• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.258-264
• /
• 2008

Deschampsia antarctica is the only monocot that thrives in the tough conditions of the Antarctic region. It is an invaluable resource for the identification of genes associated with tolerance to various environmental pressures. In order to identify genes that are differentially regulated between greenhouse-grown and Antarctic field-grown plants, we initiated a detailed gene expression analysis. Antarctic plants were collected and greenhouse plants served as controls. Two different cDNA libraries were constructed with these plants. A total of 2,112 cDNA clones was sequenced and grouped into 1,199 unigene clusters consisting of 243 consensus and 956 singleton sequences. Using similarity searches against several public databases, we constructed a functional classification of the ESTs into categories such as genes related to responses to stimuli, as well as photosynthesis and metabolism. Real-time PCR analysis of various stress responsive genes revealed different patterns of regulation in the different environments, suggesting that these genes are involved in responses to specific environmental factors.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.425-431
• /
• 2001

From an ecological point of view, the western part of the Atlantic sector is one of the most productive areas in the Southern Ocean. Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) and krill-dependent predators such as fish, seals, and birds are abundant there, and most krill fisheries have operated in this area since 1970s. The hottest issues for the proper management of krill resources nowadays are to determine total biomass in this area, and to identify environmental forces controlling stock fluctuation. This paper reviews and collates information on ongoing oceanographic activities in the Antarctic Peninsula region concerning these issues. To delineate the status and function of Antarctic krill population in Antarctic marine ecosystems, multinational researches along the Antarctic Peninsula area have been developing recently. Four member states of CCAMLR (Japan, Russia, UK, and USA) had conducted acoustic surveys in January-February 2000 (socalled CCAMLR-2000 survey), and krill standing stock at 120 kHz was estimated to be 44.29 million metric tonnes in the western Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. On the other hand, the Southern Ocean GLOBEC (SO-GLOBEC) Programme has prepared a serial winter survey to examine the factors that govern krill survivorship and distribution in relation to shelf circulation processes. Ship-based surveys using ice-breakers are being conducted by three nations (Germany, UK, and USA) around the Marguerite Bay during the austral fall and winter 2001 and 2002. In addition to these two large-scale surveys, some CCAMLR members have carried out joint oceanographic surveys near the South Shetland Islands to detect ecosystem changes since 1994. Especially from December 1999 to February 2000, in conjunction with CCAMLR-2000 survey, four nations (Japan, Korea, Peru, and USA) conducted acoustic surveys to produce time-series information on krill distribution and biomass near the South Shetland areas. Though the aims of each program and the approach to solve the scientific questions were different each other, the results from each program fill the gaps between programs. Further cooperation and exchange in these activities could be beneficial to each program.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.401-410
• /
• 2001

Global climate change will alter many such properties of the Southern Ocean as temperature, circulation, stratification, and sea-ice extent. Such changes are likely to influence the species composition and activity of Antarctic marine microorganisms (protists and bacteria) which playa major role in deter-mining the concentration of atmospheric $CO_2$ and producing precursors of cloud condensation nuclei. Direct impacts of climate change on Antarctic marine microorganisms have been determined for very few species. Increasing water temperature would be expected to result in a southward spread of pelagic cyanobacteria, coccolithophorids and others. Growth rates of many species would be expected to increase slightly but nutrient limitation, especially micronutrients, is likely to result in a negligible increase in biomass. The extent of habitats would be reduced for those organisms presently living close to the upper limit of their thermal tolerance. Increased UVB irradiance is likely to favour the growth of those organisms tolerant of UVB and may change the trophic structure of marine communities. Indirect effects, especially those as a consequence of a diminution of the amount of sea-ice and increased upper ocean stratification, are predicted to lead to a change in species composition and impacts on both trophodynamics and vertical carbon flux.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
• /
• v.59 no.2
• /
• pp.117-124
• /
• 2023

This study used hydroacoustic method to identify the vertical and horizontal distribution of Antarctic silverfish in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. In February and December 2018, Antarctic silverfish was detected up to 250 meters, and was mainly distributed in water depths of 20 to 30 meters. The horizontal distribution of Antarctic silverfish was mostly undetected in February, and December showed a relatively stronger distribution than that of February. Antarctic silverfish is characterized by their distribution near sea ice.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.45 no.3
• /
• pp.155-172
• /
• 2023

The collapse of ice shelves is a process that can severely increase the rise of global sea-levels through the reduction of the buttressing effect of ice shelves and the consequent acceleration of the ice flow of ice sheets. In recent years, the West Antarctic ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea, whose buttressing effect is essential for a great part of the West Antarctic ice sheet, have been experiencing the most rapid melting and thinning in the world. The melting of the West Antarctic ice shelves is caused primarily by heat transported by Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW). For this reason, it is important to investigate ice-ocean interactions that could influence the melting of ice shelves and evaluate the stability of West Antarctic ice shelves. A lot of researchers have been actively investigating the West Antarctic ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea. High-impact journals have recognized the importance of and published studies on ice-ocean interactions occurring near and under the ice shelves as well as the connections among ice shelves. However, in situ observations are limited due to extreme weather and sea-ice conditions near the ice shelves; therefore, many scientific questions remain unanswered. This study introduces the characteristics of the Amundsen Sea and investigate the past and latest research issues in this region. This study also gives suggestions regarding important scientific questions and directions for future research that should help early-career scientists take the lead in future research on the melting dynamics of the West Antarctic ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.277-288
• /
• 2005

Spatial distribution and vertical structures of water masses around the Antarctic continental margin are described using synthesized hydrographic data. Antarctic Surface Water (AASW) over the shelf regime is distinguished from underlying other water masses by the cut-off salinity, varying from approximately 34.35 to 34.45 around Antarctica. Shelf water, characterized by salinity greater than the cut-off salinity and potential temperature less than $-17^{\circ}C$, is observed on the Ross Sea, off George V Land, off Wilkes Land, the Amery Basin, and the Weddell Sea, but in some shelves AASW occupies the entire shelf. Lower Circumpolar Deep Water is present everywhere around the Antarctic oceanic regime and in some places it mixes with Shelf Water, producing Antarctic Slope Front Water (ASFW). ASFW, characterized by potential temperature less than about $0^{\circ}C$ and greater than $-17^{\circ}C$, and salinity greater than the cut-off salinity, is found everywhere around Antarctica except in the Bellingshausen-Amundsen sector. The presence of different water masses over the Antarctic shelves and shelf edges produces mainly three types of water mass stratifications: no significant meridional property gradient in the Bellingshausen and Amundsen Seas, single property gradient where ASFW presents, and a V-shaped front where Shelf Water exists.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.633-644
• /
• 2003

The distribution and abundance of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), particularly in the South Atlantic, has traditionally been viewed as primarily determined by the flow of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Krill are viewed as being particles on a conveyor belt that carries them around the Antarctic continent resulting in a single circumpolar population. The evidence to support this viewpoint is largely circumstantial and there is very little direct evidence available of krill being moved by the currents-krill flux. There is also considerable biological and physical evidence which suggests that other factors may play a dominant role in the life history and distribution of krill. This review examines the evidence fur krill flux and also examines evidence that does not accord with this theory. The management implications of assuming krill flux are outlined and some lines for future research are suggested.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.291-299
• /
• 2006

The observed ocean barotropic circulation is not completely explained by the classical wind-driven circulation theory. Although it is believed that the thermohaline forcing plays a role in the ocean barotropic circulation to some degree, how much the thermohaline forcing contributes to the barotropic circulation is not well known. The role of thermohaline circulation driven by changes in temperature and salinity in the Southern Ocean (SO) water masses on the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) transport is investigated using a coupled ocean - atmosphere - sea ice - land surface climate system model in a Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) context. Withthe implementation of glacial boundary conditions in a coupled model, a substantial increase in the ACC transport by about 75% in 80 years of integration and 25% in the near LGM equilibrium is obtained despite of the decreases in the magnitude of wind stresses over the SO by 33% in the transient time and 20% in the near-equilibrium. This result suggests that the increase in the barotropic ACC transport is due to factors other than the wind forcing. The change in ocean thermohaline circulation in the SO seems to play a significant role in enhancing the ACC transport in association with the change in the bottom pressure torque.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.163-173
• /
• 2006

The so called Antarctic Treaty System, started from the Antarctic Treaty in 1959, has gradually been enlarged into the concept of an international environmental regime, which has been included in not a few international institutions, treaties, conventions, and international non-governmental organizations (INGO). This kind of movement, as in the role of an international environmental regime, has recently been highlighted in the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. This Protocol is taking appropriate measures as an international environmental regime in regulating its member nations by enforcing principles in protecting Antarctic resources and environment, regulating member nations' Antarctic activities, establishing norms in the adoption of international and domestic laws, and devising regulations for deciding administrative actions through the member nations' collective decision-making procedures. h this context, this paper is to test a few questions; firstly, how the Antarctic Treaty System can be related with the role of international environmental regime; secondly, how the theories of international environmental regime, such as the hegemony theory, rational choice theory, and international morality theory, can be tested in the role of Antarctic Treaty System as an international environmental regime. Finally, this paper provides a solution for the future problems of the Antarctic Treaty System as an international environmental regime regarding the regime's principle (conflict between the environmental principle and the right of nation-state), norms and regulations (the conflict between the developed and underdeveloped nations in terms of the concept of 'common but differentiated environmental responsibility'), cooperation directions (the leadership problems between hegemonic nation and multilateral leading groups), and management methods (cooperation and arrangement problems among expert institutions, observer groups, and INGO).

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
• /
• v.51 no.3
• /
• pp.254-258
• /
• 2014

Field trial in ice-covered sea is one of the most important tasks in the design of icebreaking ships. To correctly estimate ice load and ice resistance on ship's hull, It is essential to understand the material properties of sea ice during ice field trials and to perform the proper experimental procedure by gathering sea ice data. A measurement of sea ice properties was conducted during February and March of 2012 with the Korean Icebreaking research vessel "ARAON" in the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica. This paper describes a test procedure to obtain sea ice data which provide basic information to estimate ice loads and icebreaking performance of the ship. The data gathered from sea ice field trials during the 2012 Antarctic voyage of the ARAON includes ice temperature/salinity/density and the compressive/flexural strength of sea ice. This paper analyses the gathered Antarctic sea ice material properties comparing with the previous data obtained during ARAON's Arctic and Antarctic voyages in 2010.