The Australian Collection of Antarctic Microorganisms (ACAM) was established in 1986 at the University of Tasmania as a collection for microorganisms from the Antarctic continent as well as from subantarctic islands and the Southern Ocean. ACAM is one of the few collections in the world dedicated to the collection of Antarctic bacteria and since its inception has grown to nearly 400 strains. Many of these strains have been isolated from lakes and marine waters in the Vestfold Hills region of Antarctica near Davis Station. Salinity, redox potential, light and temperature all vary dramatically between these water bodies and, on many occasions, have been shown to vary with water depth within them. Microorganisms living in these ecosystems cope with a variety of physical extremes which characterise the Antarctic environment. The potential for biotechnological use of Antarctic microorganisms has become more evident from basic studies on the taxonomy and molecular biology of antarctic microbes. Recently, bacteria have been isolated that (i) contain polyunsaturated w-3 fatty acids, (ii) degrade hydrocarbons (including polycyclic aromatics) and (iii) produce bioactive natural products. ACAM is a continually expanding collection. The search for Antarctic microorganisms that may be commercially exploited has only just begun. Future research should identify novel strains that offer further potential for biotechnology and, at the same time, provide a better understanding of the Antarctic ecosystem. ACAM is now available through the Australian Antarctic Data Centre's Biodiversity database, or via the ACAM website. This work was completed as part of ASAC project 65 (ASAC_65).

This data set contains locations of sample sites for Ellis Fjord (1989), Organic Lake (1985) and Deep Lake (1975, 1975) in the Vestfold Hills. Unfortunately little is known as to what samples were collected. It is believed that water samples were taken at all locations, and that bottom sediment samples were taken at least at Deep Lake. When questioned in 2009, the investigating scientist was unable to remember exactly what work was done. The original maps may provide some clues.

From the referenced paper: The frigid concentration or freezing of seawater is an important natural phenomenon in the polar regions and results in the precipitation of a different sequence of salts - and thus produces brines of different composition - to that formed during isothermal evaporation under temperate conditions (about 20-25 degrees C). Seawater freezing, however, has been studied less extensively than evaporation and somewhat greater uncertainty exists over the exact nature of the compositional pathway followed. Most investigators have shown that the precipitation of mirabilite (Na2SO4 - 10 H2O) or gypsum (CaSO4 - 2 H2O), which both occur at the same seawater concentration factor (SWCF), is the critical difference between frigid and evaporative concentration, respectively, a consequence of the very different temperature dependence of the solubilities of these salts, as well as the effect of sodium chloride on these properties. This difference can be considered to represent a temperature-dependent chemical divide in the closed-basin concentration of seawater because it determines significantly the major ion composition of the brine and the salt mineral assemblage precipitated on further evolution of the system. Recently new insights into seawater freezing have been achieved through improvements in existing chemical equilibrium models. Along with the results of some associated experimental work, this has provided evidence for the formation of gypsum during freezing, contradicting the accepted Ringer-Nelson-Thompson model of frigid concentration firmly established in the 1950's and through subsequent studies, but validating an alternative model proposed by Gitterman two decades later.

This is a scanned copy of the report of sediment core activities at Davis Station, 1985 by Lin Jian-ping. Paraphrased from the abstract of the report: Sediment deposited in the bottom of water provide a historical record of the biological and chemical changes which have occurred in the places since they were formed. One of the research programs at Davis in 1985 was the sediment coring program. Sediment cores were taken from some places of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica, and were analysed for water content, total organic content and non-polar lipid content.

This dataset contains the outdated and redundant bathymetric contour data for some of the lakes of the Vestfold Hills. Lake data for Burton Lake, Deep lake and Ellis Fjord.

This is a scanned copy of the vertebrate ecologists report from Davis Station in 1983, written by Rhys Puddicombe. Taken from the report: This annual report covers the period 9/11/82 to 10/12/83. As such it is an incomplete record, as some projects are ongoing until mid-January 1984, whilst others will be begun and completed between early December and mid-January. Where this is the case only a brief outline will be presented to illustrate the aims of these projects. This report will generally deal only with practical work and raw results as the majority of analyses will not be completed until early 1984. The two major projects for the year have been seal tagging/resighting, and penguin vomit analysis. Several additional projects are complementary to this work, but for clarity's sake will be covered separately. Finally, several minor projects have involved either observations or data and material collections for analysis by people in Australia. Topics covered by this report: Lakes Fishing Fat collection Briefing/equipping members of Dick Smith Explorer Elephant Seals - Davis Beach census - Day trips - Branding - Collection of teeth and toenails - Seal census on voyage through pack ice Weddell Seals - Faeces collection for Ken Green - Seal recording - Seal tagging/resighting - Aerial weddell surveys/census Seabird census from Australia to Mawson Ice Edge Giant Petrel banding Vomiting of Southern Fulmars and Cape Petrels and bolus collection of Skuas and Giant Petrels Emperor Penguin vomiting Adelie penguins - Blood collections - Dead adelie collection - Egg collection - Penguin banding - Counts of breeding reference groups - Adelie vomiting

Colonisation of Lake Fletcher, a hypersaline, meromictic lake in the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica, by the calanoid copepod Drepanopus bispinosus, the cyclopoid copepod Oncea curvata and an undescribed cydippid ctenophore is discussed. In 1978, salinity direstly under the ice was 66 ppt and repeated net hauls found no zooplankton. In 1983, adults of D. bispinosus were found, and in 1984, a reproductively active population of this species. Surface water salinity in 1984 was 56 ppt. During winter 1986, surface salinity was 54 ppt and three zooplankton species (D. bispinosus, O curvata and an undescribed cydippid ctenophore) had established populations in the lake. In 1986/87, high tides caused nearby Taynaya Bay to flood into the lake, and three further species (the calanoid, Paralabidocera antarctica, and two harpacticoids, Harpacticus furcatus and Idomene sp.) were found in the lake. It appears that periodic flooding after 1978 caused a salinity decrease in the lake from 66 to 54 ppt, and this enabled some invertebrate species to maintain year-round populations, whereas others require marine incursions to re-establish summer only populations. The fields in this dataset are: Date Salinity Record Species

Taken from sections of the report: Introduction: The following report is a detailed summary of the surveying and mapping tasks undertaken in the Vestfold Hills and Mac. Robertson Land regions of the Australian Antarctic Territory during the period from 22 December 1978 to 25 February 1979. A copy of the project instruction detailing the tasks originally intended to be undertaken is attached at Annex 37. The entire report is available as a pdf download from the URL given below.

This data set contains the most recent bathymetric contour data for some of the lakes of the Vestfold Hills. Lake depth data (all data except Ellis Fjord) was collected from echo sounding records of courses plotted on enlarged aerial photographs (HighJump photography). Courses were straight lines from shoreline features identified on both the photographs and in the field. Depths were plotted on the enlarged photographs and contours drawn between marked depths. Accuracy for position -+ 5 metres. Accuracy for depth -+ 2 metres. Ellis Fjord was sounded in winter from the ice surface. Painted 44 gallon drums were set up on hills on both sides of the fjord. When a depth position was recorded by weighted line through an ice hole, a theodolite (T2) at the hole was sited to several drums on the land. These triangulations were used to determine the position of the depth in the fjord. Accuracy for position -+ 2cm. Accuracy for depth -+ 2 metres. The water bodies included in the dataset are: Ace Lake Burton Lake Club Lake Deep Lake Ellis Fjord Lake Abraxas Lake Anderson Lake Jabs Lake Lebed Lake Nicholson Lake Stinear Lake Watts Oblong Lake Organic Lake See also the following maps at the provided links: Map 15618: Deep Lake Marine Profile - Plan and Longitudinal section (Sheet 2 of 2) Map 15621: Club Lake Marine Profile – Plan and Longitudinal Section (Sheet 1 of 2) Map 15622: Lake Jabs, Saline Lake Profiles – Plan and Longitudinal Sections

The sedimentological, chemical and isotopic characteristics of sediment cores from three slightly saline to hypersaline lakes (Highway, Ace and Organic Lakes) and two marine inlets (Ellis Fjord and Taynaya Bay) in the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica have been examined. Sections of the cores deposited in marine environments are characterised by uniform, regularly laminated, fine grained, organic-rich sediments, with uniform organic delta 13C values (-18.0 to 19.4 ppt vs. PDB) and sulfur contents. In contrast, sediments deposited in lacustrine environments are extremely heterogeneous, varying from finely laminated mat-like sequences to poorly sorted clastic-rich sediments. Authigenic monohydrocalcite and aragonite occur in some lake sediments. The delta 13C values of organic matter in the lacustrine sediments exhibit an extremely wide range (-10.5 to -25.3 ppt) that can be related to variations in physico-chemical conditions in the lake waters. Strongly negative organic-delta 13C values coupledwith high sulfur contents are indicative of an anoxic zone in the overlying lake waters, whereas less negative organic-delta 13C values coupled with low sulfur contents are indicative of well-mixed oxic conditions. Particularly high organic-delta 13C values result during high levels of microbial activity in the lakes, due to high rates of photosynthetic CO2 fixation. The large shifts in organic-delta 13C are not necessarily accompanied by any change in macroscopic sedimentological characteristics, illustrating the utility if isotopic investigations in these environments. The delta 13C composition of authigenic carbonate in hypersaline Organic Lake sediments provides a record of changes in palaeoproductivity, while the delta 18O of the carbonate provides information on rates of meltwater input and evaporation in the lake. 14C-dating suggests that Highway Lake was isolated from the sea by isostatic uplift at least 4600 years before present (BP) whereas Organic Lake was isolated at approximately 2700 years BP. Apparent emergence rates calculated from the 14C ages range from 1.0 to 2.1 mm per year. The 'reservoir effect' in the lacustrine and marine environments is variable, but probably does not exceed ~ 1000 years in any of the lakes examined.