As the world's oil resources dwindle, the search for new supplies is touching regions of the globe previously considered too hostile for any kind of sustained operation. The ice-infested coastal waters of eastern and northern Canada are one such region. Already rigs have been at work off Newfoundland and Labrador where there is a long ice-free season and where drifting icebergs are the chief danger. Wells have been drilled on land in the Arctic islands and in one case from fast ice artificially thickened by flooding. However, a proposal to drill in the environmentally sensitive Beaufort Sea aroused widespread concern because of the enormous damage that could be caused by an accidental oil spill or by the blowout of an offshore well. People realized that the polar pack ice presents great dangers, that almost no information existed on the interactions between oil and sea ice, and that the oceanography and biology of the Beaufort Sea were understood only sketchily. To remedy these deficiencies a major environmental impact study, the Beaufort Sea Project, was undertaken in 1974–75 by the federal government of Canada and the oil industry acting in co-operation. The study also served the purpose of definng the conditions and restrictions under which the government would allow offshore drilling to proceed.

Priyadarshani, an oligotrophic lake in Schirmacher Oasis (Antarctica), was surveyed during the austral summers of 1984–85 and 1986–87 in limnological and benthic studies. Benthic microfauna included seven taxonomic groups, dominated numerically by protozoa, rotifera, nematoda, turbellaria, tardigrada, oligochaeta and mites. Faunal density was high in moss-associated sediments. A maximum water depth of 6.5 m was recorded at the centre of the lake. A thick layer (25–90 cm) of moss and algal communities covered the bottom sediments. The total volume of water was estimated to be 62 million m3 over the submerged area of 0·297 km2.

In a context of rapid climatic change in the Arctic, the fast melting of permafrost, the decline of glaciers and the melting of sea ice created perceived strategic and economic opportunities for the littoral states. The attention of states beyond the region was also attracted. For example China, without direct access to the Arctic, displays an interest in Arctic research, natural resources, and shipping potential. However, its diplomatic, economic, political and scientific efforts in this region arouse negative reactions among western media. They often draw up a portrait of an ambitious and arrogant China, ready to push aside the sovereignty of the Arctic countries to defend its own interests in the Arctic. From this perspective, it seems relevant to analyse China's activities in the region and to try to assess Beijing's strategy, which seems more driven by opportunism than by a long-term desire to challenge the littoral states’ sovereignty.

Sovereignty was and still remains one of the principal reasons for human endeavour in Antarctica. The ‘Heroic Era’ of Antarctic exploration was designed principally to seek out not only new lands including the South Pole, but also to assert territorial claims on behalf of the sovereign who sponsored these expeditions. The ‘planting of the flag’ was therefore just as much a crucial component of Antarctic discovery, as also was the conduct of science. Sovereignty and science remained twin pillars of Antarctic endeavour throughout the early part of the twentieth century, and whilst the region escaped the horrors of World War II, it did not take long after the war for Antarctic endeavours to resume on both fronts. In a decade of frantic diplomatic activity during the 1950s, which was highlighted by the 1957–1958 International Geophysical Year and the 1959 Washington Conference, there was also the prospect in 1956 of a case before the International Court of Justice between Argentina, Chile and the United Kingdom over the contested status of territorial claims on the Antarctic Peninsula. Notwithstanding that by this time all of the current claims to the continent had by then been asserted, there had also been moves made by India in 1956 and then again in 1958 to reconsider the management of the continent with a view to its internationalisation under a framework created by the United Nations General Assembly.

This article focuses on the construction of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC), the aim being to offer the historical context within which the ICC came to serve as a significant voice for Arctic policy making and as a representative of Inuit peoples in general. It explores the role of the ICC in relation to the domestic, regional, and international political events taking place during its formative years in order to provide the basis through which the ICC came to be a political authority in the Arctic. While the main coalescence of events was around the theme of Arctic resource development, each event significantly helped lay the foundation for, and structures under which, Arctic policy would proceed into the future. This includes a changing Arctic narrative that has transformed the Arctic from a being a region concentrated on resource extraction and Cold War security into a region serving as a symbolic pinnacle for global sustainable development. Through the expanded political agency of the ICC and an international focus on the Arctic, a vision of the Arctic has emerged under which it is defined by its natural environment and by the indigenous peoples who inhabit this space. This is an INDIPO project paper (Tennberg 2006).

Norway will soon celebrate that 100 years ago, the former ‘no-man's land’ of the Svalbard archipelago was placed under its sovereignty. However, this paper focuses on another important and often omitted element also brought about by the 1920 Svalbard Treaty regarding its demilitarisation and neutralisation. We ask how has the Svalbard security regime been able to meet the various challenges it has faced over almost 100 years of existence? Also, given that the treaty was drafted at the beginning of the 20th century, are the security provisions of this regime already obsolete or are they seen still as valid, and more importantly functional against the backdrop of rapidly changing security realities? This paper then goes further and while it uses Svalbard as a case study, it tries to assess the role of demilitarisation and neutralisation in the modern context by trying to infer possible lessons from two similar regimes, which apply to Antarctica and the Åland Islands.

This paper describes some of the very severe problems of pollution found in the industrialised regions of Kol'skiy Poluostrov (Kola Peninsula) in the European Russian Arctic. Information concerning this area, as is the case for other parts of the former Soviet Union, has tended in the past to be inaccessible, or highly fragmented. By assembling information from a variety of sources, including discussion with local experts, the authors have produced a coherent picture of the background to and current extent of industrial pollution in this area. The problems are shown to be quite as severe as western scientists have feared.

This paper describes the results of a program for the monitoring and remediation of hydrocarbon contamination at the former Greenpeace base site, located at Cape Evans, Ross Island, Antarctica (77°38′S, 166°24′E). World Park Base operated year-round between 1987 and 1991. It was entirely removed in 1991–92. Increased levels of hydrocarbons occurred in sediments nearby the base. The total volume of fuel spilt during Greenpeace operations, estimated at less than 200 L, was less than what would now require reporting according to existing guidelines for national programs. Some fuel spills might have predated Greenpeace activities. Hydrocarbon contamination was highly localised and largely contained in the active layer. However, in one site hydrocarbons were detected to a depth of 70 cm into the permafrost. Low impact, low technology remedial action applied at some sites removed a significant percentage of fuel in the active layer, thus reducing the potential for secondary effects. The fuel that remains in the subsurface post-remediation, estimated in the order of some tens of litres, is contained in ‘lenses’ of contaminated sediment at the bottom of the active layer. These subsurface hydrocarbons may mobilise into the backfill cover above or in the upper part of the permafrost. Hydrocarbons were detected in previously uncontaminated backfill, which may have resulted from upward migration and re-deposition of hydrocarbons. During the monitoring period the interaction of contaminated sites with meltwater and aeolian processes did not significantly change the hydrocarbon distribution at spill sites, although limited mobilisation of hydrocarbons is likely to occur by these or other mechanisms. The difficulty of removing hydrocarbons from permafrost terrain underscores the legal (under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty) and ethical responsibility of all operators to avoid their release into the Antarctic wilderness, including the areas that have been subject to earlier impacts. A no-action approach might in some cases be the best option available to deal with contaminants in freezing ground, but it is not acceptable unless it is preceded by the thoughtful consideration of all other alternatives. Ultimately, there is a need to find environmentally friendly alternatives to using fossil fuels as the primary source of energy in Antarctic stations.

Medical factors including tuberculosis, scurvy, lead poisoning and botulism have been proposed to explain the high death rate prior to desertion of the ships on Sir John Franklin's expedition of 1845–1848 but their role remains unclear because the surgeons’ Sick books which recorded illness on board have eluded discovery. In their absence, this study examines the Sick books of Royal Naval search squadrons sent in search of Franklin, and which encountered similar conditions to his ships, to consider whether their morbidity and mortality might reflect that of the missing expedition. The Sick books of HMS Assistance, Enterprise, Intrepid, Investigator, Pioneer and Resolute yielded 1,480 cases that were coded for statistical analysis. On the basis of the squadrons’ patterns of illness it was concluded that Franklin's crews would have suffered common respiratory and gastro-intestinal disorders, injuries and exposure and that deaths might have occurred from respiratory, cardiovascular and tubercular conditions. Scurvy occurred commonly and it was shown that the method of preparing ‘antiscorbutic’ lemon juice for the search squadrons and Franklin's ships would have reduced its capacity to prevent the disease but there were no grounds to conclude that scurvy was significant at the time of deserting the ships. There was no clear evidence of lead poisoning despite the relatively high level of lead exposure that was inevitable on ships at that time. There was no significant difference between the deaths of non-officer ranks on Franklin's ships and several of the search ships. The greater number of deaths of Franklin's officers was proposed to be more probably a result of non-medical factors such as accidents and injuries sustained while hunting and during exploration.

Northwest Greenland formerly supported a population of musk-ox (Ovibos moschatus). Radiocarbon dating of musk-ox remains collected on the terrain surface and from archaeological sites has yielded Late Holocene ages, indicating that the species was a late immigrant to this part of Greenland. Musk-ox arrived at a time when Greenland was uninhabited, and the species had at least several hundred years to expand and spread south, before the Late Dorset people arrived and began to hunt. The main reason that the species did not disperse south to West Greenland was probably because of the barrier presented by Melville Bugt, which was heavily glaciated in the Late Holocene. However, if there had been a longer period of time before hunting of the musk-ox occurred, there would have been an enhanced likelihood that chance dispersal south could have taken place.

During the ‘Heroic Era’ of Antarctic exploration, which lasted from 1895 to 1917, nine huts were erected in Antarctica, three of Scandinavian design, three British, and three Australian. Although all of the huts were specially designed to house expedition personnel, each group drew on different precedents, regional architectural influences, and degrees of conscious innovation for polar conditions. Of particular note was the use of different insulation materials, some of which were traditional and some of which were new or experimental. The three groups of huts were very different in concept and construction, yet within each group there were successes and failures in terms of providing adequate comfort for their occupants. This paper looks at the details of design and construction of each hut, and at the factors that might have contributed to the success or failure of a particular hut. These factors included the theoretical thermal efficiency of the design and the construction materials, the effectiveness of the heating and ventilation systems installed, and the amount of floor space available to each man. It is concluded that efficiency depended on a combination of these factors rather than on any one, and that the ‘Heroic Era’ was probably too short a period of time for the best combination (if one existed) to be recognised and adopted to produce a consistently efficient Antarctic hut design.

Additional, or supernumerary, teeth occur in most mammalian taxa, although they are better recorded in some species than in others. As part of a larger biometric study, incidence of visible supernumerary teeth was recorded in the skulls of 1228 pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and fur seals). Results showed that supernumerary teeth only occurred in the postcanine (molars and premolars) tooth row. It was also found that 3.3% of otariids (sea lions and fur seals) and 4.7% of phocids (‘true’ seals) possessed supernumerary postcanines. Out of a total of 52 supernumererary teeth recorded, only six were morphologically abberant; all the others played a functional role in the normal tooth row.

Southern Bering Sea fishermen are vulnerable to losing access to key fisheries due largely to policy changes, permit loss, and the expense of fishing operations. Local residents generally do not have fishing rights in many of the high value commercial fisheries. They must continuously shape policy and explore alternative economies in order to stay fishermen. We were contracted by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to study the role of subsistence and commercial fisheries, land use, socioeconomics, and sharing networks in Alutiiq and Aleut/Unangan villages. Through an exploration of these data using innovative social network analysis that presents relationships, social stratification, commercialisation, and other dependencies in the maintenance of fisheries, sharing, trading, and revenue streams, this paper shows that in two of the most socioeconomically valuable fisheries, king crab (Paralithodes sp. and Lithodes sp) and cod (Gadidae), local peoples have had to gain access to these foods by using means outside of what are academically perceived as their traditional subsistence and commercial allocation, resulting in adaptive networks of distribution. This work shows the range of networks surrounding these key foods and their associated vulnerabilities and resilience. Those sharing networks that demonstrate greater interconnectedness are much more stable and resilient.

Analysing the Danish-Greenlandic debate on Greenland’s plans to extract and export uranium, the article advocates bringing the fields of extraction studies and cultural studies into dialogue. Drawing on discourse analysis, critical theory and the “emotional turn” in social sciences, the article demonstrates how the current discussion about secession is linked to a Danish-Greenlandic affective economy instituted during the colonial era. Conceived as the antithesis to the unhappy condition of present postcoloniality, independence has become the ultimate political goal for the Greenlandic nation. The reasoning is that history has made the Greenlanders citizens in a foreign nation, which has left them in a state of alienation. In order to lock colonialism away firmly in the past and attain future happiness, the Greenlanders must attain statehood. Uranium is supposed to promote this goal and is thus circulated as a “happy object”, positioning opponents of uranium mining as “affect aliens” or “killjoys” in the independence discourse. In Denmark, the Greenlandic detachment has led to “postcolonial melancholia” – and to a greater receptiveness to the Greenland desire for equality. In Greenland, disappointed expectations of rapid economic progress and growing distrust of large-scale projects have sparked a discussion about the significations of the concept of “independence”.

In 1983 the UN Secretary-General was requested by the General Assembly to prepare a ‘Study on the question of Antarctica’ for the 1984 meeting of the Assembly. Published in November 1984, the Study provided a foundation for the UN First Committee's discussions of 28–30 November. These demonstrated, as had the discussions of the previous year, the polarization of views among UN member states for and against the Antarctic Treaty System. The UN resolution that followed the discussions similarly represented little advance on that of 1983, merely postponing any decision for a further year. Meanwhile the considerable amount of information marshalled for the Study may help to spread interest in Antarctic affairs and enhance international understanding.

In the western Arctic and in the northwest coast and Alaska, the significance of the raven as a creator and trickster is generally acknowledged. In the eastern Arctic there are no such elaborate mythical cycles concerning the bird. But the raven still plays an important role in myths and rituals. In this paper, some features of the Alaskan complex and the position of the raven in the eastern Arctic are discussed. The basic features of the Alaskan raven complex are used as heuristic principles guiding research into the situation in the eastern Arctic region. It is argued that in many respects the raven is responsible for society but without being part of it. As a predator and a scavenger it is often associated with eating dirt, excrement and human flesh, and yet it created light, enabling people to see and invented tattooing, enabling women to marry.

The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) is the mainstay of most of the indigenous cultures and economies of the Eurasian north. Yet much of the literature ignores indigenous perspectives in favour of ecological perspectives based on a resource-oriented model. While acknowledging the role of scientific writing on reindeer, here we explore the meaning of reindeer economies that are also reindeer cultures. We show how reindeer can be endowed with a personhood which parallels that of humans, leading to a working partnership which encompasses both ecological and spiritual dimensions. Even when reindeer herders qualify in veterinary science, this does not wipe out their indigenous understanding of the nature of the reindeer. We relate this to the physical, social and moral demands of life in the taiga.