths et al. 2009). King George Island is the largest island from the South Shetlands and eight countries have their polar bases there. Marine bottom macroinvertebrates from the surrounding seawaters are very well studied (Siciński et al. 2011). Less research was carried out in the region of the nearby Livingston Island. There are located two polar bases: "St. Kliment Ohridski" (Bulgaria) and "Juan Carlos I" (Spain). We can assume that in the seawaters of the South Bay we can also expect a rich bottom macroinvertebrate fauna because of the similar conditions and the close distance between the two islands. The aim of this study is to present the first Bulgarian results on the taxonomic composition of marine macroinvertebrates from the South Bay, Livingston Island. The samples were collected during the XXVIIth Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition (2018–2019 austral summer). Various sites in four areas were sampled: the coastal zone in front of the Bulgarian Polar Base (Costa Bulgara); a small bay south of Cape Hesperides (Reservnoto port); Johnsons Dock Bay near the Spanish research station and Walker Bay near Hannah Point. Samples were collected mainly through bottom trawling at depths of 2 to 20 meters on different types of bottom substrates using Zodiac boats. A total of 11 macrozoobenthos samples were collected. Our preliminary results show that the main macrozoobenthic species are well known in the seawaters of the South Shetlands and usually they have a circumpolar distribution. At the site with soft muddy bottoms (Johnsons Dock Bay), the corrugated ribbon worm Parborlasia corrugatus (McIntosh, 1876) (order Heteronemertea, class Pilidiophora, phylum Nemertea) as well as ascidians (order Phlebobranchia, class Ascidiacea, phylum Chordata) had the highest biomass. The most abundant in the Johnsons Dock Bay were the Antarctic bivalve Aequiyoldia eightsii (Jay, 1839) (order Nuculanida, class Bivalvia, phylum Mollusca); the scale worm Barrukia cristata (Willey, 1902) and the catworm Aglaophamus trissophyllus (Grube, 1877) (both of order Phyllodocida, class Polychaeta, phyllum Annelida). The seroid isopod Spinoserolis beddardi (Calman, 1920) (order Isopoda, class Malacostraca, phyllum Arthropoda) dominated in the muddy / sandy bottom of Hannah Point. The habitats of the rocky bottom (Costa Bulgara) were inhabited mainly by crustaceans (order Aphipoda, class Malacostraca, phyllum Arthropoda) and gastropods (phylum Mollusca). In the tidal zone of this habitat (0–2m), the predominant species was the Antarctic limplet Nacella concinna (Strebel, 1908) (order Patellogastropoda, class Gastropoda, phylum Mollusca).

scholarly journals Variations in ice rafted detritus on beaches in the South Shetland Islands: a possible climate proxy

2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRENDA L. HALL ◽  
ETHAN R. PERRY
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Warming Trend ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
The South ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Livingston Island ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Glacial Advance

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.

The Bellingshausen-Palmer meeting

Polar Record ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 51 (6) ◽  
pp. 644-654 ◽  
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.

Conserving the oldest historic sites in the Antarctic: the challenges in managing the sealing sites in the South Shetland Islands

Polar Record ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Pearson ◽  
Ruben Stehberg ◽  
Andrés Zarankín ◽  
M. Ximena Senatore ◽  
Carolina Gatica
Keyword(s):  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
The South ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Fur Seals ◽  
Fur Seal ◽  
Seal Population ◽  
Animal Activity ◽  
South Shetlands ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Management Issues

ABSTRACTThe fur seal population of the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, was intensively hunted by sealers from the discovery of the islands in 1819 to the early 1820s, by which time the seal numbers were so depleted that sealing became uneconomic. Sealing was revived for both fur seals and elephant seals at several periods later in the century. Sealers were put ashore in gangs and built makeshift shelters in which to live, and also occupied caves. Many of these have been identified on the various islands of the South Shetlands, and a number have been excavated. The paper addresses some of the management issues facing the conservation of these sites, which include accelerating tourism, disturbance by scientific researchers, disturbance by animal activity, burial or erosion by drifting sand, and climate change.

scholarly journals First record of the Austral Negrito (Aves: Passeriformes) from the South Shetlands, Antarctica

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Gryz ◽  
Małgorzata Korczak−Abshire ◽  
Alina Gerlée
Keyword(s):  
Direct Evidence ◽  
First Record ◽  
Polar Front ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
The South ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Successful Group ◽  
South Shetlands ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Antarctic

AbstractThe order Passeriformes is the most successful group of birds on Earth, however, its representatives are rare visitors beyond the Polar Front zone. Here we report a photo-documented record of an Austral Negrito (Lessonia rufa), first known occurrence of this species in the South Shetland Islands and only the second such an observation in the Antarctic region. This record was made at Lions Rump, King George Island, part of the Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 151 (ASPA 151). There is no direct evidence of how the individual arrived at Lions Rump, but ship assistance cannot be excluded.

New trigonioid bivalves from the Early Jurassic to earliest Cretaceous of the Antarctic Peninsula region: systematics and austral paleobiogeography

1995 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon R. A. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Late Jurassic ◽  
Early Jurassic ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Livingston Island ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Antarctic

New discoveries of trigonioid bivalves are documented from three areas in the Antartic Peninsula: the Fossil Bluff Group of Alexander Island, the Latady Formation of the Orville Coast, and the Byers Group of Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands. Eleven taxa are described, representing six genera or subgenera. The faunas are characterized by genera including Vaugonia (Vaugonia), the first Early Jurassic trigonioid recognized on the continent; Vaugonia (V.) and V. (Orthotrigonia?) in the Late Jurassic; and Iotrigonia (Iotrigonia), Myophorella (Scaphogonia), and Pterotrigonia (Pterotrigonia), which span the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary, reaching the Berriasian stage. The following species are new: Pterotrigonia (P.) cramei n. sp., Pterotrigonia (P.) thomsoni n. sp., Vaugonia (V.) orvillensis n. sp., and V. (Orthotrigonia?) quiltyi n. sp. The faunas show affinities with those of New Zealand and southern Africa. Trigonioids characterize the shallower marine biofacies in the Jurassic of the Antarctic and reflect the principal shallowing events in the history of the region.

Cretaceous angiosperms from an allegedly Triassic flora at Williams Point, Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands

1989 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.M. Rees ◽  
J.L. Smellie
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
Fossil Flora ◽  
Volcanic Arc ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Active Volcanism ◽  
Livingston Island ◽  
Radiometric Ages ◽  
The Antarctic

A terrestrial sequence on Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, known as the Williams Point Beds contains a well-preserved, diverse fossil flora previously assigned a Triassic age. Because of their supposed age, volcanic provenance and evidence for active volcanism, the Williams Point Beds have occupied a unique position in Gondwana (pre-Jurassic) stratigraphy in the Antarctic Peninsula region. However, a large new collection of plant specimens obtained at Williams Point has yielded several species of angiosperm leaves, which are abundant and occur at all levels within the Williams Point Beds sequence. Thus, a Triassic age is no longer tenable. On the basis of the plants present and published radiometric ages for associated strata, the Williams Point Beds fossil flora is reassigned to the Cretaceous, and there is some evidence for a more restricted Albian–Cenomanian age. This revision of the age of the Williams Point Beds removes all direct evidence for an active Triassic volcanic arc in the Antarctic Peninsula region.

A fission track thermochronological study of King George and Livingston islands, South Shetland Islands (West Antarctica)

2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. SELL ◽  
G. POUPEAU ◽  
J.M. GONZÁLEZ-CASADO ◽  
J. LÓPEZ-MARTÍNEZ
Keyword(s):  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
West Antarctica ◽  
The South ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Early Oligocene ◽  
Barton Peninsula ◽  
Bransfield Basin ◽  
Back Arc ◽  
The Antarctic

This paper reports the dating of apatite fission tracks in eleven rock samples from the South Shetland Archipelago, an island arc located to the north-west of the Antarctic Peninsula. Apatites from Livingston Island were dated as belonging to the Oligocene (25.8 Ma: metasediments, Miers Bluff Formation, Hurd Peninsula) through to the Miocene (18.8 Ma: tonalites, Barnard Point). Those from King George Island were slightly older, belonging to the Early Oligocene (32.5 Ma: granodiorites, Barton Peninsula). Towards the back-arc basin (Bransfield Basin), the apatite appears to be younger. This allows an opening rate of approximately 1.1 km Ma−1 (during the Miocene–Oligocene interval) to be calculated for Bransfield Basin. Optimization of the apatite data suggests cooling to 100 ± 10°C was coeval with the end of the main magmatic event in the South Shetland Arc (Oligocene), and indicates slightly different tectonic-exhumation histories for the different tectonic blocks.

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