Australian Antarctic Territory Research Articles

The Australian ice core programme: history, context, and bibliometric analysis

ABSTRACT East Antarctic ice cores are key to Australia’s Antarctic science objectives. Australia is internationally recognised for its climate contributions relating to impurities, greenhouse gases, and water stable isotope studies. These factors make the Australian ice core programme an effective case study to demonstrate the usefulness of bibliometric studies in understanding the broader impacts of scientific research. This work presents a bibliometric analysis of Australian-authored and/or funded ice core publications from within the Australian Antarctic Territory over the programme’s 50 years (1972–2022). This work also discusses the history and chronology of Australia’s ice core programme to contextualise the results of the bibliometric analysis. These are illustrated by examining the key drilling locations, such as Law Dome, and the resultant research which establishes Australia as a global leader in producing high-resolution ice core records from coastal East Antarctic sites. This article demonstrates the applicability of bibliometric studies to identify themes of research that are intended to inform international and domestic policies for the betterment of society.

Antarctica in the gray zone

ABSTRACT All appears quiet on Australia’s southern front – Antarctica. The continent remains a beacon of cooperation, home to a continued system of international governance and scientific engagement, lauded as a political win from the depths of the Cold War. Beneath the surface, however, this article argues that strategic competition is now building. In Antarctica, this competition takes the form of gray zone activities. This article argues that the proliferation of gray zone challenges could jeopardize the future of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS). This article analyses gray zone activity in Antarctica and highlights the growing complexity Australia faces, as Canberra pursues the dual objectives of protecting Australia’s territorial claim to the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) and bolstering the ATS.

Assessing the maritime ‘rules-based order’ in Antarctica

ABSTRACT International Relations has become increasingly interested in maritime order as the oceans have emerged as a key site of strategic competition. The South China Sea has become totemic of contests between ‘free’ and ‘closed’ visions of the seas, and is viewed by some as a litmus test for China’s efforts to re-write the ‘rules-based order’ in other maritime domains. This article examines the maritime ‘rules-based order’ in Antarctica, critically examining how and why the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) matters for the Antarctic region, the Southern Ocean and mechanisms of regional governance. This article contributes to understanding the complexity of maritime order in Antarctica by using Australia’s maritime claims as a case study. Australia is the largest claimant state in Antarctica, with the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) constituting 42% of the landmass. This paper examines Australia’s contentious maritime jurisdiction and its ‘normative hedging’ strategy that simultaneously asserts maritime claims and defends collective governance mechanisms, despite the apparent dissonance between these two positions. It argues that the Antarctic region has its own unique ‘rules-based order’ and geographic realities that complicate cross-regional comparisons, and that even so-called ‘like-minded’ states interpret maritime rules in different ways.

The Kerguelen Plateau: Interactions between the Law of the Sea and the Antarctic Treaty

Australia has benefited immensely from the maritime zone provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC), particularly the provisions for the Extended Continental Shelf under Article 76. Australia’s comprehensive submission of continental shelf data to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in 2004 included data occurring inside the Antarctic Treaty Area for three separate Australian territories; the Australian Antarctic Territory, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and Macquarie Island. This raises questions surrounding the interactions between the LOSC and the Antarctic Treaty in the Southern Ocean. The paper focuses on the Kerguelen Plateau continental shelf deliniation, offering a timely analysis of Australia’s strategic interests here, as Australia seeks to prepare a new or revised Extended Continental Shelf data submission for Williams Ridge. Australia has sought to strike a strategic balance between supporting its territorial interests and derived benefits under LOSC in the Southern Ocean, whilst maintaining and further enhancing some of the key values and norms of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS). The Kergulen Plateau case represents a strategic pursuit of territorial interests, carefully balanced with a determination to strengthen Australia’s influence within the ATS and enhance the reach of its provisions, particularly in regard to environmental protection and the mining prohibition under the Madrid Protocol.

THE IRRELEVANCE OF NON-RECOGNITION TO AUSTRALIA'S ANTARCTIC TERRITORY TITLE

AbstractIt is often noted that few States recognize the seven national claims to Antarctic territory. Australia, one of the claimants, asserts title over 42 per cent of the continent and yet only four States have recognized its claim. Some States have expressly rejected Australia's claim. This article examines the legal significance of such widespread non-recognition. It does so through interrogating the evolution of the legal regime of territorial acquisition, its historical function and application to Antarctica, and relevant decisions of international courts and tribunals. The article identifies, and distinguishes amongst, several categories of non-recognition and considers the relevance of each. The analysis finds that the seemingly meagre level of recognition of Australia's title to the Australian Antarctic Territory does not detract from the validity of that title. This article points to possible reasons as to why a number of polar scholars may have suggested otherwise.

Rethinking Tasmania’s Regionality from an Antarctic Perspective: Flipping the Map

Tasmania hangs from the map of Australia like a drop in freefall from the substance of the mainland. Often the whole state is mislaid from Australian maps and logos (Reddit). Tasmania has, at least since federation, been considered peripheral—a region seen as isolated, a ‘problem’ economically, politically, and culturally. However, Tasmania not only cleaves to the ‘north island’ of Australia but is also subject to the gravitational pull of an even greater land mass—Antarctica. In this article, we upturn the political conventions of map-making that place both Antarctica and Tasmania in obscure positions at the base of the globe. We show how a changing global climate re-frames Antarctica and the Southern Ocean as key drivers of worldwide environmental shifts. The liquid and solid water between Tasmania and Antarctica is revealed not as a homogenous barrier, but as a dynamic and relational medium linking the Tasmanian archipelago with Antarctica. When Antarctica becomes the focus, the script is flipped: Tasmania is no longer on the edge, but core to a network of gateways into the southern land. The state’s capital of Hobart can from this perspective be understood as an "Antarctic city", central to the geopolitics, economy, and culture of the frozen continent (Salazar et al.). Viewed from the south, we argue, Tasmania is not a problem, but an opportunity for a form of ecological, cultural, economic, and political sustainability that opens up the southern continent to science, discovery, and imagination.

Population structure and long-term decline in three species of heart urchins Abatus spp. near-shore in the Vestfold Hills region, East Antarctica

Patterns of fine-scale spatial population structure in Antarctic benthic species are poorly understood. There is a high proportion of brooding species in the Antarctic benthos, and a brooding life history strategy is expected to restrict their dispersal abilities and therefore foster population structure. Additionally, genetic structuring of populations can preserve signals of historic processes (such as Pleistocene glaciations) on species distributions and abundances. We developed a set of seven microsatellite markers to examine population genetic variation and infer the demographic history of three sympatric Antarctic sea urchin species from the order Spatangoida (Abatus ingens, A. shackletoni and A. philippii), all with brooding life history strategies. Samples were collected at five sites separated by up to 5 km, in the near-shore area surrounding Davis Station in the Vestfold Hills area of the Australian Antarctic Territory. We found evidence of a long-term population decline in all three species, and the estimated timing of the decline precedes anthropogenic activities and is compatible with long-term climate variability. Two genetic clusters in A. ingens and A. shackletoni suggest secondary contact after population differentiation in glacial refugia. Life history is not a good predictor of fine-scale population structure in these species, with gene flow possible at distances of 5 km. Finally, no evidence was found for a potential impact of pollution from Davis Station on genetic variation. The reduced effective population size observed for these Antarctic benthic species highlights their fragility and the need for conservation concern.

Information and Communication Technology in Antarctica

The Australian Antarctic Division has a long history of providing telecommunications as part of the support provided to expeditioners within the Australian Antarctic Territory. Since the days when Mawson’s expedition in 1911 setup the first transmitter at Commonwealth Bay, the Division has provided continuous and increasingly sophisticated telecommunications capability that now includes data to support medical services, science, education and Internet access. The provision of telecommunications to Antarctica relies on satellite transmission for backhaul.

Information and Communication Technology in Antarctica

The Australian Antarctic Division has a long history of providing telecommunications as part of the support provided to expeditioners within the Australian Antarctic Territory. Since the days when Mawson’s expedition in 1911 setup the first transmitter at Commonwealth Bay, the Division has provided continuous and increasingly sophisticated telecommunications capability that now includes data to support medical services, science, education and Internet access. The provision of telecommunications to Antarctica relies on satellite transmission for backhaul.

Australian politics and Antarctic sovereignty: themes, protagonists and antagonists

Australia's claim to the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) is not widely recognised internationally. Discussing enforcement of Australian domestic law in the Southern Ocean, defending the territorial claim and other emotive issues related to Antarctica therefore requires some domestic sensitivity to broader international diplomacy. Using qualitative and quantitative analysis methods to identify the political parties who most often raise issues of Antarctica, the major themes of Antarctic policy and politics since 1998, and the discussions of Antarctic sovereignty by political parties. Through this analysis, the different approaches of the Australian Labor Party, the Federal Liberal-National Party Coalition and the Australian Greens to Antarctic sovereignty-related issues are identified and discussed. While broadly there is tripartisan support for Antarctic policies, some differences between political parties do exist.

Australian interests, bifocalism, bipartisanship, and the Antarctic Treaty System

ABSTRACTThis article explores the character of domestic political support for the Australian Antarctic Territory and Australia's involvement in the Antarctic Treaty System, using the linked frames of bifocalism and bipartisanship. After first unpacking these concepts it explores how they have shaped the extent and form of Australia's Antarctic endeavours from the 1930s to the present day. It is argued that the analysis shows that bipartisan commitment to Australian interests in Antarctica is framed through bifocalism: first, Australian national interests are closely linked to maintenance of the Antarctic Treaty and Antarctic Treaty System, and second, presentation of these national interests is not inimical to commitments to the Antarctic Treaty and Antarctic Treaty System.

Australian developments in marine science

Australia is an island nation with about two thirds of its jurisdiction underwater. On 25 May 2012, Australia instituted the Seas and Submerged Lands (Limits of Continental Shelf) Proclamation 2012, confirming areas of seabed where Australia has exclusive rights to explore and exploit marine resources. This proclamation follows recommendations by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, a body established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, confirming Australia's entitlement to extended continental shelf, i.e., that beyond 200 nautical miles from the coastline, of some 2.56 million square kilometers, excluding Australian Antarctic Territory [Symonds et al., 2009] (Figure 1a).

DNA barcodes and species identifications in Ross Sea and Southern Ocean fishes

The Southern Ocean occupies about 10 % of the world’s oceans but has low species richness with only ~1.5 % of the marine fishes. Within the Southern Ocean, the Ross Sea region is one of the least exploited sea areas in the world, but is subject to commercial fishing. The fauna are not well known, and preliminary IPY molecular studies have indicated that species diversity has been underestimated in this region. DNA barcodes of fishes from the Ross Sea region were compared with barcodes of fishes from the Atlantic and Indian Ocean sectors of the Southern Ocean. Barcoding resolved 87.5 % of 112 species that typically exhibited high inter-specific divergences. Intra-specific divergence was usually low with shared haplotypes among regions. The Zoarcid Ophthalmolycus amberensis showed shallow divergences (0.1 %) within the Ross Sea and Australian Antarctic Territory but high inter-region divergence (2 %), indicative of cryptic species. Other potential cryptic species with high intra-specific divergences were found in Notolepis coatsi and Gymnoscopelus bolini. In contrast, several taxa showed low inter-specific divergences and shared haplotypes among morphological species. COI provided limited phylogenetic resolution of the genera Pogonophryne and Bathydraco. Trematomus loennbergii and T. lepidorhinus shared COI haplotypes, as previously noted in other regions, as did Cryodraco antarcticus and C. atkinsoni. There was a marked lack of congruence between morphological descriptions and COI divergences among the Ross Sea liparids with shallow or zero divergences among recently described species. Barcodes for the Ross Sea fishes highlighted several initial misidentifications that were corrected when specimens were re-examined.

Australia’s outer continental shelf regime

In 2008 the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf issued recommendations predominantly consistent with Australia’s submission regarding its outer continental shelf limits. Subsequently, in May 2012, Australia issued a proclamation on the limits of its continental shelf which includes nine distinct areas which collectively cover 2.56 million km2. A substantial part of Australia’s outer continental shelf is located in the Southern Ocean, extending south from Heard Island, Macquarie Island and Tasmania, but does not currently include the outer continental shelf offshore from the Australian Antarctic Territory. This article describes key features of Australia’s submission before addressing management issues, exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons, and the potential for the exploitation of other marine resources. It will also consider the particular challenges associated with the outer continental shelf in the Southern Ocean, parts of which extend into the Antarctic Treaty Area and thus are covered by the Antarctic Treaty System.

Mawson’s Huts: Artefact conservation at Cape Denison, Australian Antarctic Territory

While the conservation of the buildings left at Cape Denison by Dr (later Sir) Douglas Mawson has been the focus of many expeditions and work programs, the objects left behind by Mawson and his team have been slowly deteriorating in their icy surroundings for the past 96 years. With stabilisation of the main hut almost completed, conservation attention has now turned to some of the more tangible reminders of expedition life for Mawson and his men: the objects that remained entombed in the living quarters and workshop. This paper describes the work undertaken to establish a conservation laboratory at Cape Denison, the challenges associated with this task and the first conservation treatments undertaken at that site.

Dr William Wilson Ingram (1888–1982): doctor-soldier, physician and Antarctic expeditioner

Dr William Wilson Ingram (1888-1982), a Scottish-born physician, contributed significantly to the health and heritage of Australia, his adopted land. Born on Speyside and educated in Aberdeen, he was a doctor-soldier in two World Wars and decorated with the Military Cross. Ingram was a Foundation Fellow (1938) of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and established one of the first specialist diabetic clinics in Australia, in Sydney in 1928. As an arachnologist, he published clinical descriptions of both surviving and fatal cases of envenomation by the Sydney funnel web spider, Atrax robustus. He founded the Kolling Institute of Medical Research at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney where for two generations he was a leader in both undergraduate and postgraduate medical education. The international significance of his life's work relates to his service as the medical officer and biologist on the two British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expeditions (BANZARE) of 1929-1931, for which service he was awarded the Polar Medal and subsequent Clasp. Those expeditions secured, for the British Crown, what was to become the Australian Antarctic Territory, ceded to Australia by a British Order in Council of 24 August 1936. Sir Douglas Mawson, polar expeditioner and the leader of BANZARE, described Ingram as 'an ideal medical officer', one who in addition to his clinical skills and judgement, manifested courage and 'physical endurance and a full measure of camaraderie'. Ingram has no published obituary or biography. This précis records some details of his extraordinary life.

Alf Howard

Alf Howard, (Fig. 1) died on 4 July 2010. He was the last surviving member of Sir Douglas Mawson's 1929–1931 British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE) that made further extensive claims to sovereignty defining the limits of what was to become Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) in 1933. He was also the last survivor to have served aboard the coal-fired three-masted wooden ship Discovery built in Dundee for Captain Robert Falcon Scott's 1901–1904 National Antarctic Expedition.

DR PHILLIP GARTH LAW AC CBE, 21 April 1912–28 February 2010

Phillip Garth Law c. 1996Source: photograph by Ian Toohill, reproduced with kind permission This redoubtable Australian polar explorer and recipient of the Royal Geographical Society's Founder's Medal (1960) died aged 97. Such was his stature, with no less than 28 expeditions to the Antarctic and its islands, he was frequently referred to as ‘Mr Antarctica’. Born in Tallangatta in rural northeast Victoria the year of Captain Scott's death, Law was educated in the Western District at Hamilton High School. He was an accomplished sportsman and thrived on many outdoor pursuits, including mountaineering. He went on to the University of Melbourne and Melbourne Teachers’ College, graduating with a BSc and MSc in 1939 and 1941 respectively. Law married the artist Nellie (Nel) Allan and joined the RAAF as a trainee Pilot Officer and Navigator in 1941. Later he was appointed to Australia's wartime Optical Munitions Panel and worked in New Guinea advising the Australian Army on perfecting the use of optical instruments under tropical conditions. His polar career began, somewhat unexpectedly, in 1947 whilst lecturing in physics. He was seconded as Senior Scientific Officer to the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) voyaging in HMAS Wyatt Earp. The Department of External Affairs established the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) in 1948 which marked a major turning point in Australian polar affairs. Law was appointed Leader of ANARE and then Director of the AAD in 1949: the year in which he was elected a Fellow of the RGS. Within 10 years, Law had transformed Australia's Antarctic presence and capacity. He chartered the Danish ship Kista Dan and, in so doing, enabled Australia to establish a permanent foothold in Australian Antarctic Territory: a vast, unexplored region claimed by Australia in 1933. His determination ensured three permanent stations were established – Mawson (1954), Davis (1957) and Wilkes (renamed Casey after being handed over by the USA in 1959). Law's attention to detail distinguished him from his peers in many ways. His robust planning and preparation provided the capacity for Australia to initiate and maintain a comprehensive polar research programme. Training, selection, doctrine, policy, protocol, logistics, signals, victualling and more were developed and honed by Phil Law – often leading to vigorous federal government disagreement as he sought additional budgetary funding and support for his country's polar work. He was prepared to take risks. On one of his expeditions, his wife Nel accompanied him and she became the first Australian woman to set foot in Antarctica: this at a time when women were mostly, if not entirely absent. Her paintings remain a striking testimony of her brief time in that great ice-desert wilderness. Law was both a controversial and inspirational figure acknowledged by the likes of Sir Douglas Mawson, Captain John Davis and the Norwegian General, Riser-Larsen. However his name lives on, attached as it is to a number of features including islands, a shore establishment, a peninsula and Law Dome. He resigned as Director of the AAD in 1966 to embark on a second career until his retirement in 1977. This later work (as Vice President of the Victoria Institute of Colleges) served to develop and coordinate tertiary education in his home state of Victoria. He received many accolades, honours and awards during his long life. As stated earlier, he was awarded the Founder's Medal in 1960 (which his superiors prevented him from collecting in person) and honoured that same year by being appointed Patron to the British Schools Exploring Society. The following year Her Majesty recognised Law by creating him a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Civil). He was awarded his Polar Medal in 1969 and made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1995. Phillip Garth Law died peacefully on a Sunday afternoon in Melbourne just short of his 98th birthday. His much beloved wife Nel predeceased him. He is survived by his brother Peter and sister Wendy Suart.

Frontier Vigilantism? Australia and Contemporary Representations of Australian Antarctic Territory

This article considers the way in which recent commentators have represented Australia's relationship with Antarctica including current and future challenges. While successive Australian governments from the 1950s onwards have sought inter alia to develop and protect the country's southern oceanic and Antarctic interests, concern has persisted about the activities of other parties. The signing of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty helped to ensure that the territorial status quo prevailed with regard to the Australian Antarctic Territory. The entry of the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS) into force in 1994 created new opportunities for further expressions of sovereign rights in this region. While mindful of the evolving legal geographies affecting Antarctica, our paper asks a series of questions about this relationship with the far south: how has Australian national identity been informed and influenced by Antarctic engagements? Will UNCLOS actually weaken the Antarctic Treaty System? Finally, do contemporary Australian pronouncements on the Antarctic hint at anxieties reminiscent of the 1950s? We conclude with a warning that nationalistic evocations may well unsettle a delicate balance concerning the Southern Ocean and disputed ownership of Antarctica.

Australia and the Antarctic Treaty

Australia has extensive interests in, and has taken a long term interest over, Antarctica. These interests include a territorial claim to the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) encompassing 42 per cent of the continent. In addition to its interests as a claimant state Australian participated in the negotiation of the Antarctic Treaty and has devoted itself to a major role in the Antarctic Treaty system (ATS), firmly committing to upholding the twin pillars of the Treaty: ‘peace’ and ‘science’.