The first 2007 issue of the journal "Polar Research" is now available

Research in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard is the focus of the first issue of Polar Research during International Polar Year (IPY). Biology articles demonstrate the moult migration of pink-footed geese, examine sipunculan and molluscan fauna and investigate carbon and nitrogen limitation in the respiration of soil microbes. Using photogrammetry to gauge coastal erosion is the subject of one article, while another uses direct measurements and modelling to assess snow accumulation across the Austfonna ice cap. Rounding off the issue, two essays shed light on an obscure chapter in polar exploration: Walter Wellman's failed bids to reach the North Pole by dirigible in the early years of the last century. A short piece by the editor summarizes Norway's, and the Norwegian Polar Institute's, very strong role in the current IPY.

Polar Research promotes the exchange of scientific knowledge about the Arctic and Antarctic across disciplinary boundaries.
For more information visit Blackwell Publishing.

photo: Sverdrup Research Station