Documents

Report on the Workshop for the Antarctic Seismic Data Library System for Cooperative Research (SDLS)

9 July 2006, Hobart, Australia

December 2006

Introduction

The SDLS operates under the aegis of SCAR and the ATCM (Recommendation XVI-12) with guidelines outlined in SCAR Report #9. The SDLS holds workshops routinely to review Antarctic multichannel seismic reflection (MCS) operations, to review SDLS operations and procedures, and to set directions for future SDLS operations. In the past three years, the SDLS has held workshops in 2003 in Potsdam (Germany) in conjunction with the 9th International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Science (ISAES) and in 2006 in Hobart, Australia in conjunction with the 20th annual SCAR meeting and SCAR Open Science Conference. The next SDLS workshop will be held in August/September 2007 in conjunction with the 10th ISAES in Santa Barbara, California.

This report summarises the discussions and recommendations of the Hobart workshop, and includes a brief summary of the Potsdam workshop for which a formal workshop report was not written.

Achievements of SCAR to 2006

August 2007

For almost 50 years SCAR has facilitated international collaboration in Antarctic science, adding value to national scientific research in the Antarctic by encouraging the cooperation required to provide pan-Antarctic views beyond the capability of any one country and to establish the role of Antarctica in the global Earth System. SCAR works closely with other global research bodies to ensure that Antarctic science plays its full part in global research programmes. Over the past 15 years SCAR has focused on the detection of global change in Antarctica, studies of the processes linking Antarctica to the global system, the extraction of Antarctica’s environmental history from ice cores and sediments, and analyses of the ecosystems on land and in the Southern Ocean and their response to change. The latest scientific programme was outlined at the beginning of the new millennium, and 5 core projects were approved in 2004, addressing the present climate system, climate evolution, biological evolution, lakes beneath the ice, and the effects of the solar wind.

SCAR also provides scientific advice to the Parties to the Antarctic Treaty, to encourage policy-making and good governance based on sound scientific information.

SCAR is an Interdisciplinary Body of the International Council for Science (ICSU).

Executive Summary

SCAR’s significant achievements in recent years include the following:

1. Determining the functional ecosystem processes of the Southern Ocean ecosystem, including the key role of krill, and documenting the distribution, abundance and long-term trends in Antarctic and Subantarctic seabirds.
2. Understanding the diversity, ecology and population dynamics of the organisms beneath the Antarctic sea ice, and their sensitivity to change.
3. Establishing how Antarctic land, lake and pond life respond to climate change, and identifying the processes determining community response to stress.
4. Discovering a major warming of the Antarctic winter troposphere, 5 km above sea level, that is larger than any other tropospheric warming on Earth.
5. Confirming that, while the Antarctic Peninsula has warmed significantly (3oC on average and 5oC in winter on the west coast over the past 50 years), air temperatures in East Antarctica have remained steady or cooled.
6. Determining that the Larsen-B Ice Shelf collapsed because prevailing westerly winds brought more warm air across the Antarctic Peninsula as the planet warmed.
7. Providing the basis for determining the mass balance of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. West Antarctica is losing mass; East Antarctica remains largely stable.
8. Developing a climatology of Antarctic sea-ice for understanding sea-ice formation, validating satellite data, and feeding coupled ocean–ice–atmosphere models.
9. Creating an unprecedented spatio-temporal array of information about the ice sheet as the basis for exploring the variability and recent evolution of Antarctic climate, and using new geological data and numerical modelling to explain the history of the ice sheets and climate since extensive glaciation began 34 million years ago.
10. Generating plans and guiding principles for the exploration and environmental stewardship of unique, pristine, sub-glacial lakes.
11. Providing a wide range of geographic and scientific maps, databases and related products for a wide variety of users, and funnelling the work of the National Antarctic Data Centres into the Antarctic Master Directory.
12. Providing scientific advice on conservation and environmental management issues to the Antarctic Treaty System.

Report on a meeting of the SCAR Group of Specialists on Southern Ocean Ecology

(cosponsored by SCOR)

27-29 May 1987, Paris, France

Introduction 

Opening of meeting

Dr Hureau welcomed members (names and addresses at Annex 1) to this, the first meeting of the Group. Dr Sackshaug was absent on field- work and unable to attend. The present membership is that nominated by SCAR in June 1986, and it was greatly regretted that SCOR had not yet responded to the request to nominate two oceanographers as members. If the Group is to make a critical and comprehensive view of South- ern Ocean marine ecology, substantial input and advice on oceanography is essential. The Agenda adopted is at Annex 2.1.2.

Background papers

The main documents used by the Group during the meeting are listed in Annex 3. Five papers (3-7) were prepared by members of the Group. The remaining documents relate mainly to existing. or proposed multi-national collaborative undertakings (8, 9 and 19) or to planned national pro- grammes. (10-12, 14-16).

A Need for More Realistic Ice-sheet Models

December 2007

C.J. van der Veen and ISMASS Members

WCRP/CliC Global Prediction of the Cryosphere (GPC) Project Workshop Report

December 2007

8-9 October 2007, British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK

Introduction

Global Prediction of the Cryosphere (GPC) is one of the four themes of the CliC project and has the goal of improving the model projections of the global cryosphere over the 21st century. While each of the other three CliC themes has some elements of cryospheric prediction, GPC is closely linked to the climate modelling and meteorological communities, and has a strong focus on the atmospheric and oceanic forcings of the cryosphere.

This workshop was organised to bring together experts in various aspects of the global cryosphere with the goals of:

• reviewing our ability to predict the evolution of the cryosphere over the 21st century at the global scale;
• identifying gaps in our current understanding;
• proposing research activities in the framework of CliC.

The meeting consisted of short invited presentations on the different components of the cryosphere, followed by extensive discussion. John Turner described the functions of WCRP and its various projects and other activities, along with the goals of CliC.

Recent High Latitude Climate Change: Report on the SCAR-CliC-IASC-ICPM Workshop

December 2007

NOAA/PMEL, Seattle, 22-24 October 2007

The meeting was held to advance our understanding of the mechanisms behind recent climate change in the Arctic and Antarctic. It consisted of invited presentations, discussion periods and breakout sessions to address particular questions. The following is a summary of the various presentations organized into Arctic, Antarctic and bipolar issues. It is followed by summaries of the breakout sessions.

Report of ITASE Synthesis Workshop

2-5 September 2008, Castine, Maine

November 2008

Purpose of the Workshop

The Castine workshop brought together scientists involved in the International Trans- Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE). ITASE is organized under the auspices of the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR) and now comprises twenty-one countries. The international representatives from ITASE have met several times in the past to discuss national traverse plans; coordinate efforts; synthesize results; and develop statistical and other techniques for the interpretation of data. ITASE started with a workshop that led to the development of an international Science and Implementation Plan for ITASE (Mayewski and Goodwin, 1997) followed by meetings in Durham, New Hampshire (March 1999), Potsdam, Germany (September 2002), Milan, Italy (August 2003), and most recently Hobart, Australia (2006). These meetings provide the primary opportunity for ITASE researchers to meet and exchange information.

The Castine workshop provided significant additional momentum for ITASE data synthesis. It focused on identifying the characteristics of climate change that have impacted the Antarctic and surrounding ocean over the past 200-1000+ years in order to provide a basis for assessing the dramatic changes expected as a consequence of the ~4- 6oC warming projected for this region by IPCC. Results from this workshop will form the basis for future collaborative efforts between ITASE ice core researchers, meteorologists, oceanographers, and climate modelers stemming from international initiatives such as IPICS and IPY. Workshop findings are being incorporated in the forthcoming document: “Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment” near final production by SCAR.

Data and Information Management Strategy (DIMS), 2009-2013

September 2009

Kim Finney (Manager, Australian Antarctic Data Centre)
Chief Officer, SCAR Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management Australian Antarctic Division [email protected]

Executive Summary

The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) – an inter-disciplinary scientific body of the International Council of Science (ICSU) – initiates, develops and coordinates high quality, international scientific research in the Antarctic and on the role of the Antarctic region in the Earth system. SCAR also provides objective and independent scientific advice to the Antarctic Treaty System Consultative Parties and other organizations on issues of science and conservation affecting the management of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. In support of this dual mission, SCAR has been developing capacity for international data management amongst its member nations since 1992. In order to effectively implement programs, policies and procedures, and activities to fulfil these roles, SCAR must clearly map out a Data and Information Management Strategy for the future. This document is the next logical step in this process.

The committee in SCAR responsible for all aspects of data and information management is the Standing Committee on Antarctic Data management (SCADM). Data and information are valuable and irreplaceable resources. In the pursuit of many science objectives (especially those of a pan-Antarctic nature) it is necessary to use data and information collected by scientists from many countries. SCAR recognizes the critical and essential importance of the stewardship of data and information within national and international programs and of its accessibility by the international Antarctic scientific community. This management is not an “add-on” or an additional task. It is a fundamental aspect of modern earth system science and essential to addressing complex questions about how our planet works and how it will respond in the future.

This Strategy’s vision is to build an Antarctic Data Management System (ADMS), capable of supporting inter-disciplinary Antarctic science and SCAR activities within the Antarctic Treaty System. The ADMS should be viewed as a science enabler. Through a range of individual activities SCAR is already making progress towards achieving this vision. But much more can be achieved. The likelihood of realising the desired goal will be greater if appropriate strategic foundations are put in place to enable better coordination of individual and often disconnected efforts. These strategic foundations should encompass:

1. Policy, Leadership, Coordination and Governance: better articulated governance arrangements and strong leadership, suitable for driving the development of a distributed, but loosely federated, shared infrastructure. This requires development of a SCAR Data Policy that stipulates the norms that SCAR members should adopt with respect to data sharing and access; data management planning; and establishment of National Antarctic Data Centres (NADCs). Recognising that dedicated leadership is essential for driving development of any shared infrastructure, SCAR members should consider seconding appropriately trained professionals to the SCAR Secretariat and/or assist with raising external funds to support infrastructure development positions. To strengthen existing components of the ADMS, opportunities for partnering arrangements should be explored between SCAR data management groups and those institutions involved in the reformation of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Data Exchange (IODE) and ICSU World Data Centre Systems. If the ADMS ultimately expands more through partnerships with these types of global systems than through an expansion of the SCAR NADC network, it may then be prudent to review the role, membership and function of SCADM.
2. Cultural Change and Incentives: fostering a culture willing to share and collaborate on data management related activities. Data sharing between SCAR scientists is highly patchy both within and between member countries. Data citation systems are being touted as a mechanism to foster improved data sharing practices between scientists. The Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) has been trialling approaches to data citation. SCAR could formally partner with SCOR in piloting such a system within its NADCs. More could also be done to build an ADMS and to change cultural practices if SCAR’s peak data groups harnessed their collective capabilities to garner funding from external sources. Additionally, more money would be available for scientific data management if SCAR educated funding sources about the need for data management to be an explicitly funded component of supported projects.
3. Leveraging Resources and Systems: leveraging existing SCAR and non- SCAR systems, capabilities and resources and supplementing these where there are obvious deficiencies (the primary purpose of such leveraging is to create a network of designated permanent data archives capable of the long- term management and publication of all types of SCAR related data). The number of NADCs is low relative to the number of national SCAR Members. Of the NADCs that do exist, only a few have significant capabilities. A functional ADMS will be difficult to develop solely through an expansion of the NADC network. SCAR should identify a small number of existing and complementary data access networks with which to affiliate and then promote NADC involvement in these networks. By “affiliating”, rather than building from scratch, SCAR can expand its ADMS at minimal cost and at the same time achieve greater interoperability with other networks. It is also important that SCAR’s peak data management groups (ie. SCADM and the Standing Committee on Antarctic Geographic Information – SCAGI) work more closely together in pursuing common goals. Now that the distinction between managing and publishing spatial and non-spatial data is disappearing, consideration might be given in the future to amalgamating SCADM and SCAGI.
4. Standards and Interoperability: agreement on, and implementation of, standards that support the interoperation of technology platforms and data transport protocols. In particular, development or adoption of standards to describe and encode data objects, equipment, processing techniques and instruments that ultimately function to permit data integration and aggregation. A key component of the ADMS is the Antarctic Master Directory (AMD) metadata system. It is therefore crucial that SCAR works closely with the AMD host organisation (i.e. the GCMD) to help determine the functionality of future iterations of this technology platform. Equally important is the need to recognise that SCAR science covers highly diverse data types and data management requirements. The ADMS must be geared to meeting this diversity of needs. To achieve this goal, further enhancement of the ADMS should be under-pinned by developing an implementation roadmap.
5. e. Outreach and Guidance: education, outreach and guidance on all facets of the systems operation, protocols and functions. Growing the number of NADCs and improving the capabilities of those that exist could be achieved using a more formalised training and mentoring campaign. Both SCADM and SCAGI should improve their communication mechanisms and mediums.

Much of the data management that currently occurs within SCAR science projects is conducted under circumstances outside of the influence of either of SCAR’s peak data management coordinating groups. The network of NADCs on which the SCAR ADMS should be founded therefore needs to be expanded and become interdependent with other, successful thematic and global data networks, that are currently being patronised by SCAR research programs or which have the potential to add value to SCAR science. Several opportunities exist to more closely align SCAR data management with large international data management facilities and networks (notably the ICSU WDCs, IODE, the WMO Information System [WIS], the IPY Data and Information Service [IPYDIS] and the Polar Information Commons[PIC] initiative), all of which conversely need to align themselves with scientific data sources (such as SCAR).

To realise its strategic data management vision SCAR needs to develop a roadmap to action recommendations in this report in the form of a Data and Information Strategy Implementation Plan.

Meeting of the SCAR/SCOR Oceanography Expert Group: Implementation of the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS)

Venice, Italy, 26 September 2009

October 2009

A one-day meeting of the SCAR/SCOR Oceanography group plus invited experts was held at CNR-ISMAR on September 26th, directly after the OceanObs09 (http://www.oceanobs09.net/) meeting. The meeting attendees and agenda are listed in the Appendix. Steve Rintoul (Expert Group co-chair) chaired the meeting and Mike Sparrow (SCAR) and Ed Urban (SCOR) acted as rapporteurs.

Report on Summer School on Ice Sheet Models for the 21st Century – A contribution from the SCAR Expert Group on Ice Sheet Mass Balance and Sea Level (ISMASS)

3-14 August 2009, Portland, Oregon, USA

November 2009

The workshop took place at Portland State University, in Portland, Oregon, USA, on 3-14 August 2009. It involved 19 participants from Canada, USA, France, UK, China, and NZ (see Appendix 1), a lecturing staff of 20, from the US, UK, NZ, Scotland, and Sweden, including the organising team of 3, from the US (Christine Hulbe, Jesse Johnson and Cornelius van der Veen).

Reports of the Joint and Individual Meetings of SCADM (Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management) and SCAGI (Standing Committee on Antarctic Geographic Information)

Amsterdam, 7 – 9 September 2009

January 2010

Minutes of joint SCADM/SCAGI meeting

The meeting took the format of a joint meeting on the morning of 7th September, all day on the 8th September until mid afternoon on 9th September. SCADM and SCAGI had individual business meetings on the afternoons of 7th September and 9th September.

Ice Sheet Mass Balance and Sea Level: A Science Plan

presented as an ISMASS contribution at the International Glaciological Society Conference in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, July 27-31, 2009

July 2010

by C. J. van der Veen and ISMASS

Abstract

The dynamic response of ice sheets is currently understood to be due to the coupling of four component processes, each corresponding to a specific region of an ice sheet. They are surface mass balance, ice shelf, basal, and englacial processes. Of these four, only englacial processes have the capacity to transmit stress from one area to another, and as such will play the pivotal role in determining how sea level rise can result from grounded ice moving seaward.

The two least well understood scientific issues relating to englacial processes are presently 1) how horizontal stresses are transferred within ice, and what level of detail in the stress balance is required to adequately capture the transfer, and 2) how well must the ice rheology be represented to predict the dynamical evolution of ice with the desired precision. It should also be noted that description of englacial boundary conditions requires advances in understanding of surface, basal, and shelf processes. Hence model uncertainty will remain high until advances in all four processes are made.

The importance of ice sheet modeling efforts has been magnified by recent reports suggesting that sea level rise remains the most poorly constrained and potentially catastrophic impact of climate change. As such, this document has been prepared to coordinate and focus scientific inquiry in the coming years. First, three scientific questions of great significance are posed. Englacial processes and the closely related numerical schemes for addressing them will be pivotal to advancement on the questions, but the other three component processes will play a role as well. The questions are:

1. Will climate change lead to irreversible (non-linear, rapid) ice-sheet response?
2. Does a rapid change lead to a large mass change?
3. Are observed rapid changes “natural variability” or responses to warming?

In this contribution, the scientific background for each of the questions is presented. This is followed with a “roadmap” for studying the questions that is consistent with the best available data.

SCAR Data Policy

June 2011

Summary

SCAR is charged with initiating, developing and coordinating high quality international scientific research in the Antarctic region, and advising on the role of the Antarctic region in the Earth system. The scientific business of SCAR is conducted by its Standing Scientific Groups in the Physical-, Life- and Geo- Sciences which represent the scientific disciplines active in Antarctic research. These groups share information on disciplinary scientific research being conducted by national Antarctic programmes; identify research areas or fields where current research is lacking; coordinate proposals for future research by national Antarctic programmes to achieve maximum scientific and logistical effectiveness; identify research areas or fields that might be best investigated by a major SCAR Scientific Research Programme; and establish Action and Expert Groups to address specific research topics within the discipline.

SCAR related research data is highly multidisciplinary and disparate. This policy aims to provide a framework for these data to be handled in a consistent manner, and to strike a balance between the rights of investigators and the need for widespread access through the free and unrestricted sharing and exchange of both data and metadata. This policy is compatible with the data principles of SCAR’s parent body, ICSU and other relevant international agencies (e.g. WMO), and with the goals of Article III 1 c of the Antarctic Treaty.

Since SCAR coordinates a distributed programme of research, generally implemented through a number of nationally self-managed projects, the principles enshrined in this Data Policy should be applied to data in each SCAR-endorsed Project. In order to be considered part of a SCAR Research Programme, each Project should follow the SCAR Data Policy, submit metadata and linked datasets to the Antarctic Master Directory (AMD – gcmd.gsfc.nasa.gov/Data/portals/amd/) in a reasonable timeframe, and should have an appropriately funded data management plan in place before the Project begins.

Nations affiliated with SCAR are urged to establish a National Antarctic Data Centre (NADC) or assign NADC responsibilities to an existing national institution capable of carrying out NADC obligations. NADCs in collaboration with SCAR Research Projects and Programmes will work towards developing a SCAR Antarctic Data and Information System (ADMS).

The SCAR Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management (SCADM) is responsible for this Data Policy. Questions about the policy and its implementation should be directed to the SCADM Executive.

SCAR Working Group Meeting Reports

May 1989

Contents

• SCAR Working Group on Glaciology: meeting at Bremerhaven, FRG, 6, 10 and 11 September 1987
• SCAR Working Group on Geology: meeting at Cambridge, UK, 30 August 1987
• SCAR Working Groups on Geology and Solid Earth Geophysics: joint meeting at Cambridge, UK, 31 August 1987
• SCAR Working Group on Solid Earth Geophysics: meeting at Cambridge, UK, 30 August 1987

SCAR/IASC Think Tank: Report of Meeting

Potsdam, Germany, 24-25 February 2016

September 2016

Background

SCAR and IASC have a long history of strong collaboration. As the Memorandum of Understanding between SCAR and IASC is up for renewal in 2016, it is an opportune time to revisit this agreement and further strengthen this collaboration. It is also important to note that the last full joint SCAR-IASC ExCom meeting was in 2013 and another one should be held soon.

SCAR recently completed a forward-looking vision of important Antarctic research questions. This is being complimented by the COMNAP follow up looking at logistics and technology needs. The past spring IASC went through the 3rd International Conference on Arctic Research Planning, which also produced forward-looking Arctic research needs. There are many overlapping issues that have arisen during these processes. To help advance Polar Science, efforts should be made to outline synergies.

In addition there are a number of other important factors for the two organizations to discuss. This includes the structure, composition, and goals of the 2018 POLAR conference to be held in Davos, Switzerland that need to be settled. The recent advances in the International Polar Partnership and in ICSU ́s Future Earth initiative should also be something discussed between these two leading international polar organizations. In addition, SCAR is undergoing a review by ICSU, and IASC is also undergoing an external review and a number of synergies that need addressing have resulted.

A 2-day brainstorming retreat was held in Potsdam, Germany the last week of February 2016 to begin to address these and other issues.

International Principles and Procedures for Antarctic Place Names

October 2021

Recommended international principles and procedures for the use of existing place names and the standardization of new names for features in Antarctica (south of 60°S)

Background

Antarctic place names are important for identification, orientation, positioning and navigation, providing an essential reference system for logistical operations (including search and rescue measures), management, environmental investigation and protection, scientific research, culture, tourism, and preservation of heritage.  They facilitate the exchange of information in the field, in scientific publications and in administrative measures of the Antarctic Treaty System.  Place names also reflect the history of exploration of the continent.

Principles and procedures for using existing names and for proposing new names and changes have not been previously established internationally.  Traditionally, each country has established its own principles and policies, which has resulted, in many cases, in the multiple naming of features, the translation or mistranslation of place names, and ambiguity and confusion in the current use of names in Antarctica.

In 1992, the Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica was compiled to provide a central storage of all existing place names of Antarctica. A set of guidelines to be followed both when selecting an existing name for a feature and when proposing new names or changes to existing names was also developed, and a draft version was distributed in 1994. This report builds on those guidelines.

Antarctica has no single naming authority so individual countries are responsible for their national policy on, and authorisation and use of, Antarctic names. This document provides signatories to the Antarctic Treaty with clear principles and procedures for the use of existing names for features in Antarctica (south of 60°S) and for the application of new names for previously unnamed features on maps, in scientific publications, and in databases.

SCAR, through its recommendations, hopes that the present effort will contribute to the adoption of ‘one name per feature’ by all Antarctic place-naming authorities to minimize ambiguity and avoid confusion.

To assist with the procedure for naming an unnamed Antarctic feature, SCAR has developed an Antarctic Place Name Proposal Form.

SCAR Data Policy (2022)

September 2022

Background

The International Science Council (ISC, formerly ICSU and ISSC) is the parent body of SCAR. In its Assessment on Scientific Data and Information in 2004, the ISC observed that “science has long been best served by a system of minimal constraints on the availability of data and information”, and that a strong public domain for scientific data and information promotes greater return from investment in research, stimulates innovation and enables more informed decision-making. Thus, one of the fundamental recommendations of the assessment is that “ICSU should continue to actively promote the principle of full and open access to scientific data”.

Additionally, countries working in the Antarctic operate within the framework of the Antarctic Treaty System. The cornerstone of the system is the Antarctic Treaty, which was signed on December 1, 1959, and came into effect on June 23, 1961. Of particular relevance for polar data management and delivery is Article III, section 1(c), which stipulates that “scientific observations and results from Antarctica shall be exchanged and made freely available”. This Article has been followed up by ATCM Resolutions, such as:

• ATCM Recommendation XIII-5 (1985), which invites SCAR to offer advice “on steps that possibly could be taken to improve the comparability and accessibility of scientific data on Antarctica.”
• ATCM XXII Resolution 4 (1998), which recommends that Consultative Parties establish National Antarctic Data Centres and link these to the Antarctic Data Directory, and that they give priority consideration as to how the requirement for freedom of access to scientific information is achieved within their national data management systems.

Effective data management is a critical part of operating responsibly within the Antarctic environment, and it is essential that SCAR is able to provide clear guidance to researchers and research programmes on data management requirements.

In 2019, the Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management (SCADM) initiated a process to align the data policies of international scientific bodies coordinating research in the polar regions. Following this, a working group under SCADM, SOOS, IASC, SAON, and the Arctic SDI published the report “Alignment of Polar Data Policies – Recommended Principles” in November 2021 (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5734900). The report examines external policy drivers and overarching global and regional data policies, notably those of the Antarctic Treaty, ISC, UNESCO, WMO, IOC, UN-GGIM, OECD, and GEO, and concludes by recommending and explaining ten fundamental principles for polar data policies. This data policy is based on those ten principles.

Seismic Data Library System (SDLS) – new structure and guidelines

November 2022

Summary

SCAR Working Group Meeting Reports

June 1989

Contents

• SCAR Working Group on Biology. Meeting at Hobart, Tasmania, 5-9 September 1988 p. 1
• SCAR Group of Specialists on Southern Ocean Ecology. Meeting at Hobart, Tasmania, 3-5 September 1988 p. 21
• SCAR Working Group on Geology. Meetings at Hobart, Tasmania, 5 and 9 September 1988 p. 29
• SCAR Working Group on Solid Earth Geophysics. Meetings at Hobart, Tasmania, 5 and:9 September 1988 p. 33
• SCAR Working Groups on Geology and Solid Earth Geophysics. Joint meeting at Hobart, Tasmania, 5-8 September 1988 p.38
• SCAR Working Group on Logistics and Managersof National Antarctic Programmes. Meeting at Hobart, Tasmania 5-9 September 1988 p.42

Xlth Antarctic Treaty Special Consultative Meeting

January 1991

Contents

• XVth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, Paris, 19-20 October 1989. Recommendation XV-1. Comprehensive measures for the protection of the Antarctic environment and dependent and associated ecosystems, p. 1
• Opening Statement by the President of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), Dr R M Laws, p. 3
• Presentation by the President of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR).Dr R M Laws, p. 5
• Report on the Xlth Antarctic Treaty Special Consultative Meeting by the SCAR observer, Mr W N Bonner, p. 12
• Interim Report of the Xlth Antarctic Treaty Special Consultative Meeting, p. 18