Lithostratigraphy, grain sizes and down-hole logs of Site 1166 on the continental shelf, and Site 1167 on the upper slope, are analyzed to reconstruct glacial processes in eastern Prydz Bay and the development of the Prydz trough-mouth fan. In eastern Prydz Bay upper Pliocene-lower Pleistocene glaciomarine sediments occur interbedded with open-marine muds and grade upward into waterlaid tills and subglacial tills. Lower Pleistocene sediments of the trough-mouth fan consist of coarse-grained debrites interbedded with bottom-current deposits and hemipelagic muds, indicating repeated advances and retreats of the Lambert Glacier-Amery Ice Shelf system with respect to the shelf break. Systematic fluctuations in lithofacies and down-hole logs characterize the upper Pliocene-lower Pleistocene transition at Sites 1166 and 1167 and indicate that an ice stream advanced and retreated within the Prydz Channel until the mid Pleistocene. The record from Site 1167 shows that the grounding line of the Lambert Glacier did not extend to the shelf break after 0.78 Ma. Published ice-rafted debris records in the Southern Ocean show peak abundances in the Pliocene and the early Pleistocene, suggesting a link between the nature of the glacial drainage system as recorded by the trough-mouth fans and increased delivery of ice-rafted debris to the Southern Ocean.

International efforts to protect the Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) that live on cold seeps and hydrothermal vents requires methods to predict where these features might be in advance of human activity. We suggest an approach to identifying seeps and vents in the CCAMLR region that uses existing data to highlight areas of possible seep and vent communities. These hierarchical criteria can be used to reduce the accidental disturbance of seep communities. We propose a 4 level classification of indicators: Class 1 Areas: VME confirmed by recovery of organisms or observation (video, stills). This level would qualify for VME status and high levels of protection. Class 2 Areas: Seepage/venting present but VME not confirmed. These locations would have a number of indicators of active seepage but VMEs have not been identified. Class 3 Areas: Seepage suspected from geophysical, geochemical or oceanographic observations. These areas have seismic indications of shallow gas or clathrates , structures suggesting fluid escape but where bubble flares or water column plumes have not been detected or where plume has been detected but not tied to an area of sea floor. Class 4 Areas: Area or geomorphic features associated with seepage and vents. These areas are large-scale geomorphic features such as Mid-Ocean Ridge rift valleys or volcanoes where vents are likely but not yet detected. Class 3 and Class 4 areas have been mapped from 45oE to 160oE using global bathymetry grids and seismic data from the SCAR Seismic Data Library.

Hemipelagic, sediment drift deposits have been discovered and mapped on the Antarctic Peninsula shelf in 300-500 m water depth. The drift located adjacent to Andvord Bay covers 44.5 km2 and exhibits continuous and discontinuous parallel reflections that conform to peaks and valleys in the acoustic basement as observed in deep-tow boomer and sparker seismic records. This style of drift deposit is a common feature of deep oceanic sediments, but is not normally found in continental shelf environments.

Dense coral-sponge communities on the upper continental slope (570 - 950 m) off George V Land, east Antarctica have been identified as Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems. We propose three main factors governing their distribution on this margin: 1) their depth in relation to iceberg scouring; 2) the flow of organic-rich bottom waters; and 3) their location at the head of shelf cutting canyons. Icebergs scour to 500 m in this region and the lack of such disturbance is a likely factor allowing the growth of rich benthic ecosystems. In addition, the richest communities are found in the heads of canyons which receive descending plumes of Antarctic Bottom Water formed on the George V shelf, which could entrain abundant food for the benthos. The canyons harbouring rich benthos are also those that cut the shelf break. Such canyons are known sites of high productivity in other areas due to strong current flow and increased mixing with shelf waters, and the abrupt, complex topography.

Several grounding zone wedges were left on the floor and flanks of Prydz Channel in western Prydz Bay by the Lambert Glacier during the last glacial cycle. Seismic profiles indicate that vertical accretion at the glacier bed was the most important depositional process in forming the wedges, rather than progradation by sediment gravity flows. Sidescan sonographs reveal extensive development of flutes on the sea floor inshore from the wedges, indicating deformable bed conditions beneath the ice. The region inshore of the east Prydz Channel wedge features extensive dune fields formed by currents flowing towards the grounding zone. This orientation is consistent with models of circulation beneath ice shelves in which melting at the grounding line generates plumes of fresher water that rise along the base of the ice shelf, entraining sea water into a circulation cell. The Lambert Deep is surrounded by a large composite ridge of glacial sediments. Internal reflectors suggest formation mostly by subglacial accretion. The sea floor in the Lambert Deep lacks dune fields and shows evidence of interspersed subglacial cavities and grounded ice beneath the glacier. The absence of bedforms reflects sea floor topography that would have inhibited the formation of energetic melt water-driven circulation.

During the Quaternary, the Mac. Robertson shelf of East Antarctica was deeply eroded by glaciers and currents exposing the underlying basement, resulting in a scalped shelf.

The World Summit on Sustainable Development implementation plan requires, by 2012, a representative system of marine protected areas (RSMPA) for the purposes of long-term conservation of marine biodiversity. A great challenge for meeting this goal, particularly in data-poor regions, is to avoid inadvertant failure while giving science the time and resources to provide better knowledge. A staged process is needed for identifying areas in data-poor regions that would enable the objectives to be achieved in the long term. We elaborate a procedure that would satisfy the first stage of identifying a RSMPA, including areas suitable as climate change refugia and as reference areas for monitoring change without direct interference of human activities. The procedure is based on the principles of systematic conservation planning. The first step involves the identification of ecologically-separated provinces along with the physical heterogeneity of habitats within those provinces. Ecological theory is then used to identify the scale and placement of MPAs, aiming to be the minimum spatial requirements that would satisfy the principles for a representative system: comprehensiveness, adequacy and representativeness (CAR). We apply the procedure to eastern Antarctica, a region with spatially-restricted sampling of most biota. We use widely available satellite and model data to identify a number of large areas that are likely to encompass important areas for inclusion in a RSMPA. Three large areas are identified for their pelagic and benthic values as well as their suitability as climate change refugia and reference areas. Four other areas are identified specifically for their benthic values. These areas would need to be managed to maintain these values but we would expect them to be refined over time as more knowledge becomes available on the specific location and spatial extent of those values.

Dense coral-sponge communities on the upper continental slope at 570 - 950 m off George V Land have been identified as a Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem in the Antarctic. The challenge is now to understand their likely distribution. Based on results from the Collaborative East Antarctic Marine Census survey of 2007/2008, we propose some hypotheses to explain their distribution. Icebergs scour to 500 m in this region and the lack of such disturbance is probably a factor allowing growth of rich benthic ecosystems. In addition, the richest communities are found in the heads of canyons. Two possible oceanographic mechanisms may link abundant filter feeder communities and canyon heads. The canyons in which they occur receive descending plumes of Antarctic Bottom Water formed on the George V shelf and these water masses could entrain abundant food for the benthos. Another possibility is that the canyons harbouring rich benthos are those that cut the shelf break. Such canyons are known sites of high productivity in other areas because of a number of oceanographic factors, including strong current flow and increased mixing with shelf waters, and the abrupt, complex topography. These hypotheses provide a framework for the identification of areas where there is a higher likelihood of encountering these Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems.

Can you help the Geoscience Australia Library? We are seeking the field notebooks of any geologists who worked for the Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR) in Antarctica, especially those from the 1950s-80s, to include in our digitisation project. Tucked away in archive boxes in the basement compactus of the Geoscience Australia Library in Canberra, lie over 3500 geol ogical field notebooks. These notebooks contain the observations of BMR geologists from the 1940s onwards as they worked their way across Australia, parts of Papua New Guinea and Pakistan, and the Australian Antarctic Territory. Around 100 Antarctic field notebooks are the focus of a pilot digitisation project to improve access to the rich data they contain and ensure they are preserved for future generations to use.

Cold seeps and hydrothermal vents can be detected by a number of oceanographic and geophysical techniques as well as the recovery of characteristic organisms. While the definitive identification of a seep or vent and its accompanying fauna is seldom unequivocal without significant effort. We suggest an approach to identifying associated VMEs in the CCAMLR region that uses the results of scientific surveys to identify confirmed features while documenting a series of criteria that can be used by fishing vessels to reduce the accidental disturbance of seep communities.