Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most important global health issues identified in recent decades. Different approaches have been used to establish the presence and abundance of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGEs) in the environment. In this study, we analysed soil samples from Fildes Peninsula (King George Island, Maritime Antarctica) exposed to human and bird impacts. The objective of the work was to identify ARGEs in the samples and to evaluate whether these genes were located in plasmids using two different strategies. A metagenomic analysis was employed to identify ARGEs according to the CARD database and to determine whether they were associated with plasmidic sequences. The analysis showed that the site exposed to high anthropogenic activity had a higher number of ARGEs compared to other sites. A large percentage of those ARGEs (19.4%) was located in plasmidic contigs. We also assessed replicon mobilization using microbial communities from these soil samples as donors through an exogenous plasmid isolation method. In this case, we could recover plasmids with ARGEs in a Tcr transconjugant clone. Although they could not be fully assembled, we could detect broad host range IncP1 and IncQ plasmid sequences. Our results indicate that sewage-impacted soils could be hotspots for the spread of ARGEs into the Antarctic environment.

Globally, the grey-headed albatross Thalassarche chrysostoma is listed as Endangered due to decreasing populations at its major breeding colonies. We analysed the population trend at Marion Island using annual counts of incubating pairs and fledglings from 1984 to 2021 and three methods: TRends and Indices for Monitoring data (TRIM), a generalized additive model and a state-space model. In contrast to rapid decreases at most other colonies, all three methods indicated a local population increase at an average annual rate of 1.3%. The latter two models indicated a decreasing trend from 1997 to 2002, presumably related to mortality on longlines set for Patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides around the island, which peaked from 1996 to 1998. Grey-headed albatrosses exhibit greater variation in annual counts than other seabird species at Marion Island, possibly linked to interannual variation in breeding success because they are biennial breeders. However, breeding success alone was not significant in any of the models, presumably because it cannot capture the complexities of both population processes and environmental variation. Although all three models predicted the overall trends well, integrated population models, which can account for demographic processes, might be more appropriate to model long-term population trends.

Areas around western Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica, feature two sedimentary units in outcrops and excavations. Uppermost Dingle Sand is a gravelly, silty sand with boulders, which drapes bedrock ridges and more thickly covers valley floors and continues below modern sea level. Underlying Vestfold Beds are gravelly, muddy sands that are found in deeper valley fills. High-resolution aerial photography, topographic and bathymetric surveys, sediment grain size and field observations indicate that Dingle Sand formed as ablation till during the last deglaciation. Post-depositional modifications of Dingle Sand by decay of ground ice, mass movement, water, wind and marine transgression and regression have altered the texture, structure and fossil content in this region. Vestfold Beds are older, finer-grained tills. Indirect age estimation of Dingle Sand suggests deglaciation-age deposition with younger (Holocene) reworking in places, whereas Vestfold Beds may be as old as the Pliocene. These sediments post-date the early Pliocene Sørsdal Formation found on Marine Plain in southern Vestfold Hills. Identification of Dingle Sand as a separate, primarily glacial deposit helps clarify the glacial history of the Vestfold Hills. Evidence for marine modification of the deposits after deglaciation suggests that other regions might also have glacial deposits interpreted as marine because of post-depositional processes.

This study focuses on geochemical research into humic acids and humification processes in lakes of West Antarctica, specifically King George Island and Marie Byrd Land. Humic acids were extracted from recent sediments of Antarctic lakes and analysed using high-precision laboratory methods. The experiments included examining the elemental composition and molecular structure of the humic acids. The results show that the organic matter in sediments of the studied lakes has undergone complete humification processes. However, the molecular structure of humic acids is characterized by a predominance of aliphatic fragments and a significant amount of polysaccharides, which is typical of humic substances in the cold climates of Arctic and Antarctic regions. Thus, the humic substances of Antarctic lakes were found to have a very low degree of maturity and were non-resistant to mineralization. These findings are valuable for understanding the full chain of organic matter transformation processes in Antarctic ecosystems and the global carbon cycle on Earth.

Peatlands, covering approximately one-third of global wetlands, provide various ecological functions but are highly vulnerable to climate change, with their changes in space and time requiring monitoring. The sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands (PEIs) are a key conservation area for South Africa, as well as for the preservation of terrestrial ecosystems in the region. Peatlands (mires) found here are threatened by climate change, yet their distribution factors are poorly understood. This study attempted to predict mire distribution on the PEIs using species distribution models (SDMs) employing multiple regression-based and machine-learning models. The random forest model performed best. Key influencing factors were the Normalized Difference Water Index and slope, with low annual mean temperature, with low annual mean temperature, precipitation seasonality and distance from the coast being less influential. Despite moderate predictive ability, the model could only identify general areas of mires, not specific ones. Therefore, this study showed limited support for the use of SDMs in predicting mire distributions on the sub-Antarctic PEIs. It is recommended to refine the criteria used to select environmental factors and enhance the geospatial resolution of the data to improve the predictive accuracy of the models.

On an Antarctic research station, money is rendered useless, and essential material goods are imported from participating countries. Recognizing time as a valuable resource and acknowledging the existence of gift-giving practices, this article investigates the economic exchanges among members of an Antarctic expedition. Drawing on a 15 month ethnographic study conducted at the French Dumont d'Urville Station from November 2019 to January 2021, I analyse the gift of time and the exchange of services among the 24 members of the 70th expedition to Adélie Land, isolated for 8 months by the winter pack ice. The study presents an anthropological perspective on overwinterers, a population predominantly studied within the field of psychology, and examines the extent to which mutual aid and volunteering, which are often overlooked, shape interpersonal relationships and group dynamics. By exploring the ethnography of Antarctic time in relation to work and delineating various categories of service exchanges, we gain insights into individual motivations, causes, consequences and sanctions within the broader context of social relationships. I propose the hypothesis that the perpetual cycle of indebtedness among overwinterers plays a significant role in maintaining the smooth operation of an Antarctic station and fostering social balance within a winter crew.

The relevance of education and outreach (E&O) activities about the Antarctic Treaty has been recognized at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings (ATCM) and at the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP). This study examines the key topics and the target audiences detailed in papers submitted to the ATCM on E&O. Since the Antarctic Treaty entered into force in 1961, a total of 216 ATCM papers on E&O have been produced. The number of papers has increased substantially since the mid-1990s. ‘Science’ (76.9%) and ‘Wildlife/Biodiversity/Environment’ (75.5%) were the most addressed topics in these papers, while the ‘Public’ (81.0%) and those attending ‘Schools’ (69.0%) are the main target audiences. ‘Science’ in ATCM papers increased ~120-fold from 1961–1997 to 2015–2023, while ATCM papers discussing engagement with the ‘Public’ increased ~40-fold during the same period. ‘Climate change’ was first mentioned in 2006, and the number of papers per year increased fourfold by 2015–2023. This study shows the increasing interest in E&O through time, addressing key topics to relevant audiences related to the Antarctic region. From an educational perspective, attention should be paid to emerging topics (e.g. equity, diversity and inclusion), and the engagement of early-career professionals and educators should be made a priority.

Silicification - the precipitation of silica within the remains of a buried organism - allows for the three-dimensional preservation of a fossil in minute cellular to subcellular detail and forms the basis for some of the most spectacular Lagerstätten for terrestrial ecosystems (e.g. Selden & Nudds 2004). Among these are the plant-bearing chert deposits of the Transantarctic Mountains, which were discovered by J.H. Mercer and J.D. Gunner during the 1969/1970 ‘Beardmore Expedition’ and sampled and first screened by J.M. Schopf soon thereafter (Schopf 1970). The collection, preparation and in-depth study of plant-bearing cherts from the Beardmore Glacier generated more than 125 publications, and systematic treatments of the permineralized biotas resulted in the description of 30 genera and almost 50 species of structurally preserved plants and fungi. The exquisite anatomical preservation enabled unusually detailed reconstruction of many of the preserved organisms, yielding the most completely known fossil members for several groups of gymnosperms (see Escapa et al. 2011). Together with similar silicified peat deposits from the remote Prince Charles Mountains in East Antarctica (McLoughlin & Drinnan 1997), these conservation-Lagerstätten of the Transantarctic Mountains constitute an extraordinary window into the biology and ecology of late Palaeozoic and early Mesozoic high-latitude terrestrial ecosystems. Perhaps the single most important of these deposits is the silicified peat from the Triassic Fremouw Formation at Fremouw Peak in the Beardmore Glacier area. Triassic silicified peat also occurs elsewhere in the Transantarctic Mountains, including the Allan Hills in southern Victoria Land (Taylor & Taylor 1990) and Timber Peak in northern Victoria Land (Bomfleur et al. 2011), but thus far the quality of preservation at other sites proved too poor to merit in-depth study.