Impacts of geoscience research on the physical environment of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica
Antarctic polar deserts can be of considerable scientific interest, but can also exhibit great environmental sensitivity. A variety of factors, including Australia’s legal obligations under the Madrid Protocol, public expectations, certain research opportunities and ethical considerations, demand a...
Published in: | Australian Journal of Earth Sciences |
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crwiley:10.1046/j.1440-0952.2001.485897.x 2024-06-02T07:55:54+00:00 Impacts of geoscience research on the physical environment of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica Kiernan, K. McConnell, A. 2001 http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-0952.2001.485897.x http://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1046%2Fj.1440-0952.2001.485897.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1440-0952.2001.485897.x en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Australian Journal of Earth Sciences volume 48, issue 5, page 767-776 ISSN 0812-0099 1440-0952 journal-article 2001 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-0952.2001.485897.x 2024-05-03T11:53:09Z Antarctic polar deserts can be of considerable scientific interest, but can also exhibit great environmental sensitivity. A variety of factors, including Australia’s legal obligations under the Madrid Protocol, public expectations, certain research opportunities and ethical considerations, demand a very high standard of environmental protection. A survey outside the Davis Station limits in the Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica, identified 66 sites at which past human activities had left long‐term impacts on the physical environment. Nearly half of all observed impacts were the result of geoscientific research that had left old pit and trench sites, vehicular tracks, partly excavated palaeontological material, rock sampling and drilling sites, localised slope instability caused by disturbance, and discarded equipment and markers. Comparisons between rehabilitated sites and others where little, if any, rehabilitation appears to have been attempted suggest natural processes alone are generally insufficient to heal the damage, but that effective rehabilitation is often possible if undertaken immediately after the initial disturbance. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Wiley Online Library Antarctic Davis Station ENVELOPE(77.968,77.968,-68.576,-68.576) Davis-Station ENVELOPE(77.968,77.968,-68.576,-68.576) East Antarctica Vestfold Vestfold Hills Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 48 5 767 776 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Antarctic polar deserts can be of considerable scientific interest, but can also exhibit great environmental sensitivity. A variety of factors, including Australia’s legal obligations under the Madrid Protocol, public expectations, certain research opportunities and ethical considerations, demand a very high standard of environmental protection. A survey outside the Davis Station limits in the Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica, identified 66 sites at which past human activities had left long‐term impacts on the physical environment. Nearly half of all observed impacts were the result of geoscientific research that had left old pit and trench sites, vehicular tracks, partly excavated palaeontological material, rock sampling and drilling sites, localised slope instability caused by disturbance, and discarded equipment and markers. Comparisons between rehabilitated sites and others where little, if any, rehabilitation appears to have been attempted suggest natural processes alone are generally insufficient to heal the damage, but that effective rehabilitation is often possible if undertaken immediately after the initial disturbance. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kiernan, K. McConnell, A. |
spellingShingle |
Kiernan, K. McConnell, A. Impacts of geoscience research on the physical environment of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica |
author_facet |
Kiernan, K. McConnell, A. |
author_sort |
Kiernan, K. |
title |
Impacts of geoscience research on the physical environment of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica |
title_short |
Impacts of geoscience research on the physical environment of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica |
title_full |
Impacts of geoscience research on the physical environment of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Impacts of geoscience research on the physical environment of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Impacts of geoscience research on the physical environment of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica |
title_sort |
impacts of geoscience research on the physical environment of the vestfold hills, antarctica |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2001 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-0952.2001.485897.x http://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1046%2Fj.1440-0952.2001.485897.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1440-0952.2001.485897.x |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(77.968,77.968,-68.576,-68.576) ENVELOPE(77.968,77.968,-68.576,-68.576) |
geographic |
Antarctic Davis Station Davis-Station East Antarctica Vestfold Vestfold Hills |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Davis Station Davis-Station East Antarctica Vestfold Vestfold Hills |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica |
op_source |
Australian Journal of Earth Sciences volume 48, issue 5, page 767-776 ISSN 0812-0099 1440-0952 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-0952.2001.485897.x |
container_title |
Australian Journal of Earth Sciences |
container_volume |
48 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
767 |
op_container_end_page |
776 |
_version_ |
1800751950310932480 |