The dataset comprises of compilations of new and published age data constraining glacier advance, retreat and aquatic moss layers in lakes from the South Shetland Islands. The data were used in data analysis in the following manuscripts to constrain deglaciation and glacier dynamics on Potter Peninsula and Fildes Peninsula, King George Island South Shetland Islands: Heredia Barion P, Roberts SJ, Spiegel C, Binnie SA, Wacker L, Davies J, et al. (submitted - a) Mid-late Holocene deglaciation and glacier readvances on the Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, NW Antarctic Peninsula. The Holocene. Heredia Barion P, Strelin JA, Roberts SJ, Spiegel C, Wacker L, Niedermann S, et al. (submitted - b). Holocene deglaciation, glacial dynamics and the geomorphology of Potter Peninsula, King George Island (Isla 25 de Mayo), NW Antarctic Peninsula. Frontiers in Earth Science. Data collected in this study were funded by: Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra (CICTERRA), the Direccion Nacional del Antartico/Instituto Antartico Argentino (DNA/IAA) in the framework of the Project PICTA, 2011 - 0102, IAA "Geomorfologia y Geologia Glaciar del Archipielago James Ross e Islas Shetland del Sur, Sector Norte de la Peninsula Antartica"; the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) research program Polar regions and Coasts in a changing Earth System (PACES II); IMCONet (FP7 IRSES, action no. 318718); the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC/BAS-CGS Grant no.81); the NERC/BAS science programmes CACHE-PEP: Natural climate variability - extending the Americas palaeoclimate transect through the Antarctic Peninsula to the pole and GRADES-QWAD: Quaternary West Antarctic Deglaciations. We thank the crews of the Argentine research station "Carlini" and the adjoined German Dallmann-Labor (AWI) Laboratory, the Uruguayan research station "Artigas", the Russian Bellingshausen Station, the Chinese Great Wall Station, Base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva, the Brazilian Navy Almirante Maximiano, the UK Navy HMS Endurance and NERC/BAS James Clark Ross for logistical support during the 2006, 2011, 2014 and 2015 field seasons.

The dataset records ice coast and ice shelf front positions and hence change for the period 1843 to 2008. Archival maps, aerial photographs and satellite images of the Antarctic Peninsula were used to reveal the past shape of the ice coastline. The coastlines were mapped in a GIS (ESRI Arc/Info) using a mosaic of Landsat TM imagery as a common reference. Over 2000 aerial photographs and over 100 satellite images were used to compile the dataset that includes the fronts of 244 glaciers and 20 ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula. As the coastlines were digitised on-screen, metadata for each coast segment were added to the attribute table. The dataset is part of a wider project by the U.S. Geological Survey to record coastal-change for the whole continent.

We present a new bathymetric compilation of the South Shetland Islands here defined by the following bounding box: 63 to 53.3 W, 63.5 to 60.5 S. This bathymetry grid was compiled from a variety of multibeam swath bathymetry data acquired during 76 different cruises (see lineage). The data is available as a grid of approximately 100 m resolution in two different formats: a GMT-compatible (2-D) NetCDF and Arc/Info and ArcView ASCII grid format using geographic coordinates on the WGS84 datum.

Three plant species, the leafy liverwort Cephaloziella varians and the angiosperms Deschampsia antarctica and Colobanthus quitensis, were sampled from 12 islands across a 1480 km latitudinal gradient from South Georgia through to Adelaide Island. Samples were collected to determine the abundance of dark septate fungi in Antarctic plant and soil communities and the effects of these organisms on plant growth. Where the target species were found in sufficient numbers to allow sampling, it proved possible to collect at least 10 samples of each species. At least 10 soil samples were collected from each site where Deschampsia was found. Plants, with intact roots and soil, were transported back to the UK using cool and frozen stowage. Additionally, intact live plants were transported to the UK in an illuminated cabinet. Seeds of the two key species (Deschampsia antarctica and Colobanthus quitensis) were also collected at Bird Island and South Georgia. As the exact months of the data collection were not provided, and the metadata standard requires a YYYY-MM-DD format, this dataset has been dated as 1st January for start date, and 31st December for stop date.

This study investigated the status of dark septate (DS) fungi in Antarctic plant and soil communities, with the aim of determining the abundance of DS fungi in plant roots and rhizoids, their taxonomic affinities and their symbiotic status. Abundances of fungal hyphae were recorded in roots and rhizoids, and fungi were isolated and identified. Sequencing of ITS (internal transcribed spacer) regions of rDNA indicated that some isolates share taxonomic affinities with fungi of known symbiotic status. Synthesis experiments assessed the effects of DS fungal isolates, including H. ericae, on the growth and nutrient balance of their host plants. Seeds of Deschampsia antarctica and Colobanthus quitensis were collected for use in ecophysiological experiments.