In 1875, members of the British Arctic Expedition under the command of George S. Nares discovered two ancient-looking stone cairns on Washington Irving Island at the entrance to Dobbin Bay, eastern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. At least one of these cairns was destroyed by the expedition members to construct their own cairn. The possibility that these cairns were built by Norse voyagers to Kane Basin is supported by the large number of Norse artifacts recovered from Thule culture Inuit sites in the Bache Peninsula region just south of Washington Irving Island. Surveys of the island have identified scattered boulders marking the location of the cairns, but the question of the builders' identity still remains a mystery.

In December 1993 a study of contaminated sites at Casey Station, Wilkes Land, Antarctica, was undertaken. The preliminary assessment of these contaminated sites is presented here. A register of contaminated sites for Casey Station was developed, based on a survey of past Antarctic expeditioners, relevant literature, and in-house reports relating to site usage and history. On this basis a sampling strategy was devised for the highest priority, potentially contaminated sites at Casey Station. Samples were collected from the refuse disposal site (tip site) at Thala Valley and the mechanical workshop/powerhouse areas of ‘Old’ Casey. The results indicated that copper, lead, and zinc were leaching from the tip site into adjacent Brown Bay, with ‘hot spots’ of high petroleum hydrocarbon levels. The mechanical workshop/powerhouse area was also shown to be contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and metals such as copper, lead, and zinc. Several recommendations were made, including the removal of rubbish mixed with soil at the bottom end of Thala Valley in such a manner as to prevent any further release of contaminants, with subsequent site monitoring to verify effective removal of contaminants to acceptable environmental levels. It was also recommended that further investigations be carried out on the ecosystem of Brown Bay, the large fuel spill site, the upper and lower fuel-storage areas, and the area around the incinerator. There is scope for monitoring the natural breakdown and migration of contaminants at the mechanical workshop/powerhouse site. This should include studies on bioremediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils. Mechanisms for arresting surface migration should be investigated in those sites identified. In addition to meeting some of the international obligations of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, this work also contributes towards the development of an approach to assessment and management of contaminated sites that is uniquely adapted to the Antarctic environment and could be applied at other Antarctic stations. to the assessment and management of contaminated sites that is uniquely adapted to the Antarctic environment. This approach could be utilised for site assessments at other Antarctic stations.

The Yamal Nenets have exploited reindeer via hunting and/or husbandry in northwest Siberia for several hundred years, although wild reindeer have been virtually absent on Poluostrov Yamal since the early 1900s. Nonetheless, the region retains large populations of wild animals, indicating that nomadic pastoralists, semi-domestic animals, and wildlife were not competing vigorously for resources or space prior to industrialization. Natural-gas development is a relative newcomer to the region, but has already had a significant impact on the bio-physical and socioeconomic environments. The withdrawal of lands for industrial infrastructure, in addition to direct and cumulative impacts from three decades of exploration, has led to a serious decline in the quantity and quality of the remaining tundrasuitable for reindeer pasture.

Available records indicate that some preferred fur-bearing game species have been significantly reduced in recent years, primarily by non-natives. At the same time, it appears that extensive grazing by the reindeer themselves is having an overall negative effect on the area's pastures. Specifically, reindeer grazing is resulting in the thinning of the organic layer on well-drained ground and the exposure of fine-grained sands. The surfaces of these patches are highly erodable and unstable, therefore spreading easily as long as they remain unvegetated. The significant expansion of such areas is a genuine threat as long as, first, industrial development continues to degrade the land, and, second, the numbers of reindeer remain at current levels or increase.

In the light of data from the Greenland ice sheet concerning the ice-age climate, and palaeoecological studies of interglacial and Early Holocene deposits, the concept that a large proportion of Greenland's plants and animals may have survived during the ice ages is evaluated. While ice-free areas (refugias) were present, it is concluded that only hardy, cold-adapted species could have survived, which also explains why so few clearly endemic species are present in Greenland. Most members of the present biota are considered to be postglacial immigrants. Some species came to Greenland by walking or flying, but most arrived by passive, long-distance, chance dispersal, carried by wind, sea currents, and, in particular, birds. Transport by birds may explain why so many species arrived from Europe, because vast numbers of geese in particular migrate from northwest Europe to Greenland.

The slow-motion collapse of the claim of Robert E. Peary to have discovered the North Pole raises the question: if Peary was not the first man to stand at the North Pole, who was? The answer appears to be the 24 members of a then-secret Soviet expedition who landed three airplanes on the Earth's axis in April 1948. They were able to make scientific observations during their three-day stay while battling cracking ice. This paper includes interviews with Pavel Senko, who believes he may be the only surviving member of the expedition.