31 March 2026, Volume 37 Issue 1

    

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Contents
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  Contents of Volume 37 Issue 1

  Vol. 37  No. 1

  Advances in Polar Science. 2026, 37(1): 0-1.

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Review
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  Geological evolution of the Prydz Bay-Prince Charles Mountains region, East Antarctica: advances and prospects

  WANG Wei-(RZ), XIANG Dunfeng, GONG Tingnan, GENG Ming, LI Xiao, CUI Xiangbin, ZHANG Shaoteng, LIU Xinshu, REN Liudong, LIU Xiaochun & ZHAO Yue

  Advances in Polar Science. 2026, 37(1): 1-12. https://doi.org/10.12429/j.advps.2025.0033

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  The Prydz Bay-Prince Charles Mountains region in East Antarctica constitutes an exceptional geological transect for investigating continental evolution from the Archean to the Phanerozoic and its relationship with supercontinent cycles. This region preserves a complex record of magmatism, metamorphism, and tectonic reworking. Studies by the Chinese National Antarctic Research Expeditions in this region have yielded critical insights into the geological evolution of Antarctica. Key advances over the past decades encompass the elucidation of the Pan-African and Grenvillian tectono-metamorphic history, the delineation of the continent’s crustal and lithospheric architecture, and the identification of extensive ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism and rare mineral assemblages. Despite these advances, many fundamental questions remain unresolved. The spatial and temporal extents of ancient orogenesis are poorly constrained across different crustal blocks, and the tectonic drivers of extreme metamorphism continue to be debated. The role of deep lithospheric architecture in controlling both past orogenic processes and present-day glacial isostatic adjustment remains underexplored. Furthermore, the origins of ancient cratonic nuclei and their constraints on early Earth geodynamics warrant further investigation. Future research should prioritize integrated, multi-disciplinary approaches that combine geological and geophysical analyses. Key objectives include delineating the architecture and evolution of subglacial basement, reconstructing the Phanerozoic uplift and erosion history of the orogens, and evaluating feedback mechanisms among lithospheric evolution, ice-sheet dynamics, and long-term climate. Holistic cross-disciplinary investigations will be essential to unravel the connections between deep Earth processes and surface systems in one of the planet’s most enigmatic and geologically significant regions.
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  Current status and future prospects for the Antarctic geodetic datum construction

  WANG Zemin, ZHANG Xiaohong, ZHANG Baojun, ZHANG Shengkai, YANG Yuande & KE Hao

  Advances in Polar Science. 2026, 37(1): 13-23. https://doi.org/10.12429/j.advps.2025.0015

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  The Antarctic geodetic datum constitutes a specialized implementation of the modern geodetic reference system within the extreme polar environment. A high-precision, unified, and dynamic Antarctic geodetic datum serves as critical infrastructure for polar scientific research and engineering safety. This study reviews the composition, current status, and implementation pathways of the Antarctic geodetic datum through four dimensions: coordinate datum, height datum, gravity datum and sounding datum. Preliminary analysis reveals that the development of the Antarctic geodetic datum framework is severely lagging, thereby failing to meet the demands of both scientific expeditions and polar research. To address these challenges, this study proposes an implementation pathway leveraging the 5th International Polar Year (IPY-5) to pioneer regional high-precision geodetic datum in the China’s key research sector covering the area between Amery Ice Shelf and Princess Elizabeth Land, specially highlighting the Prydz Bay–Amery Ice Shelf–Lambert Glacier–Dome A (PANDA) transect, by deploying multi-technique stations and µGal-level superconducting gravimeter networks; and then to integrate multinational observation resources to ultimately establish a high-precision, unified, and dynamic geodetic datum framework. This framework will deliver a spatiotemporal infrastructure for Antarctica to advance the strategic goals of “understanding, protecting, and utilizing Antarctica”.
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  A review of modeling development for estimations of ocean–sea ice–ice shelf interaction in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica

  FAN Jiahao, LIU Chengyan, WANG Zhaomin, YAN Liangjun, XIA Yue, LIU Yang, WU Yang, LIANG Xi & LI Xiang

  Advances in Polar Science. 2026, 37(1): 24-34. https://doi.org/10.12429/j.advps.2025.0029

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  Prydz Bay, East Antarctica, is a critical region for studying ocean–sea ice–ice shelf interactions and their role in the global climate system. This review synthesizes the advancements in numerical modeling of physical oceanographic processes in Prydz Bay, highlighting the evolution from early one-dimensional thermodynamic models to contemporary high-resolution, three-dimensional coupled ocean–sea ice–ice shelf frameworks. We discuss key milestones in understanding processes such as frazil ice dynamics and its impact on the basal mass balance of the Amery Ice Shelf, the pathways and mechanisms of Modified Circumpolar Deep Water intrusions, and the dynamic influences of large icebergs on regional circulation. Despite significant progress, challenges remain in integrating multi-component interactions and achieving long-term, high-resolution climate projections. Future efforts should focus on developing fully coupled models that incorporate atmosphere–ocean–sea ice–ice shelf–iceberg interactions, supported by enhanced observational networks and improved computational efficiency. This review underscores the importance of continued modeling advancement to better predict the responses of Antarctic ice shelves and polar climate to global change.
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  Regulatory mechanisms and adaptive functions of small RNAs in extremophilic microorganisms

  JIANG Wanning, DUAN Zedong, LAI Tingyi, ZHANG Siqi, YU Yong, DING Haitao & LIAO Li

  Advances in Polar Science. 2026, 37(1): 35-42. https://doi.org/10.12429/j.advps.2025.0037

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  Small RNAs (sRNAs) are important non-coding RNAs that usually play crucial roles in gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. The sRNAs have mostly been investigated in model microorganisms such as Escherichia coli and some pathogens. Nevertheless, microbial sRNAs from extreme environments such as the polar regions and deep sea have recently been discovered and analyzed for their unique roles in stress response, metabolic regulation and adaptation to extreme environments. These sRNAs fine-tune gene expression during oxidative and radiation stress, and modulate temperature and osmotic pressure responses. Representative sRNAs and their functions in thermophilic, psychrophilic, halophilic and radiation-tolerant bacteria are summarized in this review. Despite challenges in sample collection, RNA isolation, and functional annotation, the study of sRNAs in extreme environments provides opportunities for discovering novel regulatory mechanisms, applying them to biotechnology, and advancing our understanding of evolutionary adaptations. Looking ahead, high-throughput sequencing, synthetic biology, and multi-omics integration will bring new breakthroughs in discovering novel sRNAs and their functions and regulatory mechanisms. Such advancements are poised to enable comprehensive characterization of sRNA-mediated regulatory networks in extremophiles and unlock their biotechnological potential through mechanism-driven applications.
Articles
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  A multi-tie points-based method for retrieving of the Arctic thin sea ice thickness from SMOS

  LI Jiaxing, ZHANG Shengkai, XIAO Feng, GENG Tong& LI Fei

  Advances in Polar Science. 2026, 37(1): 43-56. https://doi.org/10.12429/j.advps.2025.0043

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  The correlation between the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) L-band brightness temperature and thin sea ice thickness has been widely exploited using semi-empirical retrieval approaches based on a single-tie point (STP). However, due to pronounced spatial heterogeneity in seawater and sea ice properties across the Arctic, the use of an STP often leads to regionally biased. To address this limitation, this study proposes a multi-tie point (MTP) sea ice thickness retrieval method based on SMOS brightness temperature and sea ice concentration time series. Multiple seawater and sea ice tie-point values are identified through point-by-point time series analysis, quality control, and statistical hypothesis testing, allowing spatial variability in radiometric properties to be explicitly considered. The MTP-based retrieval is applied to Arctic freeze-up conditions. Validation against independent SMOS thin sea ice thickness products shows that the MTP approach yields significantly reduced bias and root mean square error compared with the conventional STP method, with statistically significant improvements confirmed by paired t-tests. While retrieval accuracy stabilizes beyond a certain number of tie points, the preprocessing cost associated with tie-point selection increases substantially. Considering both accuracy and efficiency, the MTP framework provides a practical and robust approach for large-scale Arctic thin sea ice thickness retrieval and enables improved characterization of regional freezing processes and maximum ice thickness.
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  On the possibility of the subglacial lake formation on islands of Franz Josef Land archipelago, Russian Arctic

  Sergey POPOV, Yulia KAZBANOVA, Sofia SHERSTENNIKOVA & QIAO Gang

  Advances in Polar Science. 2026, 37(1): 56-69. https://doi.org/10.12429/j.advps.2025.0014

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  This study investigates the potential formation of subglacial lakes beneath the glaciers of the Franz Josef Land archipelago, Russian Arctic, under current and future climatic conditions. Using a one-dimensional heat and mass transfer model, the research evaluates the influence of geothermal heat flow, ice thickness, and surface temperature on basal melting. The model incorporates enthalpy formulation and boundary conditions derived from field data, including temperature profiles and geothermal measurements. Results indicate that subglacial lakes could form under ice masses exceeding 300 m thickness, driven by geothermal heating, though current basal temperatures remain below the melting point. Simulations under the IPCC SSP1-2.6 scenario suggest a gradual warming trend, highlighting the long-term thermal inertia of Arctic glaciers. The study underscores the need for enhanced observational data to validate models and improve predictions of glacial dynamics in response to climate change.
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  Retrieving rare aurora forms from all-sky images via synthetic-to-real progressive learning

  ZHAI Chaoqiang & WANG Qian

  Advances in Polar Science. 2026, 37(1): 70-80. https://doi.org/10.12429/j.advps.2025.0042

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  Fine-scale structures can be observed in small field-of-view (FOV) auroral observations, but they are often overlooked because they appear only sporadically in all-sky observations. Such forms are of great interest because they may embody specific magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling processes, reveal localized energy deposition pathways, and provide new insights into cross-scale plasma dynamics and instabilities. However, their limited spatial extent, transient occurrence, and scarcity in wide-FOV observations make systematic investigation challenging. Traditional manual analysis struggles to capture these subtle structures within vast all-sky datasets, while automated detection faces severe data imbalance and morphological ambiguity. To address these challenges, we propose a synthetic-to-real progressive learning framework for cross-FOV retrieval of rare auroral forms. A Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) is employed to perform cross-FOV transformation between unpaired small-FOV images containing rare aurora forms and all-sky images (ASI) without such structures, thereby generating large numbers of synthetic ASI with rare auroral morphology. These synthetic samples are used to train an initial detection model, which subsequently undergoes iterative fine-tuning through feedback-guided learning: The model performs inference on new all-sky data, and the progressively accumulated real detections are incorporated into the training set. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves over 92% detection accuracy on ASI, enabling high-precision retrieval of small-scale auroral structures across large-scale observations. This framework provides a scalable and effective approach to rediscovering rare auroral phenomena in continuous all-sky monitoring, offering new opportunities for exploring the fine-scale dynamics of the upper atmosphere.
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  Three-point flexural tests on compacted snow

  AN Jing, CHEN Tao, ZHENG Yuanpeng, JIANG Chao & GU Xiang-Lin

  Advances in Polar Science. 2026, 37(1): 81-93. https://doi.org/10.12429/j.advps.2025.0038

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  To investigate the use of the three-point bending method and supplement the corresponding strength data of compacted snow for transportation-related applications in cold regions, compacted snow beams with an average density of 592 kg·m−3 were fabricated and tested at three distinct flexural strain rates. Each strain rate corresponded to the ductile, transitional, and brittle behavior of compacted snow, respectively. The flexural strength, ranging from 0.518 to 0.933 MPa, peaks at the ductile-to-brittle transition, while the flexural modulus, varying between 48.97 and 287.72 MPa, increases with strain rate within the tested range. At the same strain rate corresponding to brittle failure, both mechanical properties of compacted snow exhibit higher values than those of natural snow tested by the authors. Notably, the flexural strain rate at the ductile-to-brittle transition for compacted snow identified in this study is comparable to those previously reported for natural snow under uniaxial tension. Additionally, the obtained strength data are thoroughly compared with existing literature, with detailed discussions provided. The loading rates associated with typical failure modes of compacted snow under bending, together with the obtained strength values, provide methodological guidance and reference data for future in situ testing of compacted snow structures.