By Article 2(e) of the 1951 Treaty of Peace, Japan renounced ‘allclaim to any right or title to or interest in connection with anypart of the Antarctic area.’ This paper traces the process by whichAustralian diplomacy ensured the inclusion of such a provision inthe Treaty and assesses the contemporary significance of thearticle. While in the unlikely event of the breakdown of theAntarctic Treaty System, Japan would be legally entitled to make aterritorial claim on the basis of activities undertaken between theconclusion of the Peace Treaty and the coming into force of theAntarctic Treaty, such a claim would likely be weak. It is moreprobable that the Japanese government would assert that, just asJapan had had no rights to renounce in Antarctica, neither had anyof the Antarctic claimants complied adequately with the provisionsin international law for territorial acquisition.

During January and February 1997, two separate surveys of the birdsand seals of the South Sandwich Islands archipelago were made, withfurther data obtained from the northern islands during February1998. Together, these surveys provide the most recent and accurateestimates of breeding populations of most species, theirdistributions, and their habitat. Observations were made (1) from asmall vessel operating close inshore, which surveyed approximately92% of the archipelago's coastline, in addition to making shorecounts at selected locations; (2) during a six-week shorebased fieldcamp on Candlemas Island; and (3) opportunistically duringhelicopter-supported landings and airborne operations over allislands in the archipelago. The surveys recorded 16 species ofbreeding birds, including the first confirmation of breeding byblack-bellied storm petrels (Fregetta tropica) andAntarctic terns (Sterna vittata), the second recordof incubating king penguins (Aptenodytespatagonicus), and the location of many previouslyunrecorded seabird breeding sites. The population of chinstrappenguins (Pygoscelis antarctica), at approximately1.5 x 10 pairs is considerably less than the estimate of 5 x 10pairs currently in use, and represents about 30% of the worldpopulation. Populations of chinstrap penguins, Antarctic fulmars(Fulmarus glacialoides), cape petrels(Daption capense), and snow petrels(Pagodroma nivea) in the South Sandwich Islandsare of global significance. Five species of seals were recorded. Atthe time of the surveys, only Antarctic fur seals(Arctocephalus gazella) were confirmed to bebreeding, and several new breeding sites were located. Pup numbersshowed a small increase compared with the few earlier records, butthe population has not undergone the large increases seen on SouthGeorgia and at sites in the maritime Antarctic. The other fourspecies recorded are considered highly likely to breed either withinthe archipelago or amongst pack ice that seasonally surrounds theislands.

US policy toward the Antarctic between 1939 and 1949 reflected theinability of the Department of State and other government personnelto agree on the region's relevance to national security.Washington's intent to gain worldwide prestige by promoting aharmonious settlement of the dispute over sovereignty claimscomplicated the international situation to an extent thatnecessitated a shift to the status quo moratorium proposed by Chile.The United States finally attempted to rally support for thisalternative that, in turn, complicated how to exclude the USSR.Although the risk of Soviet encroachment seriously concerned USofficials, it posed less immediate dangers than letting conflictescalate between Britain, Chile, and Argentina.

Survey work by the British North East Greenland Project in theScoresby Sund fjord complex between 70 and 72°N is documented. Anumber of sites are identified and described, as are twocontemporary Inuit playhouses at a current fishing camp. It isindicated that there are opportunities for further archaeologicalrecording within the Scoresby Sund fjord system, although siteswithin the inner fjord system do not appear to be numerous. Locatingthem will require determined fieldwork.

The discharge in Tierney Creek from proglacial Chelnok Lake wasrecorded during the summer of 1987–1988. In addition, airtemperature, water temperature, and radiation were recorded.Multiple linear regressions revealed that discharge could bepredicted from recorded radiation and air temperature in latesummer. In early summer, other factors such as wind must also betaken into account. Long-term discharge fluctuations displayedresponse times that decreased during the runoff season due to theopening of the meltwater channels on the ice-margin. During parts ofthe runoff season, flow variations were modulated by nocturnalfreezing in the creek, a phenomenon still more pronounced in OnyxRiver in the Dry Valleys of Victoria Land. Hydrologically, TierneyCreek resembled Onyx River, but, in the Onyx, the flow pattern wasmore exclusively determined by low air temperatures than it was inTierney Creek. In the Dry Valleys, streams whose lengths, gradients,and discharges are of the same magnitude as those of Tierney Creek,also display similar recession coefficients and time lags betweenflow peak and insolation peak.