Australian Antarctic Territory, Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and observations on Macquarie Island Tasmania
Theme commentary
Australian National Committee on Antarctic Research
prepared for the 2006 Australian State of the Environment Committee, 2006
Glossary
- Biomass
- The total mass, at a given time, of living organisms of one or more species per unit area (species biomass)
- CCAMLR: Convention of the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources:
- The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources came into force in 1982, as part of the Antarctic Treaty System, in pursuance of the provisions of Article IX of the Treaty. The Convention establishes a Commission to manage the marine living resources of the area for which it is responsible.
- Dobson Unit (DU)
- is defined to be 0.01 mm thickness at STP (standard temperature and pressure). Ozone layer thickness is expressed in terms of Dobson units, which measure what its physical thickness would be if compressed in the Earth's atmosphere.
- Fast-ice
- This is sea-ice in the very early stages of formation. Sea-ice that forms in situ and attached to the coast is called "fast-ice", it is stuck fast. In this picture the surface of the sea is beginning to freeze as the temperature is dropping to -20C and below.
- Phytoplankton
- Free-floating flora that convert inorganic compounds into complex organic compounds. This process of primary productivity supports the pelagic food-chain. Phytoplankton vary in size from less than 1 to several hundred µm.
- Phytoplankton biomass
- The total weight of phytoplankton, a free-floating flora, at a given time per unit area.
- Rotating biological contactors (RBCs)
- treat waste streams using a thin film of aerobic microorganisms on rotating cylinders. The rate of rotation is selected and controlled to provide optimum oxygen levels and contact with the waste stream. http://flint.apogee.net/et/ewtwrbc.asp Includes a diagram.
- Southern Annular Mode
- The Southern Hemisphere annular mode is a large-scale see-saw in atmospheric pressure between the western and eastern hemispheres which fluctuates on a time scale of years. It has been also been referred to as the Antarctic Oscillation and the High-Latitude Mode.
- Ultraviolet radiation (UVR)
- Ultraviolet rays that are part of the energy that comes from the sun. Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) which falls between x-rays and visible light on the electromagnetic spectrum, is divided into three types, according to wavelength. These are: UVA (320-400nm), UVB (290-320), and UVC (200-290nm).