The general effect of pack ice in calming down waves and swell is well known. In the section on ice navigation in the Arctic Pilot, the abrupt smoothing of the sea and the gradual lessening of ordinary ocean swell are noted as good indications of pack ice to windward. In discussing the formation of slush, the Arctic Pilot says “The formation of slush damps down any swell…”, while in discussing the method of entry of a ship into pack ice, the following warning is given: “If the wind is blowing, or a current setting from the open water on to the ice edge, this will be more compact, with a more or less clear-cut outline. On the other hand, if the wind is blowing off the ice, or a current is setting from it towards the open water, the ice edge will be more or less broken and indistinct. It is therefore better to enter the ice from up wind, if possible. When it is necessary to enter the ice down wind, very great care must be exercised on account of the compactness of the edge and the movement of the ice due to waves, which may cause heavy blows against the hull. A combination of these two factors may render the entry difficult, the surge of the ice being especially dangerous if considerable.”

The South Sandwich Islands lie between lats. 56° 18′ S. and 59° 28′ S., and between longs. 26° 14′ W., and 28° 11′ W. There are eleven islands, of which ten form a curved chain stretching north and south while the eleventh, Leskov Island, lies to the west of the group near its northern end. The group is the only typical volcanic island arc in the Antarctic region and forms the easternmost section of the Scotia Arc; to the east it is bounded by the associated deep South Sandwich Trench.

In recent years, phenomena observed in two quite separate fields of study have led to the suggestion that radio waves may propagate through cold ice masses with sufficiently small loss by absorption to permit the thickness to be measured, and some information about the nature of the bottom surface to be derived by radar. This article describes first some work by the United States Army Signal Research and Development Laboratory arising out of spurious echoes noticed on radio altimeters (ground clearance indicators) carried by aircraft flying in the polar regions. Afterwards it reviews work at the Scott Polar Research Institute where unexpected phenomena on some IGY ionosondes operated in the Antarctic have led to the development of a radio instrument specifically to measure ice thickness.

While studying the distribution, within Antarctic regions, of the vascular plants now known from South Georgia, numerous discrepancies were found between the accounts of various authors. The present paper is an attempt to clarify the situation, and has been compiled from the most recent known papers dealing with the flora of each area. Only taxa reported as native have been included in the “Check List” but species reported as aliens have been listed in the section headed “Notes on floras”.

The Northern Co-ordination and Research Centre was established in 1954, at the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Northern Development, and reports to government through the Secretary of this committee. It has three main functions—co-ordination, information and research.

In response to pressure from the Colonial Office and whaling interests for improvement of the Admiralty charts of South Georgia, the Hydrographer of the Navy despatched a surveying ship to operate there during the 1960–61 summer season. Priority was given to a thorough survey of the waters surrounding the western extremities of the island in order to facilitate the shortest passage between the whaling grounds in the west and the whaling stations on the north-east coast. Other commitments were the landing of scientists in co-operation with the Administration and, as opportunity offered, general improvement of the existing charts with particular reference to the coastal shipping routes.

Oil has been known in one locality of the Soviet Arctic since the second half of the seventeenth century (Probst, 1957). This is the deposit in the Ukhta region of Komi ASSR, known now as the Timano-Pechorskaya petroliferous province. Occasional attempts were made to obtain it, but intensive exploration started only in 1929, and significant exploitation in 1935. The oil is Devonian, aiid some of it is highly viscous. This led to development of a special mining technique for obtaining the oil, the extra cost being justified on the grounds that heavy oil of this type is particularly suitable for certain uses in the north. The refinery is at Ukhta itself, on the Pechora railway (Shishkin, 1959). Output figures have not been released, but are believed to have reached 1200 000 metric tons a year during World War II, but to have dropped in 1950 to 800 000 and in 1955 to 553 000 (Hassmann, 1953; Hodgkins, 1961). In the post-war period natural gas production was encouraged and it reached in 1960 about 1100 million m. per year (Rochev, 1961).