Geological map of Potter Peninsula (King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctic Peninsula)

We present here a new geological map of Potter Peninsula (King George Island, South Shetland Islands). Like on adjacent Barton Peninsula, the morphology on Potter Peninsula is predominantly characterized by a glacial landscape with abrasion platforms offshore, in parts steep cliffs along the coast, and a rather smooth, hilly countryside in the interior. Potter Peninsula forms part of the downthrown Warszawa Block. The volcanic sequence cropping out here belongs to the King George Island Supergroup, with an observed local minimum thickness of approx. 90 m (Kraus 2005). The most prominent morphological feature is Three Brothers Hill (196 m), a well known andesitic plug showing conspicuous columnar jointing. It marks the final stage of activity of a Paleogene volcano, whose eruption products (lava flows and pyroclastic rocks), together with hypabyssal intrusions related to the volcanism, make up most of the lithology observed on Potter Peninsula (Kraus 2005). The Three Brothers Hill volcanic complex is eroded down to its deepest levels. Thus, the stratigraphically deepest units from the initial phase of volcanic activity are cropping out in some parts (Kraus & del Valle, in Wienke et al. 2008). The lithology on Potter Peninsula comprises lava flows (~50%), pyroclastic rocks (ash-fallout, pyroclastic flow deposits, volcanic breccia and agglomerates, ~30%) and hypabyssal intrusions (dykes, sills and small subvolcanic intrusive bodies, ~20%). 40Ar/39Ar datings carried out on magmatic dykes from Potter Peninsula indicate a short, but intense intrusive event during the Lutetian (Kraus et al. 2007).

At surface behaviour of juvenile and female southern elephant seals from King George Island from expeditions JUB1996 and JUB1997

Between December 1996 and February 1997, weaned pups and postmoult female southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) were fitted with satellite transmitters at King George Island (South Shetlands). Of the nine adult females tracked for more than two months, three stayed in a localized area between the South Shetlands and the South Orkneys. The other six females travelled southwest along the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula up to the Bellingshausen Sea. Two of them then moved far northeast and hauled out on South Georgia in October. One female was last located north of the South Shetlands in March 1998. In total, eight females were again sighted on King George Island and six of the transmitters removed. The tracks of the weaners contrasted with those of the adults. In January, five juveniles left King George Island for the Pacific sector ranging about four weeks in the open sea west of the De Gerlache Seamounts. Three of them returned to the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula in June, of which one was last located on the Patagonian Shelf in November 1997. A computer animation was developed to visualize the animal movements in relation to the extent and concentration of sea ice. The juveniles avoided sea ice while the adults did not. The latter displayed behavioural differences in using the pack ice habitat during winter. Some females adjusted their movement patterns to the pulsating sea ice fringe in far-distant foraging areas while others ranged in closed pack ice of up to 100 %. The feeding grounds of adult female elephant seals are more closely associated with the pack ice zone than previously assumed.

The role of microcomputer-based laboratory display in supporting the construction of new understanding in kinematics

Teachers' failure to utilise MBL activities more widely may be due to not recognising their capacity to transform the nature of laboratory activities to be more consistent with contemporary constructivist theories of learning. This research aimed to increase understanding of how MBL activities specifically designed to be consistent with a constructivist theory of learning support or constrain student construction of understanding. The first author conducted the research with his Year 11 physics class of 29 students. Dyads completed nine tasks relating to kinematics using a Predict-Observe-Explain format. Data sources included video and audio recordings of students and teacher during four 70-minute sessions, students' display graphs and written notes, semi-structured student interviews, and the teacher's journal. The study identifies the actors and describes the patterns of interactions in the MBL. Analysis of students' discourse and actions identified many instances where students' initial understanding of kinematics were mediated in multiple ways. Students invented numerous techniques for manipulating data in the service of their emerging understanding. The findings are presented as eight assertions. Recommendations are made for developing pedagogical strategies incorporating MBL activities which will likely catalyse student construction of understanding.