17 Management of Science in the Ross Dependency

Comment on the forward planning of your Antarctic science programme, especially relating to your field of research. Comment on Antarctica New Zealand's ability to cater for your type of work both at Scott Base and in the field.

Our future plans are to return to Allan Hills for the 2000/2001 field season and continue outcrop investigation. We are also hoping to drill and retrieve core of patches of Sirius Group that are not well exposed. We were fully satisfied with the support we received from Antarctica New Zealand both at Scott Base and in the field. Again, we benefited greatly from the willingness of the Scott Base staff to help us far beyond the scope of their specific jobs. We feel it is important for Antarctica New Zealand to fully appreciate this when assessing the success of the New Zealand Antarctic program.

Comment on the involvement of any overseas scientists or students in your event, including the benefits and contribution gained by their participation in your programme.

This event exists because of international cooperation, initially between Swiss and New Zealand researchers, and then later between Holland and New Zealand. With the introduction of Hicock as Holme's Canadian co-supervisor, the international scope of the program was broadened further. This cooperation has brought different and complementary expertise together, greatly enhancing the depth and scope of the science conducted as part of the K042 Event.

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Finally, identify any areas where management is required to protect areas of outstanding scientific, environmental, aesthetic or wilderness values. Note that you are able to propose any such area for protection under the Environmental Protocol.

During our stay at Allan Hills, we discovered an equipment cache at the east end of Trudge Valley which we believe to have been left behind by a 1972 expedition. We notified Scott Base (Peter Geary) and asked what should be done with it, but no decision was made before we returned to Scott Base in January. The cache consists of three or four wooden boxes (at least one of which contains food), three metal fuel canisters and an old, tatty pair of mountaineering boots. In addition there are many (perhaps twenty) rusty tin cans and other bits of trash tucked under nearby rocks. We suggest that the tin cans and other garbage be cleaned up but that the main cache be left for its historical significance. The site does not detract from the surrounding landscape and is in fact very difficult to spot. We only discovered it when one of our members happened to walk within about 10 m of it. We do not feel that there is any environmental danger from the site either because the fuel containers appeared empty.