ANTARCTIC

SCIENCE
IN THE GLOBAL CONTEXT
2000-2005

The 5-Year Science Programme of the

British Antarctic Survey

Contents

Foreword
Signals in Antarctica of past global changes
Global interactions of the Antarctic ice sheet
Antarctic climate processes
Magnetic reconnection, substorms and their consequence
Geospace-atmosphere transfer functions
Antarctica in the dynamic global plate system
Antarctic biodiversity past, present and future
Life at the edge stresses and thresholds
Dynamics and management of ocean ecosystems
Independent projects and medical research
The Antarctic Funding Initiative
Scientific collaboration in the UK and worldwide
Supporting Antarctic science infrastructure
Science and Society talking about Antarctic science
Map of Antarctica

2nd Edition
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Antarctic Science in the Global

Context 2000-2005
The British Antarctic Survey (BAS)
research programme is planned on a
five-year timetable. The current
programme, Antarctic Science in the
Global Context, 2000-2005, is based
on proposals from staff. After
international peer review, the most
highly rated proposals were
integrated into the Surveys
infrastructure capability. The
outcome is a suite of nine
programmes complemented by
projects in the environmental and
medical sciences and a small number
of independent research activities.
Also, the competitive Antarctic
Funding Initiative provides access to
Antarctica for BAS and Natural
Environment Research Council (NERC)
staff and the university community.
Locations of BAS Antarctic stations, Map of Antarctica on page 25

Foreword
THE CHALLENGE
The Antarctic continent and its surrounding ocean are the most
remote and hostile regions of the planet. Simply maintaining a
human presence there is a considerable challenge. Yet the need
to investigate how the Earth operates as a global system, and
to exploit the unique character of the south polar environment,
drives scientists with a host of interests to work there.
Field measurements and long-term observations on the
Antarctic continent and in the Southern Ocean are crucial. They
advance our understanding of current and past global change,
biological evolution and adaptation, the physics and
consequences of Sun-Earth interactions, and the tectonic
evolution of the Earths crust. They contribute to the global
effort to set the actions of policy-makers and the public on a
firm scientific foundation in crucial matters such as
environmental protection; the exploitation of natural resources;
and the long-term achievement of a sustainable, equitable and
satisfactory lifestyle for the world population. Antarctica is
truly Remote but Relevant.
The scale and scope of research in the Antarctic are immense,
with subjects ranging in size from molecules to the continental
ice-sheet; in timescale from the flickering of the magnificent
aurora to billions of years of geological history; and across all
natural science disciplines.

Mission Statement of the British

Antarctic Survey
To undertake a world-class programme of science in the
Antarctic and related regions, addressing key global and
regional issues through research, survey and
monitoring, and including the maintenance and
development of necessary facilities and infrastructure.
In so doing:
 To support the mission of the UK Natural
Environment Research Council
 To sustain for the UK an active and influential
regional presence, and a leadership role in
Antarctic affairs.
In addition, to help discharge the UKs international
responsibilities under the Antarctic Treaty System,
especially concerning environmental protection and
management, and to assist with the administration of
the British Antarctic Territory.

Prof Chris Rapley

Director, British Antarctic Survey

Britain in the Antarctic

Britain has been involved in Antarctic research and
exploration for more than 200 years. For over 50 years
the BAS, a research centre of the Natural Environment
Research Council, has undertaken most of the UKs
research on and around the continent. Today it shares
the continent with scientists from over 27 countries.

Operational area of the British Antarctic

Survey
Currently, BAS operates three research stations throughout
the year in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions. Bird
Island station is at the western end of South Georgia;
Rothera station is on Adelaide Island off the Antarctic
Peninsula; and Halley station is afloat on the Brunt Ice
Shelf in Coats Land. The BAS also manages on behalf of
the Government of South Georgia a year-round fisheries
research station at King Edward Point, Cumberland East
Bay, South Georgia. In addition, during the summer
months biological research is carried out at Signy station
in the South Orkney Islands.
To support the extensive aircraft and field operations, two
logistics facilities are opened each summer at Fossil Bluff
on Alexander Island and Sky-Blu in eastern Ellsworth Land
along with a number of occupied forward depots of food
and fuel. The two BAS research vessels RRS James Clark
Ross and RRS Ernest Shackleton operate extensively in the
polar oceans supporting scientific cruises and logistic
operations.

In our Antarctic Science in the Global Context Core

Programme we aim to address only the most important, relevant
and exciting issues. An independent peer review by our parent
body, the Natural Environment Research Council, ensured that
we included only research activities ranked among the top 20%
for international science.
We believe that the programme will produce crucial and exciting
results. In the longer term we see it as an essential step
towards our goal: for the British Antarctic Survey to become the
world-leading, international centre for Global Science in the
Antarctic Context.

BAS scientist measures the electrical

properties of 100,000-year-old ice in the
laboratories at Dome C, Antarctica

 The new Clean Air Sector laboratory (CASLab) near

Halley station is a specially built state-of-the-art
facility away from any contamination sources. The
units, designed by BAS engineers, will improve our
interpretation of ice cores.

TECHNOLOGY HIGHLIGHTS
 Ice cores can now be scanned as soon as they are
extracted using a new BAS-designed ice core
profiler. This device allows us to estimate the
approximate age of the ice through the conductivity of
ions in the ice, and identifies which sections need
detailed analysis.

Signals in Antarctica of Past

Global Changes

Principal Investigator: Dr Eric Wolff

Email: ewwo@bas.ac.uk

THE CHALLENGE

DELIVERING THE SCIENCE

The 4 km-thick Antarctic ice sheet preserves a record of climate

for the last 500,000 years, including an archive of atmospheric
gases trapped in bubbles within the ice. Here we have evidence
of global industrial pollution, changing climate and ozone
depletion in the upper atmosphere. Marine and lake sediments
also hold information about past regional climate that is a key
to understanding global changes.

BAS has a long history of involvement in Antarctic

palaeoclimate studies, and
has led work on the
Antarctic troposphere. For
the first time these topics
will be integrated, to
enhance the Antarctic input
to global change
programmes.

The challenge for BAS scientists is provide the evidence from

ice, lake and marine sediments. This evidence will be used to
test the validity of models
that other scientists develop
to predict the magnitude,
pattern and timing of future
climate change under
different scenarios. The public
and politicians will then be
able to make informed
choices on how to avoid or
cope with such changes in
future.

OBJECTIVES

We will retrieve marine

sediment cores from an area
where part of the Larsen Ice
Shelf has disintegrated, to
find whether this recent
event was unique or part of
a sequence of advance and
retreat. Lake sediment cores
from throughout the
Antarctic Peninsula will
show the pattern of natural
variability in environmental change. We will drill a 1000m-long B
ice core at Berkner Island to reveal the effect in the Weddell
Sea region of dramatic changes at the end of the last ice age,
10,000 years ago.

 To discover whether ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula

have disintegrated previously in the Holocene (last 10,000
years).
 To determine the regional pattern of climate change in
the Antarctic Peninsula during the Holocene.
 To look for evidence of past rapid climate
changes in the Weddell Sea region
 To obtain, with European partners, the

We will take part in the European Project for Ice Coring in

Antarctica; one objective is to collect at Dome C a 500,000year climate record by drilling to bedrock. We will construct a
new Clean Air Sector Laboratory at Halley from
which, with collaborators, we can study the
processes in the Antarctic troposphere
and the connection between the
atmosphere and the atmospheric
record contained in ice cores.

best possible Antarctic climate record

PROJECTS

of the last 500,000 years.

 To develop quantitative

 The last 10,000 years.

mathematical relationships between

 The last 500,000 years.

key atmospheric variables and

 Air-ice relationship.

chemical concentrations in ice cores.

 To understand what controls the chemistry
of the troposphere (the Earths lowest layer of

atmosphere, where weather originates), and its

interaction with the seasonal accumulation of snow called

the snowpack.
 To develop at Halley a world-class facility for tropospheric
chemical research.

B
C

On the RRS James Clark Ross: Marine

sediments being collected from the
seabed in areas where ice shelves
recently retreated
Antarctic freshwater lake sediment core
Locations for the 2001/2002 ice core drill
sites for the European Project for Ice
Coring in Antarctica (EPICA)

TECHNOLOGY HIGHLIGHTS
 Phase-sensitive radar: This radar detects ice melt at
the bottom of ice sheets up to 2000m thick. It works
by comparing very precise ice thickness
measurements over time. We can, therefore, assess
ice loss from melting without complex drilling.
Calculating ice loss from the base of ice sheets is
important in assessing whether ice sheets are
thinning or thickening.
 Airborne polarimetry: As with previously developed
radar, this helps us measure ice thickness. However,
it also enables us to measure the structure of the ice
and the layers in the ice sheet formed by volcanic
eruptions, and gives us a better picture of the
geology of the bed on which the ice sheet rests.

Rifting in Larsen B before

its break-up in 2001

Global Interactions of the

Antarctic Ice Sheet

Principal Investigator: Dr David Vaughan

Email: dgv@bas.ac.uk

THE CHALLENGE

DELIVERING THE SCIENCE

The Antarctic ice sheet has radically changed since the end of
the last ice age about 10,000 years ago. Reports of melting ice
sheets threatening to raise sea levels, global warming and
climate change pervade the mass media and spread concern
among governments and public alike. However, the timing and
causal links between
changes in the Antarctic
ice sheet and other
features of the global
system such as
atmosphere, oceans and
land masses are neither
simple nor direct.
Our challenge is to
describe and understand
the interactions and
internal processes
controlling the Antarctic
ice sheet, to explore its history, and to predict its future
evolution and how this will drive global changes.

The programme draws together an experienced team of

oceanographers, geologists, geophysicists and numerical
modellers. We will study large-scale and local processes linking
ice with the environment. Oceanographers will make
observations from ships and through access holes drilled
through ice shelves up to 1000m thick.
Geophysicists will infer the physical conditions
beneath ice sheets using seismic techniques, radar
to map ice thickness, and aerial magnetic and
gravity survey techniques to map the geological
structure beneath the ice. Satellite data will be
used to measure contemporary changes in the most
dynamic and potentially unstable areas of
Antarctica, including the Pine Island / Thwaites
Glacier basin. Also, geologists will study the marks
left on the landscape by past ice sheets. Ice-sheet
computer simulations will underpin the entire
A
programme. A suite of simulations of marine icesheet dynamics will include the most sophisticated
and realistic representations available.
Together, the integration of theory,
observations and modelling studies should
lead to a clearer understanding of the
history of the ice sheet and its future
evolution.

The results will be of wide-ranging value to

scientific research and to policy-makers
concerned with the future of the Antarctic
ice sheet, its effect on sea level and its
changing role in the Earth system.

OBJECTIVES

PROJECTS

 To describe how interactions between

the ice sheet and the oceans modify
globally important water masses such
as Antarctic Bottom Water a mass of
water created when relatively warm sea
water contacts the ice shelf.
 To understand geological and glaciological controls
on ice-stream flow.

 Response of the ice-shelf ocean

system to climate.
 Late-Cenozoic history of the
Antarctic ice sheet.
 Targeting ice stream onset regions
and under-ice systems.

 To study the history of the ice sheet over the last 10

million years using volcanic evidence.

 Data and dynamics (Optimal

estimation of the state of the
Antarctic Ice Sheet).

 To understand the coupling between ice sheets and the

Earths uppermost layers during deglaciations.

 Basin balance assessment and

synthesis.

 To integrate real ice-sheet histories into ice-sheet

simulation models.
 To use the models to produce policy-relevant predictions of
the future effect of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet on global
sea level.

A
B

BAS Twin Otter aircraft flying over a crevasse field on the

Antarctic Peninsula
Over 50 years of data were brought together to create a
map of the thickness of ice across Antarctica

Using a kite near Halley research station

to carry instruments for measuring wind
speed and temperature

 The strong winds that blow from central Antarctica to

the coast can now be monitored all year round using
a doppler sodar. This machine measures wind
profiles up to 1 km from the surface using a
commercially available sodar (acoustic radar)
adapted for operation with minimal human interaction
by adding a radio transmitter and solar- and windpower units.
 Micro-power automatic weather stations have been
our main system for atmospheric research for the
last 5 years. Designed in-house to cope with the
severe conditions of the Antarctic winter, these
comparatively simple, low-power machines are now
used in 13 Antarctic locations.

TECHNOLOGY HIGHLIGHTS

Antarctic Climate
Processes

Principal Investigator: Dr John King

Email: jcki@bas.ac.uk

THE CHALLENGE

DELIVERING THE SCIENCE

Antarctica is an integral part of the global climate system.

What happens there affects, and is affected by, global changes.
The global climate system may be thought of as a heat engine,
driven by heating in the tropics and cooling in the polar
regions. The cold end is as important scientifically as the
tropics, where most energy enters the system. Understanding
this system requires detailed knowledge of each component and
the mechanisms that couple them. Few of these processes are
well understood.

Understanding variability in the Antarctic climate requires the

synthesis of many observations of the atmosphere, oceans and
sea ice. These come
from various
sources
observations at
research stations,
measurements from
remote automatic
weather stations
and remotely
sensed data from
satellites. To bring
these data together
we use such indispensable tools as the atmospheric
reanalyses produced by the European Centre for Medium
Range Weather Forecasts. Major global and regional climate
models are also important tools, available through collaboration
with the Hadley Centre at the UK Met Office.

An improved description of how the Antarctic climate system

works will have many benefits. Variability in climate (year to
year or between decades) should be explained; future climates
should be predicted with greater confidence; and the evidence
of past climates be more easily interpreted. In the last 50 years
the Antarctic Peninsula has experienced a rapid and dramatic
warming not seen anywhere else on Earth. In Antarctica,
interactions between atmosphere, oceans, sea ice and land ice
introduce considerable complexity and sensitivity into the
system and present a major challenge to meteorologists and
climatologists.

OBJECTIVES
 To determine the cause of the recent climatic warming
of the Antarctic Peninsula.
 To establish how tropical and mid-latitude climate
variations are linked to Antarctic changes.
 To provide best estimates of how the Antarctic climate
will change over this century.

Halley station is ideal for studying the interaction of the

Antarctic atmosphere with the underlying ice sheet. At Halley,
making detailed measurement and using insight gained from
experiments with a
regional atmospheric
model, we will help
improve
representations of
Antarctic surface
processes for use in
global climate models.

 To improve the representation of surface processes in

global and regional climate models.
B

 To determine what processes control the katabatic winds

produced by the flow of cold dense air down a slope.
Uniquely, these winds blow over the entire continent and
control climate on a broad scale.

PROJECTS
 Variability of the Antarctic climate
system.
 Surface processes affecting
Antarctic climate.

C
B

At Halley, a BAS scientist attaches a tethersonde,

which measures wind speed and temperature
profiles up to 500 m altitude, to a kite line
A doppler sodar system for measuring wind
profiles at a remote site. Power is provided by
solar panels and wind generator arrays
Automatic weather station

Aurora above the antenna system of

the Southern Hemisphere Auroral
Radar Experiment (SHARE)

 With nine international partners, we have developed

radar to research space weather. The Southern
Hemisphere Auroral Radar Experiment (SHARE),
located at Halley, sends high-frequency radio waves
to research flow patterns above the atmosphere,
scanning 4 million sq km every 2 minutes.
 BAS engineers have designed a low-power device to
measure variations in the Earths magnetic field with
extreme precision every second in remote Antarctic
locations. These low-powered magnetometers are
light (so they can easily be deployed by aircraft) and
can store a years data. They are powered by solar
energy in summer, and battery in winter.

TECHNOLOGY HIGHLIGHTS

Magnetic Reconnection, Substorms

and their Consequence
Principal Investigator:
Dr Richard Horne
Email: rh@bas.ac.uk

THE CHALLENGE

OBJECTIVES

BAS scientists are attempting to predict space weather through

a better understanding of what happens when the magnetic
fields of the Earth and Sun meet. Electrical currents separate
these fields, but there is evidence that they join intermittently
by magnetic reconnection the primary means of introducing
particle and field energy from space into the Earths magnetic
field. This energy builds up and is released explosively,
creating a substorm rather like the violent release of energy
during earthquakes.

 To measure the rate of magnetic reconnection on the day

side of the Earth.

Multiple substorms lead to magnetic storms, which damage

spacecraft, disrupt power supplies, communications and
navigation
systems, and
hasten the loss
of height of
low-altitude
satellites.
Antarctica is
well placed to
collect
information
about magnetic
reconnection
events, as the pulses of these reconnections, and
substorms, are transmitted via the Earths magnetic field
to the polar regions.

 To identify the most important factors that affect the rate

of magnetic reconnection.
 To determine whether electromagnetic waves can initiate
magnetic reconnection by scattering charged particles.
 To develop a database of substorms and use it to identify
the rules governing the storage and release of energy
during substorms.
 To determine how magnetic field boundaries over the polar
cap, and electrical currents flowing along the magnetic
field, change during a substorm.
 To calculate the rate at which particles in space are lost into
the Earths atmosphere, and are accelerated to very high
energies in the radiation belts by electromagnetic waves.

Our challenge is to measure variations in the Earths magnetic

field and upper atmosphere, so we can understand and predict
when reconnection takes place and how energy is released in a
substorm.

DELIVERING THE SCIENCE

This ability to anticipate magnetic storms could help insurance,

telecommunications, and aerospace industries to better protect
spacecraft costing upwards of 200 million US dollars. BAS
scientists are members of European Space Agency and NASA
research teams that are launching spacecraft into regions where
reconnection and substorms occur.

C
A
B
C

Solar flare erupts from the Sun

Halley research station from the air
Grey boxes indicate area of magnetic-reconnection (A)
and area where the release of energy is located (B).
These activities are monitored at the Earths poles.
Physics Today, Vol. 54 No. 10

We can synthesize and analyse key components of this complex

problem in a unique way by combining experiments using a
network of multi-million-pound radars in the Antarctic, data
from spacecraft, in-house theory and computer modelling.

PROJECTS
 Magnetic Reconnection.
 Substorms.

Smoke plume following launch of Viper 3A

rocket from Rothera during UK/German
mesospheric temperature campaign

 An iron lidar (laser radar): In a joint project with the

University of Illinois, a lidar at Rothera fires pulsed
laser beams into the atmosphere 100 km above
ground level. Each pulse, with the power of over
20,000 domestic light bulbs, excites iron atoms
originating from meteors burning up in the upper
atmosphere. These atoms then emit light. Two 40 cm
telescopes at Rothera detect this to give a
temperature profile of the mesosphere. This facility is
also used to study noctilucent clouds.

TECHNOLOGY HIGHLIGHTS
 Images of atmospheric waves: A sensitive electronic
camera at Rothera (used in collaboration with Utah
State University) captures movie pictures of waves in
the atmosphere (~90 km high), traced by the faint
glow given off by molecules.

10

Geospace-atmosphere Transfer
Functions

Principal Investigator: Dr Martin Jarvis

Email: mjja@bas.ac.uk

THE CHALLENGE

OBJECTIVES

Although the Earths lower atmosphere is warming, the upper

atmosphere will be cooled by increasing levels of greenhouse
gases. The greatest cooling may occur in the least explored
region of our atmosphere, below the level of orbiting satellites
and above the highest balloons, known as the mesosphere and
lower thermosphere (60-180 km altitude). This region connects
geospace where the atmospheres of the Sun and Earth
converge to the lower atmosphere.

 To study the vertical coupling of energy linking upper and

lower atmospheres.

This is a complex region of opposites where great surges of

energy meet, carried downward by particles energised by the
solar wind which create dramatic auroral displays, and upward
from the troposphere
and stratosphere by
atmospheric tides and
waves creating the
Earths coldest
environment (-145C)
at 85 km altitude in
the mesopause.

 To identify what controls the extremely cold mesopause

temperatures around 85 km.
 To confirm whether long-term change in the upper
atmosphere is present and, if so, whether it occurs
naturally or is linked to human activity.
 To understand what causes differences between the
Antarctic and Arctic in the mesosphere and thermosphere.
 To quantify the balance of energy at 60-150 km altitude from
solar, magnetospheric, meteorological and chemical sources.
 To assess the effect of mesosphere and thermosphere
energetics and dynamics on people due to our increasing
use of space.

DELIVERING THE SCIENCE

BAS has indirect evidence that the Antarctic thermosphere is
cooling. With the University of Bonn, we have used rockets to
make the first measurements of temperature in the Antarctic
mesosphere.

B
In the past 30 years, there has been a steady increase in the
occurrence of noctilucent clouds formed by ice particles 83 km
above Earth. Some 120 years ago no evidence of this
phenomenon existed. The rise may be due to lower
temperatures and more moisture created through increased
carbon dioxide and methane in lower altitudes. Noctilucent
clouds could prove very sensitive indicators of human activity
on Earth and in space.
BAS scientists aim to exploit the unique conditions in the
Antarctic upper atmosphere to improve our understanding of
global upper atmospheric circulation, temperature balance,
short-term variability, long-term changes, and how these
changes may be linked to human activity.
A
B
C

A recent phenomenon due to human activity: noctilucent

clouds visible at 83 km above Earth. Tom Eklund
Aurora over Halley research station
Assembling the aerials of the Imaging Riometer for
Ionospheric Studies (IRIS) which monitors cosmic radio
noise within the ionosphere

Using remote-sensing techniques upwards from the ground or

downwards from satellites, we measure temperatures, densities,
winds, waves and
energy input in the
mesosphere and lower
thermosphere. We aim
to quantify the
physics behind the
short-term variability
that acts as noise
hiding global change
indicators. We will
also provide the first
full temperature profile for 0-115 km altitude over the Antarctic
Peninsula as a benchmark for estimates of global change.

BAS collaborates closely with overseas scientists and

participates in international satellite programmes that scan the
upper atmosphere.

PROJECTS
 Upward propagating waves and responding dynamics.
 Change due to human activity and geospace
electrodynamics.

11

Drilling strata samples for

palaeomagnetic analysis

 We monitor the strength and direction of the Earths

magnetic field on board our ships using shipboard
three-component magnetometers (STCM). Using
commercially available components, BAS engineers
have constructed these devices to compensate for
the motion and magnetic field of ships. Unlike
conventional magnetometers, which must be towed
behind the ship, the BAS devices can operate in any
ice conditions, providing data in some of the worlds
most poorly sampled regions.
 Hafnium as a geographic tracer: Isotope analysis of
the element hafnium gives important information on
where the mineral zircon, and the rock in which it
grew, originated geographically. Zircon is found in
many igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks
and is useful in obtaining dates now geographical
contexts can be added.

TECHNOLOGY HIGHLIGHTS

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Antarctica in the Dynamic Global

Plate System

Principal Investigator: Dr Phil Leat

Email: ptle@bas.ac.uk

THE CHALLENGE
Antarctica was not always the cold and isolated continent it is
today. During the Jurassic period, 180 million years ago, it
formed the core of a supercontinent called Gondwana. When
Gondwana broke up, Africa, South America, India, Australia and
New Zealand in turn drifted away from the Antarctic core, and
the Southern Ocean was born. Continental margins and sea
floors show how this happened.
Large volumes of volcanic rock erupted early in this break-up.
Scientists have implicated mantle plumes (hot spots in the
Earths subsurface) in the generation of this volcanism. But
they are unsure how many mantle plumes there were, or how
powerfully they contributed to fracturing Gondwana.
Much smaller pieces of continents, called terranes, can move
independently, in some cases for thousands of kilometres.
Exotic terranes arrived at the Antarctic Peninsula about 110
million years ago at the time a mountain chain was uplifted.
BAS scientists want to find out whether the mountain-building
forces changed the speed or direction of the fragmenting
Gondwana.
They need to understand how tectonic forces interacted to
produce the sequence of events during break-up. To do so, they
must identify the positions of the mantle plumes during breakup and learn how and when the
mobile terranes collided.

OBJECTIVES
 To understand the crustal
forces affecting Gondwana
at the time of break-up.

 To understand the mantle processes forming the large

volcanic province in Dronning Maud Land and southern
Africa at that time.
 To identify any mantle plumes involved in the eruption of
the volcanic rocks, and how they affected the subsequent
motion of the continents.
 To identify the terranes found at the Antarctic Peninsula, and
discover whether any originated elsewhere in the Pacific.
 To understand the origin of the mountain-building Palmer
Land event which deformed rocks of the Antarctic
Peninsula in the Jurassic.
A
B

Zircon crystal from the Antarctic Peninsula, with growth rings

showing points dated in millions of years ago
Geology reconstructed for Gondwana at 150 million years
ago. Commission de la Carte Gologique du Monde
(http://www.ccgm.org)
BAS Twin Otter aircraft equipped with under-wing radio-echo
antennae used in radio-echo/aero-gravity survey flights

DELIVERING THE SCIENCE

The Antarctic holds unique evidence about how and why
Gondwana dispersed. BAS is well placed logistically and
scientifically to gather the field evidence.
The programme will use methods from many branches of
geosciences. We will interpret
satellite images to identify
surface features, and surveys
to determine deep crustal
structure. High-precision
dating tools will allow
accurate determination of
key age relationships.
We will assemble a computerbased Geographic Information System containing geological
data from the start of Gondwanas break-up to the present day
as the foundation of a computer-based model for the dispersal
of the fragments of Gondwana. It will combine on-land data
such as the age of volcanic events with shipboard geophysical
data on the structure of the sea floor. It will supply the most upto-date reconstructions and animations of the break-up of
Gondwana and the birth of the Southern Ocean.

PROJECTS
 Magmatism as a monitor of Gondwana break-up processes.
 Superterranes in the Pacific-margin arc.
 Demise of Gondwana and the birth of the Southern Ocean:
a computer model.

13

 The Antarctic Genomics Laboratory (ANGEL) is

fully equipped with all the tools required for
modern genetics. These include several
polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines, used
to copy sections of DNA millions of times, and
equipment to separate fragments of DNA. This
facility is important to several BAS projects that
use genetics to characterise the diversity of
Antarctic ecosystems and the evolution of
Antarctic animals.
 We have added a high-capacity DNA sequencing
and fingerprinting machine (Amersham
Pharmacia MegaBACE 500) and a DNA robot. This
will enable us to carry out large DNA-sequencing
projects to estimate relatedness among
populations of marine animals. We can use DNA
sequencing to look at how Antarctic animals and
plants have evolved in response to past climate
change. Fingerprinting is important to identify
stock structure in commercially exploited fish and
squid in the Southern Ocean. The robot will help
us investigate how Antarctic organisms adapt to a
harsh environment that is predicted to occur with
global warming.

TECHNOLOGY HIGHLIGHTS
14

Jellyfish under sea ice

Antarctic Biodiversity Past,

Present and Future

Principal Investigator: Dr Alex David Rogers

Email: adr2@bas.ac.uk

THE CHALLENGE

DELIVERING THE SCIENCE

Some Antarctic marine invertebrate species are surprisingly

diverse. Patterns of species diversity across the southern
hemispheres latitudes can differ greatly from those in the north.
Challenges include understanding the patterns in polar regions
and the processes that have influenced the evolution of species.

The Antarctic biodiversity programme focuses on the sea.

Constructing a comprehensive database of living Antarctic
marine invertebrate
animals will allow
detailed studies of the
distribution of selected
groups in various
localities. Evolutionary
studies will begin on
well-studied groups such
as molluscs and will
employ state-of-the-art
genetic and
palaeontological
techniques.

We are currently investigating whether polar species formed a

seed bed that recolonised our oceans following mass
extinctions associated with past climate change. Understanding
such prehistoric events will help us interpret the effects of
present climate change on the marine environment.
The challenge is to study how simple communities respond to
environmental changes such as global warming or increased
ultraviolet (UV) radiation. From this we can find the
fundamental links between patterns of species diversity and
ecosystem stability. This relationship is critical in understanding
how the extinction of plants and animals by human activity
influences the functioning of the whole polar community,
especially in the light of current global climate change.

In contrast, our investigations into the basic relationship

between ecosystem diversity and stability will focus on
terrestrial and freshwater
communities. We believe
we know enough to
reconstruct these
communities in the
laboratory. We will collect
a representative series of
micro-organisms,
including fungi, bacteria,
worms and mites, from
various West Antarctic
sites. We will then establish model soil and freshwater
communities of varying levels of complexity in the laboratory.
We will subject these experimental communities to alterations
in temperature and UV light to find which communities are
most susceptible or resistant to climate change.

OBJECTIVES
 To study the role of the polar regions in the structure and
formation of the larger-scale patterns of life on Earth.
 To study patterns of polar/equatorial species diversity on
scales of time and space.
 To clarify changes in polar biodiversity in relation to past
episodes of global climate change, shifts in ocean currents
and continental drift.
 To investigate the evolution of polar marine animals and
its influence on the global ocean.
 To test theoretical relationships between species diversity
and community stability using Antarctic terrestrial and
freshwater ecosystems.

PROJECTS

 To characterise microbial / micro-organism diversity in a

range of West Antarctic sites using genetic and microscopy
techniques.

 Patterns of marine biodiversity and the

origins of the Antarctic fauna.
 Biodiversity and stability of climatically
disturbed Antarctic terrestrial and
freshwater food webs.

 To establish a series of
laboratory experiments
to test how Antarctic
terrestrial and
freshwater communities
respond to changes in
temperature and UV
light.

A
B
C
A

Scanning electron microscopic view of an Antarctic

terrestrial mite
One netted catch showing the high diversity of
starfish in the Antarctic region
The Microtron designed to predict the effects of
climate warming on Antarctic microbial food webs

15

Lichen growing on Leonie

Island, Antarctic Peninsula

 Microrespirometry: to measure respiration rates in

the larval stage in starfish, marine snails and bivalve
molluscs.
 Phenylalanine flooding dose methodology: to
measure protein metabolism in marine invertebrates
at different seasons.
 Differential scan calorimetry and ice nucleation
spectrometry: increasingly effective tools for
investigating the survival of freeze-tolerant and
freeze-avoiding organisms under extreme conditions.

TECHNOLOGY HIGHLIGHTS
16

Life at the Edge Stresses

and Thresholds

Principal Investigator: Professor Lloyd Peck

Email: lspe@bas.ac.uk

THE CHALLENGE

DELIVERING THE SCIENCE

Few Antarctic plants and animals live on land. Communities

that do are ecologically simple, and often seem to cling at the
edge of existence. In contrast, in the sea, temperatures are low
but stable, with distinctly seasonal winter ice cover and
summer plankton blooms. Biological communities here are rich
and diverse.

We will exploit the excellent facilities for biological sciences at

the Bonner Laboratory at Rothera station, which will include
high-quality diving facilities and a spectroradiometer for
accurate measurement of UV. A new unit will be commissioned
at Rothera with up-to-date molecular and microbiological
systems to support the work. Terrestrial scientists will deploy
field equipment deep in Antarctica and have rapid access to
field sites by aircraft so they can accurately sample field
populations.

Antarctic
marine animals
can live only
within narrow
temperature
ranges and
many die at
around +5C.
Key challenges
are to identify
A
the diverse forms
of life; and to investigate how organisms from bacteria
through fungi to fish and clams respond or adapt to major
environmental stresses, and how well they may survive the
predicted environmental warming.
Investigating Antarcticas extreme desert environment could be
relevant to the search for life on other planets. Using
experiments in Antarctica and on satellites, scientists are
attempting to compare communities in the most extreme
Antarctic conditions with reconstructions of possible former
Martian habitats.

Detailed environmental
monitoring using
micrometeorological
stations will enable us
to link changes in
terrestrial populations
to environmental factors
such as snow cover,
temperature and
humidity, as well as UV.
Controlled-temperature
equipment will enable us to make detailed analyses of the nearlethal effects of elevated temperature on physiology.
One of the programmes main strengths is its year-round access
to Antarctic field and diving sites, a capability few countries
possess. We will use it to evaluate seasonal changes in plant
and animal activity, maintenance of seabed populations and
physical disturbance from ice.

OBJECTIVES
PROJECTS

 To quantify community diversity in high-latitude

Antarctic sites.

 Patterns of marine biodiversity and

the origins of the Antarctic fauna.

 To assess how Antarctic land animals and community

structures change in response
to environmental stresses.

 Biodiversity and stability of

climatically disturbed Antarctic
terrestrial and freshwater food webs.

 To evaluate the biological

flexibility of land and sea
animals identifying the
limits of their capacity to
survive change, and their
responses to stresses.
 To identify species at risk in
future environmental changes.
 To determine the effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation on
blue-green algae in Antarctica and in Earth-orbit
experiments.

A
B
C
C

BAS diver inspecting benthic (sea bottom)

community under sea ice near Rothera
Acrylic screens used to alter ultraviolet
radiation (UV) received by Antarctic mosses
and liverworts
Antarctic plunderfish resting on sponge

 To identify the productive and protective pigments of

photosynthetic microorganisms.

17

TECHNOLOGY HIGHLIGHTS
 BAS marine biologists have helped to lead animal
instrumentation technology for 20 years. A recent
development has been electronic geolocators that
track the position of an animal. Capable of recording
for eight years, this 9 g micro logger calculates
latitude and longitude from light levels. A wet/dry
sensor records time spent at sea.
 Understanding the movements of krill is key to this
programme. BAS scientists use commercially
available satellite drifters to follow the currents at
the depth where krill live. These devices consist
of a surface buoy with satellite transmitter and
positioning device, anchored to a drogue
positioned 20 m or 50 m below the surface.

Ocean full of icebergs, brash ice and

bergy bits near the Antarctic Peninsula

18

Dynamics and Management of

Ocean Ecosystems

Principal Investigator: Dr Eugene Murphy

Email: ejmu@bas.ac.uk

THE CHALLENGE

DELIVERING THE SCIENCE

In the oceans, interactive ecological systems play a key role in

determining the Earths climate. Antarctica is surrounded by the
Southern Ocean, which connects the Atlantic, Indian and
Pacific Oceans. Although cold and often ice-covered,
biologically the Southern Ocean is extremely rich.
Changes in the Antarctic environment affect the biological
communities that live in this ocean in ways we do not fully
understand.

BAS research has already led to major new insights into how
large-scale ecosystems function. New research will concentrate
on the Scotia Sea, particularly the food-web and fishery
dynamics around South Georgia. The programme will use the
sampling facilities on RRS James Clark Ross, which include
vertical profiling for measuring temperature and salinity from
the surface to the ocean bed; sensory and acoustic systems for
measuring ocean currents and mapping the distribution of
plankton, fish and squid; and nets for biological specimens.

The Southern Ocean has a history of uncontrolled exploitation.

To manage the globally significant communities of finfish, squid
and krill, and avoid future
long-term damage from
over-fishing, scientific data
are needed.
The challenge for
environmental scientists is
to predict how human
activity and climate
changes will affect this
environment and how
biological communities will
respond. To shape our
future world, scientists
need to study how ocean
ecosystems work.

OBJECTIVES
 To develop a spatial analysis of how Southern Ocean
ecosystems work.
 To quantify the importance of ocean currents in the transport
of biological material in Southern Ocean food-webs.
 To examine how Southern Ocean ecosystems respond to
variability and change, focusing on links between krill and
predators.

B
The land-based studies will take place at Bird Island, South
Georgia. Year-round study of seabirds (penguins and albatross)
and marine mammals (fur seals) will allow us to assess breeding
performance, growth, diet and foraging. We will go on
developing satellite-tracking capabilities to link the land-based
predator studies to the ship-based ocean analyses.
The entire programme will integrate interdisciplinary studies in
modelling populations and food webs. With other BAS
programmes and independently funded projects, it will
contribute to the development of management principles within
international conventions.

PROJECTS

 To develop an ecosystem approach to the management of

Southern Ocean fisheries.

 Dynamics of pelagic organisms in

Southern Ocean ecosystems.
 Dynamics of predators and fisheries
in Southern Ocean ecosystems.

A
B
C

BAS biologist sorts krill samples at BAS Cambridge

BAS biologist studies macaroni penguins on Bird Island
A female Antarctic fur seal with a satellite transmitter,
time-depth recorder and VHF radio transmitter, which
allows scientists to study the seals behaviour while
foraging at sea

19

Independent Projects and

Medical Research
THE CHALLENGES
Our science programme also includes medical research as well as
a small number of projects that may entail higher risk in terms
of outcomes.

OBJECTIVES
 To understand
albatross lifestyles:
their ranges,
migrations and
vulnerability, and
especially how to
reduce death rates
from the use of
longline fishing.

 To detect small changes in glaciers to study their internal

and basal structure, what controls their movement, and
how they were formed.
 To examine the interactions between oceanography and the
movements of short-lived squid populations in response to
major environmental changes.
 To independently assess a battery of psychological tests for
workers in Antarctica so that all nations can take a
standardized approach.
 To understand the carriage and transmission of co-existing
(Escherichia coli) strains in humans.
 To show how adapting to shift work affects hormonal
changes and body rhythms, and to link hormonal and
metabolic responses to food intake.

DELIVERING THE SCIENCE

Using data from the worlds best longterm study on albatross, we can show
that fishery practices cause the
albatross population to decline, a
point that was originally disputed
by tuna commissions and fisheries
managers.
Contact: Higher Predators, Prof
John Croxall, jpcr@bas.ac.uk
B
The dynamics and structure of Antarctic ice
is complex. Flying an airborne polarimetric synthetic aperture
radar (SAR) capable of imaging the base of a glacier, will
enable us to detect small changes in glaciers, to understand
better their internal and basal structure and the processes that
control their movement.
Contact: Glacier Geophysics, Dr Chris Doake, csmd@bas.ac.uk

20

To examine the dynamics of short-lived squid, we will use a new

source of remotely sensed imagery (the US Defence
Meteorological Satellite Program). This will help us collate
oceanographic data with data from tracking the movements of
squid fishing fleets, and with catch/effort data from the fisheries.
Contact: Squid Biology, Prof Paul Rodhouse, pgkr@bas.ac.uk
The assessment of various psychological tests derived from
NASA and US Polar stations, Canadian weather stations and
other remote situations, and which are used in the selection of
personnel who work in the Antarctic. This assessment of the
various tests is a new project. We compare the performance
that was predicted by various tests on staff with their actual
performance.
Contact: BAS Medical Unit, Dr Iain Grant,
iain.grant@pnht.swest.nhs.uk
Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a bacterium that normally lives in
animal and human intestines. There are many strains and most
are harmless. Some however cause severe illness. The
transmission of E. coli between individuals is difficult to
measure, especially identifying particular strains and their
abundance. Methods of molecular enumeration were developed
to identify E. coli strains in staff spending the winter at
Rothera and Halley and to study their frequency, mutation rates
and routes of dispersal between individuals.
Contact: University of Aberdeen, Dr Ken Forbes,
mmb001@abdn.ac.uk
Almost 20% of the UK
workforce is involved in
shift work, an activity
that has a known
increased likelihood of
heart disease. The long
dark winter and unusual
environment of the
Antarctica provides the
opportunity to examine
the links between night-shift work and disease. Controlled
studies at Halley have shown, for the first time, that before
shift workers adapt, they react to meals taken during a night
shift by increased fat intolerance and insulin resistance. This
conclusion has significant implications for healthcare systems
in many industries.
Contact: University of Surrey, Prof Jo Arendt,
j.arendt@surrey.ac.uk
A
B

Pair of grey-headed albatross on Bird Island

The route taken by a female grey-headed albatross during her
year off between breeding attempts. She circumnavigated the
globe twice before returning to Bird Island to breed
Walking back to Halley station in a 30 knot wind

The Antarctic Funding Initiative

The Antarctic Funding Initiative (AFI) encourages the broadest
possible participation in Antarctic field-based research. 1.5
million a year (about 20% of the BAS science budget) is
available to support UK scientists from universities and other
research organisations to do fieldwork using BAS facilities and
logistics in the Antarctic. The following are examples of AFI
projects from the 29 programmes funded so far:

History of the George VI Ice Shelf

The project will produce climate records from sediment cores
taken from lakes near the George VI Ice Shelf, Antarctica.
Enhancing an existing BAS programme, scientists from the
Universities of Durham and Edinburgh, with BAS partners, will
find out whether the George VI Ice Shelf disappeared during
past warm periods. The main field season for drilling the lake
sediment cores was in 2001/02.

Enhanced flow inside the Antarctic ice sheet

Chemistry of the Antarctic atmosphere

and the interface with snow
This major initiative is a new collaboration between BAS and
partners from four UK universities to explore the chemistry of a
region of the atmosphere up to 2 km from ground level. A
year-round study of the chemistry of this layer will first take
place in 2003, using state-of-the-art instruments at the Clean
Air Sector Laboratory at Halley.

This project develops an existing collaboration between the

University of Bristol and BAS, which has suggested that ice
flow in the interior of Antarctica is far more complex than
previously thought. AFI funding has made possible a joint field
programme in 2001/02 using BAS radio echo-sounding
equipment to investigate the properties of the ice in a region
of faster-flowing ice.

Genetic variation in Antarctic lichens

This University of Nottingham programme is the first study of
population genetics in Antarctic lichen. Using the latest
technologies in molecular biology developed at the University,
it will discover genetic variation in selected lichen species.
Several sampling sites covering a wide range of locations were
visited during the 2001/02 field season.

Highlights of AFI projects

 Discovery of new fossil plants in Antarctica.
 Installation of new atmospheric imaging devices.
 Using kite-borne instruments to measure ice nuclei.
 Measuring krill requirements of predators.

A
B
C

Geological field camp funded by AFI at Seymour Island

Locations of AFI-funded fieldwork projects, Rounds 1-4
AFI projects cover a wide range of topics, from biology to
atmospheric sciences

21

Scientific Collaboration in the UK

and Worldwide
Some science programmes are so large in concept that no one
country can wholly fund them, therefore coordination through
international programmes, funding and participation are
essential. Deep drilling of ice and marine sediments and
geospace-related research are prime examples.
European funding for Antarctic research has led to the
development of strong ties between European scientists
(particularly from The Netherlands and Germany) and beyond
(notably the USA), and
large multinational
programmes have
emerged to tackle issues
of highest priority.
These scientists
strengthen the
intellectual capacity of
the programmes through
visiting the UK and
A
taking part in our Antarctic operations. Reciprocal visits
provide cost-free access to other countries logistics. Currently
we undertake joint research projects with over 40 UK
universities, and many of the scientists involved may visit the
Antarctic.

B
International programmes in which we participate are
devised through the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
(SCAR). British scientists take a very active part in SCARs
discipline-based Working Groups and are prominent in its
Groups of Specialists, which provide independent advice.
The international forum for Antarctic operators is the Council of
Managers of National Antarctic Programmes (COMNAP), in
which, since its outset, we have played an important role.
COMNAP committees decide on environmental management,
emergency planning etc.
The European Polar Board (EPB), drawn from 22 organisations,
encourages the development of new initiatives and offers
opportunities to share expensive facilities. We have been
represented on its Executive Committee since its inception in 1995.

22

COLLABORATIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGY

National and international technological collaboration is crucial
for the success of our science programmes.
VIBROCORER: To understand the geology of the seafloor, BAS
scientists use the British Geological Societys rock drill, the
vibrocorer. This is a microprocessor-controlled, electrohydraulically operated, seabed-coring tool which can collect a
wide range of sediment and rock types. It is deployed via a
special signal/power/hoist cable 2500 m long.
AUTOSUB: NERCs remotely operated submarine Autosub is
sent under Antarctic ice shelves to study the ice/ocean
interaction and the dynamics of the ice. It is being fitted with
a special sonar device to detect features in the ice. The autosub
has enabled us to collect data on the distribution of krill
beneath sea ice and on sea ice thickness. For the first time we
can compare the abundance and distribution of krill beneath sea
ice and in open water. We aim to find evidence of whether the
extent of sea ice controls the size of krill populations. Sponsors
for these missions include the Marine Laboratory in Aberdeen,
the Southampton Oceanography Centre, BAS, and NERC.

C
EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITE: In 2002 the ENVISAT Earth
observation satellite was launched. We will use data from
ENVISAT to measure ice flows and monitor ozone levels.
SEA-FLOOR PROFILING: BAS, in collaboration with Bristol
University, can now observe the sea-floor in unprecedented
detail using multibeam sonar and sub-bottom profilers fitted to
the RRS James Clark Ross.
A
B
C

BGS vibrocorer being recovered from RRS

James Clark Ross off James Ross Island
European field camp at Halley station
Autosub 2 onboard RRS James Clark Ross

Supporting Antarctic Science

Infrastructure
THE CHALLENGE
Going to work in the white laboratory requires a great deal of
support from specialist operations and a range of complex
technologies. Modern, appropriate, safe and cost-effective
logistics are essential to achieving scientific goals in the
Antarctic. Research needs must match the operational means to
achieve them. Scientific programmes and the logistics to
support them are planned and executed from BAS in Cambridge.
Over the years, BAS has developed an efficient and technically
advanced logistics infrastructure. Ice-strengthened ships, RRS
James Clark Ross and RRS Ernest Shackleton, and a fleet of five
aircraft support the five main Antarctic research stations. Ships
and aircraft are equipped with a range of technology; the
stations are wired for satellite communications and have
computer networks.

DELIVERING THE NEEDS OF SCIENCE

Airborne science
Our Twin Otter and
Dash-7 aircraft are
equipped with
sophisticated
technology to enable
us to make precise
measurements of
Earths magnetic field
in remote Antarctic
locations and use state-of-the-art radar to measure the
roughness of the ground beneath glaciers, ice flow and
layers in the ice sheet.

A
Mapping and Geographic Information Centre (MAGIC)
Detailed maps to analyse results and plan activities are
essential. Because of the hostile environment and the vast
areas to be covered, Antarctica is poorly mapped compared with
the rest of the world. To support BAS science and operations,
our mapping and geographic information specialists often
prepare new maps using aerial photographs, survey information
and satellite images.
Information for creating maps is usually sparse, so we develop
new techniques that use limited data. We use computers to
compile maps, and store the results in digital databases. We
maintain a digital map for the whole of Antarctica on behalf of
the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR).

Ship-borne science
Using a range of specialist equipment, we do valuable
geophysical and biological research from laboratories aboard
RRS James Clark Ross. This helps us investigate the formation
of the Earths crust beneath the ocean, study ocean currents
and assess the potential impact of commercial fishing in the
Southern Ocean.
Technology
Modern scientific research inevitably relies on technology.
Hostile environments, such as the polar regions, pose
significant challenges for the design engineer. Equipment must
above all be reliable, especially where it cannot be regularly
serviced. For fieldwork we must also consider its power, weight
and ability to survive transport over rugged terrain. We employ
a skilled engineering team whose total technical support spans
the design, construction, installation and operation of
specialist equipment.

C
A
B
C

Map of Bird Island created by BAS MAGIC

The air facility at Rothera, with hangar and fuel store in
the background
Routes taken by BAS ship and aircraft to get to
Antarctica

23

Science and Society Talking about

Antarctic Science
Head of Press, Public Relations & Education
Section: Linda Capper
Email: l.capper@bas.ac.uk

THE CHALLENGE

DELIVERING THE DIALOGUE

Dialogue with various audiences is critically important to BAS

as our research produces more information about the Antarctic
and its role in globally important issues such as climate
change, the ozone hole, sustainable management of the
Southern Ocean ecosystem, and environmental conservation.

We recognize the role that the media can play in

communicating our work worldwide. The BAS Press Office issues
press releases announcing findings from new research or
significant events, and can put journalists in touch with
scientists and support staff for information on any of our
research and operations. Stunning images, stills and
broadcast-quality video, shot by our professional
cameramen/photographers, are available for bona fide
journalists and broadcasters.

We want to increase
public interest and
confidence in Antarctic
science and scientists
through a series of
Science and Society
initiatives. We aim to
present clear and
unambiguous
information about our
work to the public, and
willingly engage in
debates and discussions
about Antarctica and
the global environment.
We are committed to
giving the public journalists, young people, teachers,
taxpayers and policy-makers alike access to Antarctic
information and data.

OBJECTIVES
 To reach a wide range of people through positive
relations with the media.
 To organise visits to Cambridge and Antarctica for
journalists.
 To collaborate with documentary film-makers.
 To write or prepare articles for magazines and
newspapers, and material for radio and TV programmes.
 To provide information on science and operations through
a public information service, publications, events and the
BAS website.
 To prepare educational material for teachers,
schoolchildren and the general public.
 To organise outreach activities with BAS scientists.
 To participate in national and international science
festivals, advise museums and prepare exhibitions
for various events.
 To improve access through an Artists and Writers
programme.

A
B

24

BAS website at www.antarctica.ac.uk

Question time for a BAS scientist during the British
Associations Festival of Science

Educational initiatives include an award-winning Antarctic

Schools Pack for GCSE and A-level geography students,
written by our staff (with help from an educational
consultant) and was funded and published by the Foreign
and Commonwealth Office. A free copy was sent to all UK
secondary schools. The pack received a Geography
Association Gold Award.
Antarctic Waves is a multi-media music composition
toolkit for GCSE and A-level music students created by
BAS and multi-media specialists Braunarts. It is inspired
by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies Antarctic Symphony,
commissioned by the Philharmonia Orchestra and BAS.
A
For the first time, music students have access to Antarctic
scientific data to create music inspired by global issues such as
climate change and ozone depletion.
In a bid to create greater access to the continent, BAS
launched the Artists and Writers Programme in 2001. The
initiative aims to bridge
the cultural gap
between science and
the arts. Scholars from
the visual arts, writing,
history, poetry, drama
and music have the
opportunity to
experience the Antarctic
and the scientific
research carried out
there firsthand, and to
portray its unique
features through their
chosen medium.
One of our key strengths is how scientists and other support
staff take part in various local and regional outreach
programmes. Their topics range from living and working in the
Antarctic to details of their particular scientific or operational
duties. About one-third of the staff at Cambridge volunteer
their time to give talks and demonstrations to schools, clubs
and societies.
Day-to-day activities on the Antarctic stations are exciting and
prompt many emails and telephone enquiries. A totally different
way of life is brought alive in the diary entries found on the
BAS website from staff aboard our ships and on the Antarctic
stations.

Map of Antarctic showing the scientific stations in 2001

(all year, nationality in parentheses)

Feedback and further information

We welcome your feedback and comments on this
document. These should be addressed to:
Professor Chris Rapley, Director
British Antarctic Survey
High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK.
For further information about BAS, please visit our
website at www.antarctica.ac.uk
Front cover BAS field camp on Alexander Island

Published by the British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge.

Designed by Candy Sorrell (NERC) & Mark Howlett.
Printed by Piggott Printers Limited on Revive Silk from 75%
recycled pulp of which 35% is post-consumer waste.
ISBN 1855312123
13

High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK.

Rifting in Larsen B Ice Shelf Tel:

before
its break-up
in 2001
01223
221400 Fax:
01223 362616 Website: www.antarctica.ac.uk