Authors:
Ruth I Mugford*, Poul Christoffersen*, Julian A Dowdeswell*

* Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1ER, U.K.

Originally presented at:
CSDMS 2011 meeting: Impact of time and process scales, Boulder, Colorado, USA, 28th-30th October 2011

Abstract/Summary:
GEOtop 1.145 is used to model the thermal and hydrological state of the subsurface in the Kuparuk basin, Alaska. GEOtop is a distributed hydrological model with coupled water and energy budgets. The surface energy balance scheme includes sensible, latent and radiative heat fluxes at the air-soil or air-snow interface. The subsurface represents heat fluxes in the vertical and water fluxes in the vertical and horizontal directions. The ERA-Interim atmospheric reanalysis product, which is used to force the model, is compared to meteorological and radiation data from the Kuparuk Basin and other stations on the North Slope of Alaska. The use of ERA-Interim reanalysis to force GEOtop enables large-scale simulations to be performed over areas where in situ meteorological data is sparse, such as the North Slope of Alaska. Model simulations forced by ERA-Interim reanalysis data are validated using borehole observations of soil temperature. Model results will be presented demonstrating the interactions between soil properties, snow cover, vegetation and climate.

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Authors:
Caio Vinícius Gabrig Turbay*, Eduardo de Sá Mendonça**, Ivan Carlos Carreiro Almeida***, Raphael Bragança*** & Carlos Ernesto Schaefer*** 

* Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo / Curso de Geologia, Brazil;
** Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo / Departamento de Produção Vegetal, Brazil;
*** Universidade Federal de Viçosa / Departamento de Solos, Brazil

Originally presented at:
Brazilian Antartic Simposium 2011

Abstract/Summary:
The King George Island is located in the South Shetlands archipelago, northern portion of the Antarctic Peninsula. Between the Oligocene and Miocene, large ice sheets developed in the islands and continent, although the most powerful glaciation developed on the end of Miocene (Birkenmajer, 2001; Martini et al, 2001). The oceanic influence in the Shetlands is responsible for the higher humidity found in these islands compared to mainland during the summer. This condition creates a own landscape with climatic characteristics similar to those found in the tundra of the northern hemisphere. The positive temperatures in summer are responsible for the melting and retreat of glaciers and permafrost. This work presents a brief description of the geomorphological features observed in the Low Head region during the Brazilian polar expedition in the summer of 2011.

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Authors:
Trista J. Vick*, Linda Amaral-Zettler**, and John C. Priscu* 

*Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
**Marine Biological Laboratory,Woods Hole, MA

Originally presented at:
McMurdo LTER Science Meeting, 2010, Fort Collins, CO

Abstract/Summary:
During the 2007-2008 IPY, we stayed in the MCM during the summer-winter transition. Sampling during the darkness of winter is logistically prohibitive; this study is an important step towards understanding the year round ecology of MCM lakes. This project allowed us to examine ecosystem responses as photosynthetic inputs of new carbon stopped. We hypothesize that the change in season and loss of carbon inputs lead to changes across the lake ecosystems, which may manifest as shifts in microbial community structures.

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Authors:
André Medeiros de Andrade*, Everton Luís Poelking**, Carlos Ernesto G. R. Schaefer**, Elpídio Inácio Fernandes Filho**, Flávio Barbosa Justino**

* Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil
** Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brasil.

Conference Where Poster was Originally Presented:
XV Simpósio Brasileiro de Sensoriamento Remoto

Abstract/Summary:
The cryosphere includes the landsurface permanently covered by snow and ice, such as glaciers. Environmental changes can result in broad global consequences, and studies of glaciers from polar regions are strategic as sensitive areas to climate changes. We analyzed the intra-seasonal variability of air temperature and correlated with the changing rates of Polar Club Glacier retreat, at Potter Peninsula, King George Island. We used a series of nine scenes of Landsat satellite images and atmospheric temperature data from 1986 to 2009. The results showed a consistent retreat over the past 22 years of the Polar Club Glacier front, resulting in an increase of 120.47 ha of ice-free area in Potter Peninsula alone. We further revealed that during the period of 24 years studied there was increase in temperature of 1.64°C in the autumn temperatures, 1.58°C in spring time temperatures, 0.7°C in winter and 0.47°C in summer. The results for the melting of the Polar Club glacier are not matched with previous results from other studies already developed in similar dome glaciers on King George Island. The changes observed for the Polar Club glacier between 1986 and 2008 have close links with the various components of the landscape, such as thickness of ice cover and basal water temperature. The series of atmospheric temperatures is not sufficient to explain the variation observed for the Polar Club glacier front on Potter peninsula.

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Authors:
Hye Min Kim*,**, Ok-Sun Kim*, Soon Gyu Hong*, Jongsik Chun**, Bang Yong Lee***, Yoo Kyung Lee*

*Division of Polar Life Sciences, Korea Polar Research Institute, Incheon, KOREA
**School of Biological Sciences , Seoul National University, Seoul, KOREA
***Division of Polar Climate Research, Korea Polar Research Institute, Incheon, KOREA

Conference Where Poster was Originally Presented:
ASSW (Arctic Science Summit Week), March 27-April 1, 2011, Coex Seoul, Korea 
 -- ASSW 2011 Award Winner for outstanding poster presentation --

Abstract/Summary:
Although the thawing of permafrost may contribute to increase of active layer, the microbial diversity of active layer has not yet described well. Diversity of bacteria and archaea in active layer soil was analyzed by using a pyrosequencing method. The soil was collected from the top of active layer submerged shallow freshwater around Resolute, Canada (N, 74° 41’ 177”; W, 94° 54’ 458”). Total 7,796 bacterial reads for 40 phyla and 245 archaeal reads for 4 phyla were collected, reflecting the high diversity of bacteria in this active layer soil. Predominant bacterial groups are Proteobacteria (37.7%) and Bacteroidetes (30.0%), and archaeal groups are Euryarchaeota (51.4%) and Thaumarchaeota (46.1%). The bacterial species shared high similarity with their allied species in this study were also isolated from various environments, mainly from freshwater lakes and also from alpine or polar habitats. Frequently occurred bacterial species contained several cultivable bacteria: Flavobacterium sp. (Bacteroidetes), Anabaena solitaria (Cyanobacteria) and Rhodoferax antarcticus (β-Proteobacteria). Methanosarcina lacustris is one of the archaeal majority. These results showed that the soil of active layer has various microbial diversities and some high rank of species contribute to the biogeiochemical cycles such as oxygen production by A. solitaria and methane production by methanogen from Euryarchaeota.

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Authors:
Karina Engelbrecht Clemmensen*, Mikael Brandström Durling*, Anders Michelsen**, Erica Sterkenburg*, Roger Finlay*, Björn Lindahl*

*Dept. Forest Mycology and Pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden
**Dept. biology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Conference Where Poster was Originally Presented:
IMC9 - The Biology of Fungi, Edinburgh, UK, 1-6 August 2010 

Abstract/Summary:
Saprotrophic fungi dominate fungal communities in recent plant litter, whereas ectomycorrhizal fungi dominate in older humus, pointing to distinct roles of the two functional groups for turnover of organic matter. This study investigates whether trees, through their interaction with ectomycorrhizal fungi, play a more direct role in soil C turnover than previously thought.
We studied a subarctic-alpine forest-heath ecotone from mountain birch forest to heathland dominated by ericaceous species. We combined high-throughput pyrosequencing to characterize fungal communities in fine-scaled soil profiles, with ecosystem level measurements, such as C, N and stable isotope pools and biomass estimates.
Our results point to a strong coupling between tree abundance, ectomycorrhizal fungal density and decomposition rate of humus. Ectomycorrhizal mycelial production differed ten-fold between the two extreme sites and mirrored the increasing tree density towards the forest. In contrast, although forest litter production was larger, the total soil C pool in the forest was one-third of the pool in the heath, pointing to higher turnover rate of soil organic matter here. Also, the higher C/N ratios of humus and the dissolved organic pools in the forest suggest more efficient mobilization of N, probably an effect of higher ectomycorrhizal fungal activity.

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Authors:
Olga Khitun*, Tatjana Koroleva*, Svetlana Chinenko*, Adrian Katenin*, Vladislav Petrovsky*, Olga Rebristaya*, Elena Pospelova**, Andrei Zverev***
*Komarov Botanical Institute Russian Academy of Science, St-Petersburg,Russia,
** Nature Reserve “Taymyrsky”, Russia,
*** Tomsk State University, Russia

Conference Where Poster was Originally Presented:
International Polar Year Oslo Science Conference, 8-12 June 2010 Oslo 

Abstract/Summary:
Extensive data on vascular plant species composition in 150 localities (“local floras”) in the Asian part of the Russian Arctic was obtained by the authors. Similar in size (100 km2) localities were studied very thoroughly, therefore species lists are highly comparable and any changes in diversity can be traced. They were chosen for biodiversity monitoring network. As the present scheme of floristic delimitation of the Arctic (Yurtsev, 1994) was produced (using extrapolation) earlier than the database had been created, our aim was to check if the local floras data support it. For this purpose we used both taxonomic and geographic characters of the floras. Existence of more or less sharp gradients in the presence and abundance of different longitudinal groups and fractions in local floras confirmed certain boundaries and revealed others, not reflected in the scheme (Figure). Among the latter the boundary separating Eastern Gydan from the rest of Yamal-Gydan subprovince and the border at the base of the Chukchi peninsula (marked by the distribution of 7 groups!) are the most important; the boundary along the Pyasina river which separates Western Taimyr and the border separating Beringian coast are of lower rank. Clusterisation on the base of similarity of geographical spectra proved the separation of 2 western subprovinces, rather high floristic unity of Taymyr’s subprovince, heterogeneity of Yamal-Gydan’s. In Chukotka’s province clustering showed: high similarity of floras of the Wrangel island and the coast of Continental Chukotka; essential difference between the coastal Beringian floras and ones from the inland of Chukchi peninsula, similarity of the latter with Southern Chukotka’s floras. These features were not reflected in the scheme. Study of local floras contributed in the investigating of the spatial differentiation of the plant cover and producing more accurate scheme of the floristic delimitation of the Russian Arctic. 

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Authors:
Mihai Niculita*,**
*Romanian Polar research Institute, **Bucharest,Romania
Faculty of Geography and Geology, University Al. I. Cuza, Iasi, Romania

Conference Where Poster was Originally Presented:
The National Symposium Pedogenetic factors and processes in the temperate zone, XX edition, 10-12 September 2010, Odobesti-Focsani, Romania

Abstract/Summary:
Soils from Bjørdalen, Spitsbergen evolve under polar climatic and periglacial geomorphologic conditions, with permafrost presence, a strong physical and chemical weathering and thin vegetal cover, pedogenetic factors that lead to a thin soil cover, dominated by Leptic, Gleyic and Mollic Cryosols and Leptosols.

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Authors:
Teodor Gh. Negoita* , Gheorghe Stefanic*, Alina Georgiana Catrinescu*
*Romanian Polar Research Institute

Conference Where Poster was Originally Presented:
IPY Oslo Science Conference, 8-12 June 2010, Norway

Abstract/Summary:
Numerous and diverse researches on polar zones, including pedo-enzymatic, have a distinct value, but many are limited to the description of characteristics of location or zone, not enabling to estimate the direction of evolution. The IPY 2007-2008 program was meant to bring research to the level of current scientific potential leading to models, based on interdisciplinary studies and diverse “in situ” and “in vitro” tests. Under the real conditions of a location, the pedological analyses must provide data about: climate; crust and soil formation; soil micro-population; nutrient biological circuits; vegetal cover; vital processes in soil: respiration, biological free dinitrogen fixation, ammonification, nitrification, cellulolyse; pedoenzymic potentials of: catalase, saccharase, total amidase and phosphatase. All this information must be integrated in characteristic groups, quantitatively and qualitatively evaluated, and be, as far as possible, transformed in indicators suitable for comparisons and enabling to understand the evolution of the terrestrial crust towards soil formation.

In our research within IPY project ID 1267 on permafrost soils, a special attention was given to the synthetic indicators of chemical and biological features of permafrost soils, indicators which enable numerical expression of the vital stage of soil and comparisons with other zones. These indicators are Indicator of Vital Activity Potential (IVAP%), Indicator of Enzymic Activity Potential (IEAP%) and Biological Synthetic Indicator (BSI%). With the same quantitative indicators, created by Stefanic (1994), we characterized both soils from temperate climate and from polar zones (Stefanic Gh. et al., 1997; Negoita, T. Gh., Stefanic Gh. et al, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008), which enabled to ascertain the soil quality depending on the biological processes, nutrient accumulation and the level of soil forming in given ecological conditions. The scientific literature (Dick R.P., 1994, and Trasar-Cepeda C. et al.,1998) mentioned these achievements as being original in pedology.

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Authors:
André Medeiros de Andrade*, Carlos Ernesto R. Schaefer*, Thiago Torres C. Pereira*, Lucas Marinho Poeiras*, and Everton Luís Poelking*

* Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brasil

Conference Where Poster was Originally Presented:
SCAR Open Science Conference, Buenos-Aires, 3-6 August 2010

Abstract/Summary:
Geoprocessing techniques (Geographic Information System - GIS) allow the mapping and spatial distribution of land surface environmental data, in a quick and efficient way. Based on GIS, we can also quantify and locate different geo-environments in the landscape. The aim of this work was the detailed mapping of vegetation types found in Hope Bay, Antarctic Peninsula. We used a digital elevation model produced by mean of a topographic GPS and orthorectified Quickbird satellite images. After image pre-processing, we extracted the limits of glaciers, lakes and ice-free areas. The visual interpretation of images was assisted by field work to help interpreting the vegetation patterns at 2,5 meters resolution. We identified 13 vegetation classes ranging from algae to lichens, dominated communities, mapped at 1:5.000 scale. The sub-aquatic marine algae occupies 24% of all vegetated area, where a vegetated terrain occupy 12,5% of total ice-free area at Hope Bay. All geographical information will be made available through the Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia da Criosfera – Terrantar. (www.terrantar.com.br)

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Authors:
Everton Luís Poelking*, André Medeiros de Andrade*, Carlos E. R. Schaefer*, and Elpídio Inácio Fernandes Filho*

* Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brasil

Conference Where Poster was Originally Presented:
XVII Simpósio Brasileiro sobre Pesquisa Antártica

Abstract/Summary:
A península Potter possui uma área de proteção especial, conhecida como ASPA N° 132 (Antarctica Specially Protected Area). Esta área se estende ao longo da costa, com largura variando em até 500 metros, entre Stranger Point ate Mirounga Point, com uma área aproximada de 1,9 km². Foi implementada com fins de preservação da fauna e flora, sendo apenas permitido acesso à pesquisa cientifica. Técnicas de geoprocessamento provem de forma rápida e eficiente essa função de quantificar e localizar os diferentes ecossistemas sobre a paisagem. A península Potter está localizada na Ilha Rei George, arquipélago das Ilhas Shetlands do Sul, na Antártica Marítima, entre as latitudes 62˚13,5' e 62˚16’ sul e longitude 58˚42’ e 58˚33’ oeste. Potter tem uma extensão leste-oeste de cerca de 6 km e uma extensão de Norte-Sul de 3,5 km, com cerca de 7,20 km², sendo grande parte dessa área livre de gelo no período do verão. Possui a estação de pesquisa argentina de Jubbany. Nesse trabalho foi utilizada como base o mapa planialtimetrico de del Valle (2001), contendo informações de altimetria com eqüidistância de 3 m. A partir da imagem do satélite Quickbird, e pontos de GPS topográfico tomados à campo, foi realizado o registro e ortorretificação para correção de distorções de escala, sob a qual foram extraídos os limites de geleira, drenagens, lagos e edificações. A base cartográfica final foi obtida seguindo rotinas implementadas no ArcGis 9.3. As toponímias seguiram o modelo proposto por Pudelko (2002) e Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica (Standing Scientific Group on Geoscience 2003). Como resultado foi produzido o mapa topográfico contendo os principais elementos da paisagem na península Potter e ASPA nº132 na escala de 1:10.000 (figura 1). Esse mapa possui informações detalhadas e atualizadas em escala adequada para trabalhos específicos nas áreas livres de gelo da península.

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Authors:
Everton Luís Poelking*, Carlos E. R. Schaefer*, André Medeiros de Andrade*, and Elpídio Inácio Fernandes Filho*

* Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brasil

Conference Where Poster was Originally Presented:
XIV Brazilian Remote Sensing Symposium, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil, 25-30 abril 2009

Abstract/Summary:
The aimed of this study is to investigate the relationship of the plant community’s distribution and the solar radiation potential incident in ice-free areas from Stranger Point, Maritime Antarctic. The vegetation map was obtained by supervised classification (Maxver) from Quickbird 2 image with the following thematic categories: Community of mosses, community of mosses and grasses, the community of Lichens, Community of mosses and Lichens, Mixes community, Soil, Snow, Water, Rookeries and Shadow. The solar radiation module Solar Analyst implemented in ArcGIS 9.3, was used in the study. Calculated for the summer months (December to March), the map showing the mean radiation potential distribution for the area in kw m-2. The relationship between the solar radiation potential with the vegetation distribution in the area was study through maps algebra. The totaled areas with vegetation are 30.85%, with communities of mosses and grasses to more widely distribute. The mixed communities are favored by the largest amount of radiation, found at most local plans and increased sun exposure. The lowest averages of radiation are occupied by mosses, in areas protected from wind and turned to the south or with higher slopes. Because of this remains more humid, becoming preferred places to bryophytes. The distribution of vegetation has close links with the various components of the landscape, such as soil, geomorphology, drainage and rookeries influence areas, and the solar radiation is less interference in the distribution of vegetation Antarctic.

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Authors:
Tiago Rodrigues Simões*, Alexander Armin Wilhelm Kellner*, Douglas Riff**, Orlando Grillo*, Pedro Romano***,Helder de Paula*, Marcelo de Araujo Carvalho*, Renato Rodriguez Cabral Ramos*,and Taissa Rodrigues*

* Museu Nacional/UFRJ, Departamento de Geologia e Paleontologia, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brasil.
**Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Instituto de Biologia, Uberlândia – MG, Brasil.
***Universidade Federal da Bahia, Instituto de Ciências Ambientais e Desenvolvimento Sustentável, Barreiras – BA, Brasil.

Conference Where Poster was Originally Presented:
I Workshop da APECS Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 14 to 15 October

Abstract/Summary:
During the XXV OPERANTAR (2006 – 2007), an expedition of seven researches from the Museu Nacional/UFRJ and two alpinists carried out the first Brazilian paleontological field work at the James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Named Project PALEOANTAR this expedition was funded by the CNPq and had the main purpose to collect fossils and rocks in order to provide a better understanding of the ancient paleoecossistems present in this area during the Late Cretaceous. The team set camp for 37 days at the base of the Bibby Point Plateau in the northwest portion of the island and explored the outcrops of the Marambio and Gustav groups. Most of the fossil vertebrates collected by PALEOANTAR project were collected at the Abernethy Flats, where the Lachman Crags and Herbert Sound members of the Santa Marta Formation crop out. These represent, mid to outer shelf and shallow inner shelf environments respectively.
Among the fossil vertebrates are the remains of the oldest (ca. 85 Mya) plesiosaur from Antarctica known so far, as well as sharks teeth.. The plesiosaur (MN 7163-V) consists of nineteen fragmentary vertebrae, including six cervical and two caudal elements; parts of a propodial and some of the paddle elements. Despite the incompleteness of the specimen, the cervicals indicate that MN 7163-V is the first non-elasmosaurid plesiosaur from Antarctica. The morphology of the shark teeth suggests that they represent basal lamnids, which inhabited Late Cretaceous near shore environments of Antarctica, as has been pointed out before. Other findings (invertebrates and plant elements) are presently being studied and will contribute to a better understanding of the Late Cretaceous ecossistems present in Antarctica. Based on the success of the PALEOANTAR project, more field work is been expected to be carried out in the near future in order to recover more paleontological material.

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Authors:
T. Gh. Negoita* and Gh. Stefanic*

*Romanian Polar Research Institute, Romania     

Originally Presented At:
IPY Oslo Science Conference, 8-12 June 2010 in Oslo, Norway

Abstract:
Numerous and diverse researches on polar zones, including pedo-enzymatic, have a distinct value, but many are limited to the description of characteristics of location or zone, not enabling to estimate the direction of evolution. The IPY 2007-2008 program was meant to bring research to the level of current scientific potential leading to models, based on interdisciplinary studies and diverse “in situ” and “in vitro” tests. Under the real conditions of a location, the pedological analyses must provide data about: climate; crust and soil formation; soil micro-population; nutrient biological circuits; vegetal cover; vital processes in soil: respiration, biological free dinitrogen fixation, ammonification, nitrification, cellulolyse; pedoenzymic potentials of: catalase, saccharase, total amidase and phosphatase. All this information must be integrated in characteristic groups, quantitatively and qualitatively
evaluated, and be, as far as possible, transformed in indicators suitable for comparisons and enabling to understand the evolution of the terrestrial crust towards soil formation.

In our research within IPY project ID 1267 on permafrost soils, a special attention was given to the synthetic indicators of chemical and biological features of permafrost soils, indicators which enable numerical expression of the vital stage of soil and comparisons with other zones. These indicators are Indicator of Vital Activity Potential (IVAP%), Indicator of Enzymic Activity Potential (IEAP%) and Biological Synthetic Indicator (BSI%). With the same quantitative indicators, created by Stefanic (1994), we characterized both soils from temperate climate and from polar zones (Stefanic Gh. et al., 1997; Negoita, T. Gh., Stefanic Gh. et al, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008), which enabled to ascertain the soil quality depending on the biological processes, nutrient accumulation and the level of soil forming in given ecological conditions. The scientific literature (Dick R.P., 1994, and Trasar-Cepeda C. et al.,1998) mentioned these achievements as being original in pedology.

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Authors:
Erli S. Costa* and Maria Alice S. Alves**     

* Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
** Laboratório de Ecologia de Aves, Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, UERJ, Brazil.    

Originally Presented at:
SCAR Open Science Conference, Buenos-Aires, 3-6 August 2010

Abstract:
The territories are so important to reproductive success of species than the food availability. In Antarctic the free ice areas are indispensable to the reproduction of seabird species as skuas, penguins, petrels, kelp gulls, and others. In present study we analyzed photographs and field notes to evaluate the vegetation used by skuas in their nests. Field work took place in 2004/2005, 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 breeding stations in two breeding sites of Admiralty Bay (Hennequin Point and Keller Peninsula). The nests were categorized in accordance with vegetation cover as follows: 1) little (0-25%), 2) medium (25-75%), and 3) abundant vegetation cover (above 75%). The initial results indicate that the majority of the nests were categorized as 2 and 3 (more than 70%). The results so far indicate that these birds select the areas to establish territories and build nests according to the presence of vegetation. It also indicates that the best breeding areas for skuas are those that have more than 70% vegetation cover. (This work was supported by The National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and Brazilian Antarctic Program (PROANTAR) (process CNPq/PROANTAR 550040/2007-2). ESC received a PhD CNPq fellowship (process 141474/2008-4), and MASA received a CNPq grant (process 3027185/03-6) during development of this work).    

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