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, dema...
Published in: | Australian Journal of Earth Sciences |
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2001
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ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:22348 2023-05-15T13:59:07+02:00 Impacts of geoscience research on the physical environment of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica Kiernan, K McConnell, A 2001 https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-0952.2001.00897.x http://ecite.utas.edu.au/22348 en eng Blackwell Science Asia http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-0952.2001.00897.x Kiernan, K and McConnell, A, Impacts of geoscience research on the physical environment of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 48, (5) pp. 767-776. ISSN 0812-0099 (2001) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/22348 Earth Sciences Other Earth Sciences Earth Sciences not elsewhere classified Refereed Article PeerReviewed 2001 ftunivtasecite https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-0952.2001.00897.x 2019-12-13T21:04:19Z 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 eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Antarctic East Antarctica Vestfold Hills Vestfold Davis Station ENVELOPE(77.968,77.968,-68.576,-68.576) Davis-Station ENVELOPE(77.968,77.968,-68.576,-68.576) Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 48 5 767 |
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Open Polar |
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eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth Sciences Other Earth Sciences Earth Sciences not elsewhere classified |
spellingShingle |
Earth Sciences Other Earth Sciences Earth Sciences not elsewhere classified Kiernan, K McConnell, A Impacts of geoscience research on the physical environment of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Earth Sciences Other Earth Sciences Earth Sciences not elsewhere classified |
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 |
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 |
Blackwell Science Asia |
publishDate |
2001 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-0952.2001.00897.x http://ecite.utas.edu.au/22348 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(77.968,77.968,-68.576,-68.576) ENVELOPE(77.968,77.968,-68.576,-68.576) |
geographic |
Antarctic East Antarctica Vestfold Hills Vestfold Davis Station Davis-Station |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic East Antarctica Vestfold Hills Vestfold Davis Station Davis-Station |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-0952.2001.00897.x Kiernan, K and McConnell, A, Impacts of geoscience research on the physical environment of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 48, (5) pp. 767-776. ISSN 0812-0099 (2001) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/22348 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-0952.2001.00897.x |
container_title |
Australian Journal of Earth Sciences |
container_volume |
48 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
767 |
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1766267513953320960 |