The first Southern Hemisphere Conference on Permafrost (SouthCOP) is almost at its end, having started on 8 December in Queensland, New Zealand. The pre-conference excursion took place 3-6 December, with the official welcome on Sunday. The ANTPAS session was held on Sunday as well from 15:00-15:40 in the venue Galaxy I, chaired by Marjolaine Verret and Ian Meiklejohn. The conference is due to conclude Wednesday (11 December), with post-conference field trips scheduled for 12-14 December. You can access the program here.

Please consider submitting your abstracts to one of the ANTPAS session for SouthCOP19. The session description appears below. Abstract submission closes 7 April and can be submitted through the SouthCOP website.

Session Description: Past environments in permafrost regions
Permafrost regions in the Southern Hemisphere have recorded significant environmental changes in response to the changing climate conditions prevailing over the last decades. In this context, a wide range of past climate and environmental records can provide insights on recent and future changes in permafrost regions, which can be also used to examine ice/land/ocean/atmosphere feedback influencing regional, hemispheric and global climate conditions.

Permafrost environments include a broad set of terrestrial and aquatic records that can provide data on past environmental and climatic changes at different time scales. A detailed study of these records may provide the linkage between the observed patterns and the response of ecosystems to recent climate variability. In addition, a better comprehension of the past dynamics in a permafrost region can result in a more accurate understanding of permafrost properties, such as the spatial distribution of ground ice and carbon as well as a reference for Martian analogues. We welcome abstracts from all terrestrial and aquatic environmental archives, such as lake sediments, periglacial deposits, ground ice, etc.

The objective of this session is to examine the state of the art and on recent achievements on understanding past environments in permafrost regions in large areas of the Southern Hemisphere, as well as to detect gaps and areas where permafrost research needs to be improved.

Please consider submitting your abstracts to one of the ANTPAS session for SouthCOP19. The session description appears below. Abstract submission closes 7 April and can be submitted through the SouthCOP website.

Session Description
ANTPAS (Antarctic Permafrost, Periglacial Environments and Soil) promotes the research on permafrost and periglacial environments that characterize the ice free areas in Antarctica. This session focuses on permafrost, on the overlying active layer, on the related landforms as well as on the soils that characterize almost all the ice-free areas in this continent. Thermo-physical conditions of permafrost and the active layer are very variable in the Antarctic, both in space and in time, and have accelerated over the last 20 years. Indeed, some areas of the Antarctic Peninsula have recorded after one of the strongest warming rates on Earth while in Continental Antarctica, after remarkable climate stability, a warming trend together with an increase of solar radiation are leading large changes in the ice free areas. Therefore, the analyses of the observed patterns and the response of ecosystems and of the landscape can provide insights on recent and future changes in permafrost regions, which can be also used to examine ice/land/ocean/atmosphere feedbacks influencing regional, hemispheric and global climate conditions. In addition, Antarctic permafrost areas are also the best terrestrial analogue of Mars conditions and therefore represent an unique opportunity to test technology and models for the future Martian exploration. Transdisciplinary contributions from permafrost, soils, geomorphology, microclimate, hydrology, geophysics and remote sensing are expected. Although not exclusively, the session aims to contribute to the new questions from the SCAR Horizon Scan emphasizing on the significance of the fast changing terrestrial environments, for example:
- What are and have been the rates of geomorphic change in different Antarctic regions, and what are the ages of preserved landscapes?
- How will permafrost, the active layer and water availability in Antarctic soils and marine sediments change in a warming climate, and what are the effects on ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles?