Southwest Anvers Island and Palmer Basin

Southwest Anvers Island and Palmer Basin is a 3275 km2 Antarctic Specially Managed Area (ASMA 7).

Features of the south-west coastline of Anvers Island include the United States’ Palmer Station on Arthur Harbour - an LTER site and the principal logistical centre for research within AMSA 7, as well as the ice cliffs of the Marr Ice Piedmont, the ice-free Capes Monaco and Lancaster, and Biscoe Point.

[1] The area contains diverse and accessible assemblages of terrestrial and marine flora and fauna which have been subject to long-term monitoring, with some datasets covering much of the last century, with intensive scientific interest beginning in the 1950s.

Studies include monitoring of bird and seal populations, surveys of terrestrial and sub-tidal environments, investigations into the physiology, biochemistry, ecology and behaviour of birds, seals, terrestrial invertebrates and zooplankton, as well as oceanography, marine sedimentology and geomorphology.

The area is exceptionally important for long-term studies of both natural variability and human impact on Antarctic ecosystems, and for understanding the linkages among birds, krill dynamics and the changing marine habitat.