UCAA (Upper-ocean characteristics between Africa and Antarctica) During the 26th Indian Antarctic Expedition (IAE), data collection campaign for the above project was launched. Surface meteorological parameters from ship's AWS and density data using XCTD for the upper 1000m of the water column were collected along the ship route: Mauritius-Durban-India Bay (onward journey) and India Bay- Prydz Bay- Mauritius (return journey) on board Emerald Sea. These data are being processed and results are planned to be published by end of 2007.

Origin, evolution and setting of the Gamburtsev subglacial highlands
Discovered during International Geophysical Year 1957-1958, Antarctica’s Gamburtsev Mountains extend for more than 1,200 km and rise to heights of over 3,000 m. These mountains, however, have never been seen by humans because they are covered by ice up to 600 m thick. Using aircraft and field expeditions, this ambitious project will collect major new data sets – including offshore marine, gravity, magnetics, ice radar and a wealth of geological observations – to produce a four-dimensional history of the evolution of the Gamburtsev mountains. As well as recovering samples from this last great unknown region of Antarctica, the project will shed new light on the origins of the Antarctic ice sheet and its role in future climate change.

Concordia Station and the surrounding facilities have been conceived to be a long term support to valuable international scientific programmes. In Antarctica, most of the scientific activity is confined to coastal areas; so, the geographical location of Concordia is a unique vantage to provide new data in the global network for many sciences (geomagnetism, seismology, atmospheric sciences and to increase the accuracy of several models in climatology and atmosphere chemistry. These data, combined with the paleoclimatic records obtained from the ice cores, will improve our knowledge of the Antarctic environment, its changes during the last million years, and its links and interaction with the rest of the planet. In addition, the exceptional quality of the site for astronomy allows developing programmes cheaper than from satellites or orbital stations. So, Concordia station will offer to the international scientific communities the possibility to develop sound researches in one of the most unknown region in the world, region which plays a significant role at the global level, namely in term of climatic processes.

The Antarctic Peninsula is one of the Earth’s three most rapidly warming regions: most of the glaciers there are in retreat and large ice shelves have broken up. This project investigates the impact of these changes on the plants and animals that live on the land, the shore and coastal sea around the Antarctic Peninsula. Organisms are facing a barrage of complex effects including warming, decreased ice and snow cover, increased iceberg grounding, sedimentation and freshening. A wide range of apparatus and techniques will be used from remote operated vehicles (ROV) and simple underwater light meters to satellite imagery and counting microscopic life. ClicOPEN scientists from 15 countries will study changes in the environments and organisms around a number of retreating glaciers of the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Most of Antarctica's very rich biodiversity lives nowhere else in the world and we know little about how it will responding to such exceptional and unprecedented warming.

Involving a team of scientists from 11 countries, this project will measure the temperature, saltiness and flow speed of the water from continental shelf and slope, including under ice environments. This is something scientists know very little about, but the data are crucial for developing better global climate models. The few recent measurements we have suggest that the water close to Antarctica is getting fresher (less salty). But where is this extra fresh water coming from? Only by measuring – especially during winter – the properties of the water and how fast it is flowing will we be able to understand the processes that are going on, and make sure that these are put into our climate models correctly. There has never been a concerted effort to make measurements on the Antarctic continental shelf and slope during the winter. IPY is enabling everyone to work together to make this happen, by leaving instruments on the sea bed and in the water for a year, even when the ice is covering the sea surface above them. Each nation is going to deploy instruments so that a circumpolar coverage can be obtained for the first time. As well gathering data during IPY, some of SASSI's instruments will be left in place after IPY, providing an important legacy for future research.

The SCAR-programme EBA (2004-13) will address the impacts of climate change on species biodiversity, evolutionary adaptations and depletion of marine fisheries on community dynamics in the Southern Ocean. A better understanding of the effect of such changes will be obtained by investigating the acclimatory responses to high latitudes. It will contribute to development of a baseline understanding of sensitive ecosystems.

Investigative Scientific Antarctic Voyages for Youth RSV-INTREPID plans to conduct two independent 40 day investigative science expeditions to Antarctica involving up to 120 students mentored by 80 young post-graduate scientists. The multi-disciplinary scientific program, tasked by a consortium of scientific agencies and universities, is consonant with the six IPY research themes and will consist of a variety of challenging ship-board and shore-based projects.

"The APICS project is an effort to understand all aspects of the ice and climate system in one of the most rapidly-changing regions on Earth - the Antarctic Peninsula' Larsen B embayment. In 2002, a huge section of this ice shelf collapsed, after decades of record-warm summers. Following this collapse, glaciers in the region accelerated abruptly. Coastal ecology and nearby ocean currents changed drastically due to the loss, and a preliminary survey of the newly-exposed ocean floor showed previously unknown sub-ice life forms still present after the break-up. The APICS project is intended to use the dynamic Larsen B ice shelf region as a natural laboratory for what to expect from climate warming in Antarctica. It is a collaborative effort among 11 major U.S. research institutions, and four other countries (Spain, Belgium, Argentina, and England) to coordinate research across several disciplines, using the US research vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer as a platform. The work will include an ice core at the crest of the ice ridge above the Larsen B, remote robotic systems for glacier measurements, extensive flights to visit unique rock outcrops that may reveal the history of the region, and a remotely piloted vehicle for exploring the new life forms and ocean sediment changes. The first field season is currently planned for February/March of 2008."

Aboard Polarstern, bathymetry — the mapping of the seafloor using sonar — is conducted by an international working group. In recent days, they have found a distinct elevation at the seafloor of the Southern Ocean. This structure rises 600 m above ground in an otherwise featureless seascape and is situated about 450 km north of the Antarctic continent. It closely resembles an underwater volcano, presumably still active, which has never been charted on a map. This finding was reported by Elena Pugacheva from the Geographical Institute Moscow and Jan-Hendrik Lott from the University of Karlsruhe. During the expedition, long distances are covered between the continents of Africa, Antarctica and South America. Mapping of the seafloor takes place throughout the journe...