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Impacts of geoscience research on the physical environment of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica
Citation
Kiernan, K and McConnell, A, Impacts of geoscience research on the physical environment of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 48, (5) pp. 767-776. ISSN 0812-0099 (2001) [Refereed Article]
DOI: doi:10.1046/j.1440-0952.2001.00897.x
Abstract
Antarctic polar deserts can be of considerable scientific interest, but can also exhibit great environmental sensitivity. A variety of factors, including Australia's legal obligations under the Madrid Protocol, public expectations, certain research opportunities and ethical considerations, demand a very high standard of environmental protection. A survey outside the Davis Station limits in the Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica, identified 66 sites at which past human activities had left long-term impacts on the physical environment. Nearly half of all observed impacts were the result of geoscientific research that had left old pit and trench sites, vehicular tracks, partly excavated palaeontological material, rock sampling and drilling sites, localised slope instability caused by disturbance, and discarded equipment and markers. Comparisons between rehabilitated sites and others where little, if any, rehabilitation appears to have been attempted suggest natural processes alone are generally insufficient to heal the damage, but that effective rehabilitation is often possible if undertaken immediately after the initial disturbance.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Research Division: | Earth Sciences |
Research Group: | Other earth sciences |
Research Field: | Other earth sciences not elsewhere classified |
Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
Objective Group: | Management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments |
Objective Field: | Management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments not elsewhere classified |
UTAS Author: | Kiernan, K (Dr Kevin Kiernan) |
UTAS Author: | McConnell, A (Ms Anne McConnell) |
ID Code: | 22348 |
Year Published: | 2001 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 6 |
Deposited By: | Geography and Environmental Studies |
Deposited On: | 2001-08-01 |
Last Modified: | 2011-08-03 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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