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β-mannanase is an enzyme that is commonly expressed in environmental bacteria. It degrades hemicellulose found in plant material and recycles nutrients back into the environment. Because this enzyme significantly contributes to biodegradation and has recently been applied in industry, we conducted a comparative analysis of bacterial isolates found in soil samples from Schirmacher Oasis, Antarctica, and Sabah, Malaysia that were capable of degrading mannan. A total of 9 bacterial isolates from Antarctica and 30 bacterial isolates from Malaysia exhibited β-mannanase activity. These bacteria were differentiated and clustered using their random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) profiles, and the β-mannanase activity of these isolates was tested at different temperatures and pH. Five out of 9 Antarctica isolates and seven out of 30 Malaysian isolates were identified based on their 16S rDNA sequences. Identified bacterial isolates from Antarctica were: MP1 (
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The Antarctic represents a largely untapped source for isolation of new microorganisms with potential to produce bioactive natural products. Actinomycetes are of special interest among such microorganisms as they are known to produce a large number of natural products, many of which have clinical, pharmaceutical or agricultural applications. We isolated, characterized and classified actinomycetes from soil samples collected from different locations on Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, in the maritime Antarctic. A total of 95 putative actinomycete strains were isolated from eight soil samples using eight types of selective isolation media. The strains were dereplicated into 16 groups based on morphology and Amplified Ribosomal DNA Restriction Analysis (ARDRA) patterns. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences of representatives from each group showed that streptomycetes were the dominant actinomycetes isolated from these soils; however, there were also several strains belonging to diverse and rare genera in the class
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We studied five strains of psychrotolerant
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Random mutagenesis is commonly used to study gene function. The screening of mutants exhibiting specific phenotypes assists in the identification of phenotype-related genes. In the current study, we isolated Antarctic bacteria, and developed a transposon Tn5 mutagenesis system. A total of 26 strains were isolated from seawater and freshwater near Antarctic King Sejong Research Station, King George Island. Six
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To comprehensively understand the Arctic and Antarctic upper atmosphere, it is often crucial to analyze various data that are obtained from many regions. Infrastructure that promotes such interdisciplinary studies on the upper atmosphere has been developed by a Japanese inter-university project called the Inter-university Upper atmosphere Global Observation Network (IUGONET). The objective of this paper is to describe the infrastructure and tools developed by IUGONET. We focus on the data analysis software. It is written in Interactive Data Language (IDL) and is a plug-in for the THEMIS Data Analysis Software suite (TDAS), which is a set of IDL libraries used to visualize and analyze satellite- and ground-based data. We present plots of upper atmospheric data provided by IUGONET as examples of applications, and verify the usefulness of the software in the study of polar science. We discuss IUGONET’s new and unique developments, i.e., an executable file of TDAS that can run on the IDL Virtual Machine, IDL routines to retrieve metadata from the IUGONET database, and an archive of 3-D simulation data that uses the Common Data Format so that it can easily be used with TDAS.
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Since 2002, we have been observing the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region over King Sejong Station (KSS; 62.22°S, 58.78°W), Antarctica, using various instruments such as the Spectral Airglow Temperature Imager (SATI), All Sky Camera (ASC) and VHF meteor radar. The meteor radar, installed in March 2007, continuously measures neutral winds in the altitude region 70-110 km and neutral temperature near the mesopause 24 h·d-1, regardless of weather conditions. In this study, we present results of an analysis of the neutral wind data for gravity wave activity over the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, where such activity is known to be very high. Also presented is temperature estimation from measurement of the decay times of meteor trails, which is compared with other temperature measurements from SATI and the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) instrument onboard the Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energy and Dynamics (TIMED) satellite.
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Remote sensing has been used in Antarctic studies as an earth observation technique to study the polar region. A remote sensing forward model is an important tool in polar research to study and understand scattering mechanisms and sensitivity of physical parameters of snow and sea ice. In this paper, a reliable theoretical model to study sea ice is developed. The theoretical model in a prior work was improved by including multiple-surface scattering, based on an existing integral equation model and additional second-order surface-volume scattering. This model is applied to a desalinated ice layer above thick saline ice and analyzed using different frequencies, bottom surface roughness and sea-ice layer thickness. Improvement in calculation of the backscattering coefficient of the sea-ice layer is investigated for both co-polarized and cross-polarized returns. The effect on each scattering mechanism is also investigated, to understand in more detail the effect of surface multiple scattering and second-order surface- volume scattering. Comparisons are also made with field measurement results, to validate the theoretical model. Results show improvement in the total backscattering coefficient for cross-polarized return in the studied range, suggesting that multiple-surface scattering and surface-volume scattering up to second order are important scattering mechanisms in the sea-ice layer and should not be ignored in polar research.
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A reasonable initial state of ice concentration is essential for accurate short-term forecasts of sea ice using ice-ocean coupled models. In this study, sea ice concentration data are assimilated into an operational ice forecast system based on a combined optimal interpolation and nudging scheme. The scheme produces a modeled sea ice concentration at every time step, based on the difference between observational and forecast data and on the ratio of observational error to modeled error. The impact and the effectiveness of data assimilation are investigated. Significant improvements to predictions of sea ice extent were obtained through the assimilation of ice concentration, and minor improvements through the adjustment of the upper ocean properties. The assimilation of ice thickness data did not significantly improve predictions. Forecast experiments show that the forecast accuracy is higher in summer, and that the errors on five-day forecasts occur mainly around the marginal ice zone.
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Historical surface drifter observations collected from the Southern Ocean are used to study the near-surface structure, variability, and energy characteristics of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). A strong, nearly zonal ACC combined with complex fronts dominates the circulation system in the Southern Ocean. Standard variance ellipses indicate that both the Agulhas Return Current and the East Australian Warm Current are stable supplements of the near-surface ACC, and that the anticyclonic gyre formed by the Brazil warm current and the Malvinas cold current is stable throughout the year. During austral winter, the current velocity increases because of the enhanced westerly wind. Aroused by the meridional motion of the ACC, the meridional velocity shows greater instability characteristics than the zonal velocity does over the core current. Additionally, the ACC exhibits an eastward declining trend in the core current velocity from southern Africa. The characteristics of the ACC are also argued from the perspective of energy. The energy distribution suggests that the mean kinetic energy (MKE), eddy kinetic energy (EKE), and $\sqrt{\text{EKE}}$ are strong over the core currents of the ACC. However, in contrast, EKE/MKE suggests there is much less (more) eddy dissipation in regions with strong (weak) energy distribution. Both meridional and zonal energy variations are studied to illustrate additional details of the ACC energy characteristics. Generally, all the energy forms except EKE/MKE present west-east reducing trends, which coincide with the velocity statistics. Eddy dissipation has a much greater effect on MKE in the northern part of the Southern Ocean.
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This study aims to report baseline soil nutrients, specifically the organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus profile, in soil samples collected from Punta Fort William on Greenwich Island in maritime Antarctic. Samples were collected along two transect lines during the early summer of 2008. Ward’s method of hierarchical agglomerative clustering was employed to group the sampling points based on their physico-chemical properties. In this context, the soil samples can be grouped into three major clusters: (1) Samples with intensive biological activities, (2) samples from the area recently exposed by glacial retreat and (3) samples from barren and dried areas. Nutrient contents in Punta Fort William are driven by the intensity of biological activities as well as melt water from the Quito glacier.
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Fisher Island and Broknes Peninsula in the Larsemann Hills constitute part of a polar lowland periglacial environment between marine and glacial ecosystems. The landscape is characterized by gently rolling hills and broad valleys interspersed with lakes formed in glacially scoured basins. We analyzed the physicochemical parameters and the ionic constituents of water samples from 10 lakes in each of these two locations. Our results showed considerable differences between the two regions and demonstrated the influence of lithology and processes including weathering, evaporation, and atmospheric precipitation. All major cations and anions in the lake waters showed positive correlations indicating balanced ionic concentrations. Unconsolidated sediments were sparsely distributed and scattered over glacial deposits, valley fills, and occasional moraine ridges. The type and rate of sedimentation was mainly controlled by surface run-off and aeolian influx. The sediment samples from lake beds and the catchment area on Fisher Island were immature and poorly to very poorly sorted, consisting of gravelly sand with negligible silt and finer fractions. Sediments had a polymodal grain size distribution with the two major populations lying between -2 and -1 phi and between 0 and 1.5 phi. The sediments were lithic arenite to arkosic in composition and the microtextures imprinted over quartz grains were dominated by mechanical textures resulting from several stages of glacial crushing and grinding. The presence of deep dissolution cavities, cryptocrystalline precipitation, and euhedral crystal growth signified the effect of chemical activity after the deposition of grains in the lacustrine environment.
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To investigate temporal and spatial evolution of global geomagnetic field variations from high-latitude to the equator during geomagnetic storms, we analyzed ground geomagnetic field disturbances from high latitudes to the magnetic equator. The daytime ionospheric equivalent current during the storm main phase showed that twin-vortex ionospheric currents driven by the Region 1 field-aligned currents (R1 FACs) are intensified significantly and expand to the low-latitude region of ~30° magnetic latitude. Centers of the currents were located around 70° and 65° in the morning and afternoon, respectively. Corresponding to intensification of the R1 FACs, an enhancement of the eastward/westward equatorial electrojet occurred at the daytime/nighttime dip equator. This signature suggests that the enhanced convection electric field penetrates to both the daytime and nighttime equator. During the recovery phase, the daytime equivalent current showed that two new pairs of twin vortices, which are different from two-cell ionospheric currents driven by the R1 FACs, appear in the polar cap and mid latitude. The former led to enhanced northward
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This paper attempts to establish a method for analysing the relationship between the polar and equatorial climate of the Northern Hemisphere. The Arctic Oscillation (AO) is known to have no direct relationship with the monsoon over the Maritime Continent (MC). Thus, an index called the Siberian High(SH)–Maritime Continent(MC) Index (SHMCI) is developed to represent the mean sea level pressure difference between the SH and the warm pool over the MC. This index indicates a strong link with the monsoon circulation. A positive (strong) value of the SHMCI is associated with strong meridional winds and intense and frequent cold surge events over the South China Sea. The correlation between the AO index and the SHMCI is -0.39, which is medium but statistically significant; however, it is not sufficiently conclusive to infer direct correlation. Nevertheless, the SHMCI can be used as a tool to relate the AO with the monsoon over the MC because of the influence demonstrated by the AO towards the SH. Further analysis on the convergence and divergence anomalies over the MC reveals an impact discernible only from the SHMCI. This implies that the SHMCI manifests clearly the relationship between the Arctic and equatorial climate.
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This study investigates recent climate change over the Arctic and its link to the mid-latitudes using the ERA-Interim global atmospheric reanalysis data from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF). Since 1979, substantial surface warming, associated with the increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gases, has occurred over the Arctic. The greatest warming in winter has taken place offshore in the Kara-Barents Sea, and is associated with the increase in turbulent heat fluxes from the marginal ice zone. In contrast to the marked warming over the Arctic Ocean in winter, substantial cooling appears over Siberia and eastern Asia, linked to the reduction of Arctic sea ice during the freezing season (September–March). However, in summer, very little change is observed in surface air temperature over the Arctic because increased radiative heat melts the sea ice and the amount of turbulent heat gain from the ocean is relatively small. The heat stored in the upper ocean mixed layer in summer with the opening of the Arctic Ocean is released back to the atmosphere as turbulent heat fluxes during the autumn and through to the following spring. This warming of the Arctic and the reduced sea ice amplifies surface cooling over Siberia and eastern Asia in winter.
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This paper reports the results of field-based absolute gravity measurements aimed at detecting gravity change and crustal displacement caused by glacial isostatic adjustment. The project was initiated within the framework of the 53rd Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE53). Absolute gravity measurements, together with GPS measurements, were planned at several outcrops along the Prince Olav Coast and S?ya Coast of East Antarctica, including at Syowa Station. Since the icebreaker Shirase (AGB 5003) was unable to moor alongside Syowa Station, operations were somewhat restricted during JARE53. However, despite this setback, we were able to complete measurements at two sites: Syowa Station and Langhovde. The absolute gravity value at the Syowa Station IAGBN (A) site, observed using an FG-5 absolute gravimeter (serial number 210; FG-5 #210), was 982 524 322.7±0.1 μGal, and the gravity change rate at the beginning of 2012 was –0.26 μGal?a-1. An absolute gravity value of 982 535 584.2±0.7 μGal was obtained using a portable A-10 absolute gravimeter (serial number 017; A-10 #017) at the newly located site AGS01 in Langhovde.
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