Found 14089 items
1 January, 2024 by Peter Convey
Terrestrial environments of Antarctica include some of the most extreme on Earth, challenging the very existence of life itself. This article outlines briefly the geological and biological history of the…1 January, 2024 by Richard Phillips
Mercury (Hg) is a globally important pollutant that can negatively impact metabolic, endocrine and immune systems of marine biota. Seabirds are long-lived marine top predators and hence are at risk…1 January, 2024 by Louise Sime
The impact of melt ponds on sea-ice albedo has been observed and documented. In general circulation models, ponds are now accounted for through indirect diagnostic treatments (‘implicit’ schemes), or prognostic…Read more on The significance of the melt-pond scheme in a CMIP6 global climate model
1 January, 2024 by Connor Bamford, Martin Collins, Philip Hollyman
Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) are a commercially important species that support a longline fishery at the subantarctic island of South Georgia (CCAMLR Subarea 48.3). Understanding the life history of Patagonian…1 January, 2024 by Paul Holland
Mass loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet is dominated by basal melting–induced warm ocean water. Ice-sheet mass loss and thinning of buttressing ice shelves occur primarily in the Amundsen and…1 January, 2024 by Katrin Linse
Patellogastropoda, the true limpets, is a major group of gastropods widely distributed in marine habitats from the intertidal to deep sea. Though important for understanding their evolutionary radiation, the phylogenetic…Read more on Phylogenomic analyses reveal a single deep-water colonisation in Patellogastropoda
1 January, 2024 by Elisabeth Biersma, Kevin Newsham, Peter Convey, Will Goodall-Copestake
Glacier retreat in cold regions exposes new terrain for plant colonization. However, the roles of soil microbiomes in plant establishment and performance on newly-exposed forefields have rarely been assessed. Here,…1 January, 2024 by James Kirkham, Kelly Hogan, Robert Larter
Tunnel valleys are widespread in formerly glaciated regions such as the North Sea and record sediment transport beneath ice sheets undergoing deglaciation. However, their complex infill architecture often makes their…1 January, 2024 by Richard Phillips
Stable isotope ratios of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) were measured in feathers to compare the non-breeding distributions and habitat use of adult brown skuas Stercorarius antarcticus lönnbergi from high-latitude…1 January, 2024 by Jenny Wong, Johnathan Ross, Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
Relativistic electrons in the Earth's outer radiation belt are a significant space weather hazard. The belt, which lies at altitudes from 13,000 to 40,000 km in the Earth's magnetic equatorial…Read more on New Chorus Diffusion Coefficients for Radiation Belt Modeling
1 January, 2024 by Lloyd Peck
We present the results of our 15th horizon scan of novel issues that could influence biological conservation in the future. From an initial list of 96 issues, our international panel…Read more on A horizon scan of global biological conservation issues for 2024
1 January, 2024 by Oliver Marsh
ABSTRACT. Ice tongues are unconfined by land on their lateral margins and are sensitive to external forcing from the ocean. They are found sporadically around the Antarctic coast but are…Read more on Lateral flexure of Erebus Ice Tongue due to ocean current forcing and fast ice coupling
1 January, 2024
The nitrogen (N) cycle is a familiar concept. As is the much simplified, often diagrammatic, representation commonly used to illustrate the scale, importance and interconnectedness of this global cycle that…Read more on Exploring human-nature relationships in academic literature on the nitrogen cycle
1 January, 2024 by Andrew Kavanagh
This white paper is highly topical as it relates to the upcoming solar wind magnetosphere ionosphere link explorer (SMILE) mission: SMILE is a joint mission between the European Space Agency…1 January, 2024 by Anna Belcher, Simeon Hill
The carbon sequestration potential of open-ocean pelagic ecosystems is vastly under-reported compared to coastal vegetation ‘blue carbon’ systems. Here we show that just a single pelagic harvested species, Antarctic krill,…Read more on Antarctic krill sequester similar amounts of carbon to key coastal blue carbon habitats
1 January, 2024 by Peter Fretwell
These maps showcase Bedmap3, the latest suite of gridded products describing the surface elevation, ice-thickness and the seafloor and subglacial bed elevation of Antarctica south of 60° S. Bedmap3 incorporates…30 December, 2023 by Andrew Orr, Emilia Dobb, Gareth Marshall, Guy Phillips, Hua Lu, John King, Sabina Kucieba, Steve Colwell, Tony Phillips
Meteorological records at Signy Station in the South Orkney Islands (SOIs) have recently been digitized to cover the period of 1947–1995. This study compares the newly available near-surface air temperatures…Read more on Temperature variation in the South Orkney Islands, maritime Antarctic
28 December, 2023 by Kaitlin Naughten
Observed Antarctic sea ice trends up to 2015 have a distinct regional and seasonal pattern, with a loss during austral summer and autumn in the Bellingshausen and Amundsen Seas, and…28 December, 2023 by Dave Munday
From the Eocene (∼50 million years ago) to today, Southern Ocean circulation has evolved from the existence of two ocean gyres to the dominance of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC).…28 December, 2023 by Mervyn Freeman
Solar eclipses present a rare glimpse into the impact of ionospheric electrodynamics on the magnetosphere independent of other well studied seasonal influences. Despite decades of study, we still do not…Read more on Substorms and Solar Eclipses: A Mutual Information Based Study
27 December, 2023 by Peter Convey
A new microcystin-producing mangrove cyanobacterium, Aliinostoc bakau sp. nov., was isolated from a tropical mangrove in Penang, Malaysia, and characterized using combined morphological and phylogenetic approaches. Cultures were established in…21 December, 2023 by Martin Collins
The type series of Poromitra crassiceps (Günther, 1878) was thought to include specimens from four localities in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern oceans. Comparison of the extant syntypes with the…21 December, 2023 by Katrin Linse
The marine-based West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is considered vulnerable to irreversible collapse under future climate trajectories, and its tipping point may lie within the mitigated warming scenarios of 1.5°…Read more on Genomic evidence for West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapse during the Last Interglacial
20 December, 2023 by Dave Munday
In contrast with the atmosphere, which is heated from below by solar radiation, the ocean is both heated and cooled from above. To drive a deep-reaching overturning circulation in this…19 December, 2023 by Simeon Hill
Krill habitats in the Southern Ocean are impacted by changing climate conditions, reduced sea ice and rising temperatures. These changes, in turn, affect krill occurrence, physiology and behaviour, which could…Read more on Climate change impacts on Antarctic krill behaviour and population dynamics
16 December, 2023 by Tracey Dornan, Geraint Tarling, Simeon Hill, Tracey Dornan, Tracey Dornan
The fish community of the Scotia Sea is diverse and plays key roles in Antarctic food webs and biogeochemical cycling. However, knowledge of the spatial and community structure of their…15 December, 2023 by Claire Boyle, Kevin Hughes, Laura Gerrish, Peter Convey, Steve Colwell
Antarctica has been subject to widespread, long-term and on-going human activity since the establishment of permanent research stations became common in the 1950s. Equipment may become intentionally or inadvertently lost…14 December, 2023 by Ananth Ranjithkumar
The main nucleating vapor in the atmosphere is thought to be sulfuric acid (H2SO4), stabilized by ammonia (NH3). However, in marine and polar regions, NH3 is generally low, and H2SO4…Read more on Iodine oxoacids enhance nucleation of sulfuric acid particles in the atmosphere
13 December, 2023 by Dani Jones, Emma Boland
Unsupervised classification is becoming an increasingly common method to objectively identify coherent structures within both observed and modelled climate data. However, in most applications using this method, the user must…12 December, 2023 by Gareth Chisham, Mervyn Freeman
We examine the statistical distribution of large-scale Birkeland currents measured by the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment in four unique categories of geomagnetic activity for the first time:…10 December, 2023 by David Barnes, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
The marine habitat beneath Antarctica's ice shelves spans ∼1.6 million km2, and life in this vast and extreme environment is among Earth's least accessible, least disturbed and least known, yet…8 December, 2023 by Andrew Meijers, Povl Abrahamsen, Keith Nicholls, Michael Meredith, Shenjie Zhou
Dense, cold waters formed on Antarctic continental shelves descend along the Antarctic continental margin, where they mix with other Southern Ocean waters to form Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW). AABW then…Read more on Observing Antarctic Bottom Water in the Southern Ocean
7 December, 2023 by Andrew Meijers, Paul Holland, Rachael Sanders
Subantarctic Mode Water (SAMW) forms north of the Subantarctic Front, in regions of deep winter mixed layers, and is important to the absorption and storage of anthropogenic CO2 and heat.…Read more on Sea Ice‐Driven Variability in the Pacific Subantarctic Mode Water Formation Regions
6 December, 2023 by Cecilia Liszka, Pilvi Saarikoski, Sophie Fielding
Pursuing an academic career in marine science requires a range of skills that can be applied across different contexts, including experimental or computational proficiency, policy engagement, teaching, and seagoing fieldwork.…5 December, 2023 by Kate Hendry
The Challenger Society for Marine Science (CSMS) is the learned society for marine scientists based in the United Kingdom, with a membership of over 470 people from >100 institutions, across…5 December, 2023 by Bianca Perren
The Greenland Climate Network (GC-Net) consists of 31 automatic weather stations (AWSs) at 30 sites across the Greenland Ice Sheet. The first site was initiated in 1990, and the project…Read more on The historical Greenland Climate Network (GC-Net) curated and augmented level-1 dataset
4 December, 2023 by Steve Colwell
The Antarctic Peninsula (AP) experienced a new extreme warm event and record-high surface melt in February 2022, rivaling the recent temperature records from 2015 and 2020, and contributing to the…1 December, 2023 by Peter Convey
Current understanding of ecological and evolutionary processes underlying island biodiversity is heavily shaped by empirical data from plants and birds, although arthropods comprise the overwhelming majority of known animal species,…1 December, 2023 by Claire Waluda, Richard Phillips
Knowledge of lampreys during their marine phase is limited, and for the southern hemisphere species was gleaned from their predators (albatrosses) in the 1970s. Taking advantage of new methodologies and…1 December, 2023 by Hannah Cubaynes, Jennifer Jackson, Katherine Green, Peter Fretwell
The combination of very high resolution (VHR) satellite remote sensing imagery and deep learning via convolutional neural networks provides opportunities to improve global whale population surveys through increasing efficiency and…Read more on Gray whale detection in satellite imagery using deep learning
1 December, 2023 by Danielle Buss, Jennifer Jackson
The 20 th century commercial whaling industry severely reduced populations of great whales throughout the Southern Hemisphere. The effect of this exploitation on genetic diversity and population structure remains largely…1 December, 2023 by Stephen Roberts
The glacial and vegetation patterns of Patagonia are strongly correlated to the behaviour of the Southern westerly winds (SWWs) with palaeoenvironmental evidence for the behaviour of the SWWs interpreted as…1 December, 2023 by Andrew Wood, Jaume Forcada, Pete Bucktrout
With environmental change, understanding how species recover from overharvesting and maintain viable populations is central to ecosystem restoration. Here, we reconstruct 90 years of recovery trajectory of the Antarctic fur seal…1 December, 2023 by Claire Waluda, Kevin Hughes
Communication at the science-policy interface can be bewildering not only for early-career researchers, but also for many within the research community. In the context of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean,…1 December, 2023 by Paul Holland
Antarctic sea ice is mostly seasonal. While changes in sea ice seasonality have been observed in recent decades, the lack of process understanding remains a key challenge to interpret these…1 December, 2023 by Bianca Perren, Dominic Hodgson, Stephen Roberts
The southern limit of the Patagonian Ice Sheet at glacial maxima is poorly constrained due to a paucity of field data. This particularly applies to southern outlet glaciers of the…1 December, 2023 by Kevin Newsham
Highly simplified microbial communities colonise rocks and soils of continental Antarctica ice-free deserts. These two habitats impose different selection pressures on organisms, yet the possible filtering effects on the diversity…1 December, 2023 by Andrew Meijers, Rahul Sivankutty
Changing environmental temperatures impact the physiological performance of fishes, and consequently their distributions. A mechanistic understanding of the linkages between experienced temperature and the physiological response expressed within complex natural…1 December, 2023 by Norman Ratcliffe
Advice from avian influenza experts suggests that there is a high risk that highly pathogenic avian influenza will arrive in the Southern Ocean during the austral summers.30 November, 2023 by Dave Munday
A geostrophic eddy energy dissipation rate due to the interaction of the large-scale wind field and mesoscale ocean currents, or relative wind stress, is derived here for use in eddy…29 November, 2023 by Elisabeth Biersma, Kevin Newsham
How the multiple facets of soil fungal diversity vary worldwide remains virtually unknown, hindering the management of this essential species-rich group. By sequencing high-resolution DNA markers in over 4000 topsoil…Read more on Connecting the multiple dimensions of global soil fungal diversity
28 November, 2023 by Michael Meredith
We contend that ocean turbulent fluxes should be included in the list of Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) created by the Global Ocean Observing System. This list aims to identify variables…Read more on Turbulent diapycnal fluxes as a pilot Essential Ocean Variable
28 November, 2023 by Michael Meredith
Ice dynamic change is the primary cause of mass loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet, thus it is important to understand the processes driving ice-ocean interactions and the timescale on…28 November, 2023 by Thomas Barningham
We present a 12-year time series of continuous atmospheric measurements of O2 and CO2 at the Weybourne Atmospheric Observatory in the United Kingdom. These measurements are combined into the term…27 November, 2023 by Alex Brisbourne, Andy Smith
Seismicity at glaciers, ice sheets, and ice shelves provides observational constraint on a number of glaciological processes. Detecting and locating this seismicity, specifically icequakes, is a necessary first step in…27 November, 2023 by Mark Clilverd
Reducing the impact of Geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) on electrical power networks is an essential step to protect network assets and maintain reliable power transmission during and after storm events.…22 November, 2023 by Florian Mekhaldi
10Be is produced by the interaction between galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) and solar energetic particles (SEPs) with the Earth's atmospheric constituents. The flux of GCRs is modulated by the varying…20 November, 2023 by Tom Jordan
The analysis of englacial layers using radio-echo sounding data enables the characterisation and reconstruction of current and past ice-sheet flow. Despite the Lambert Glacier catchment being one of the largest…Read more on Englacial architecture of Lambert Glacier, East Antarctica
17 November, 2023 by Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark, Tony Phillips
Polar ecosystems are experiencing amongst the most rapid rates of regional warming on Earth. Here, we discuss ‘omics’ approaches to investigate polar biodiversity, including the current state of the art,…Read more on Multi-omics for studying and understanding polar life
17 November, 2023 by Dominic Hodgson
Toward the poles, life on land is increasingly dominated by microorganisms, yet the evolutionary origin of polar microbiomes remains poorly understood. Here, we use metabarcoding of Arctic, sub-Antarctic, and Antarctic…Read more on Polar lake microbiomes have distinct evolutionary histories
16 November, 2023 by Diana Vladimirova, Dieter Tetzner, Liz Thomas
Sea-ice extent is predicted to decrease in a warming climate. However, despite global warming over the past century, total Antarctic sea ice remained relatively stable from 1979 until 2015, before…15 November, 2023 by Rahul Sivankutty
The seasonal evolution and interannual variability of latent heat flux (LHF) over the tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) region is examined for the period 1980–2019. The seasonal distribution of LHF is…Read more on Latent heat flux variability over the tropical Indian Ocean
13 November, 2023 by Yohei Takano
Ocean deoxygenation due to anthropogenic warming represents a major threat to marine ecosystems and fisheries. Challenges remain in simulating the modern observed changes in the dissolved oxygen (O2). Here, we…10 November, 2023 by Richard Phillips
Knowledge of fisheries impacts, past and present, is essential for understanding the ecology and conservation of seabirds, but in a rapidly changing world, knowledge and research directions require updating. In…9 November, 2023 by Philip Trathan
Individual differences in oxygen storage and carrying capacity have been associated with fitness-related traits and, for air-breathing aquatic animals, to diving ability and foraging success. In winter, many seabirds must…8 November, 2023 by Susie Grant
Nests of the icefish Chionodraco hamatus were documented for the first time at about 500 m depth at Terra Nova Bay (Victoria Land, western Ross Sea), in an area included…3 November, 2023 by Florian Mekhaldi
The Sun is magnetically active and often produces eruptive events on different energetic and temporal scales. Until recently, the upper limit of such events was unknown and believed to be…2 November, 2023 by Philip Trathan
Emperor penguins are tough birds that breed on sea ice, which is the frozen surface of the ocean. They are famous for walking across the sea ice, to and from…2 November, 2023 by John King
This paper explores the unique methods and strategies employed by a team of artists, in collaboration with engineers, programmers, a climate scientist, researchers and members of the public, who have…1 November, 2023 by John Turner
During the second half of the twentieth century, the Antarctic Surface Air Temperature (SAT) trends are characterized by fast warming over West Antarctica but mild cooling over East Antarctica. However,…Read more on A broadscale shift in antarctic temperature trends
1 November, 2023 by David Barnes
Spatial management of the deep sea is challenging due to limited available data on the distribution of species and habitats to support decision making. In the well-studied North Atlantic, predictive…1 November, 2023 by Andrew Fleming, Anita Faul, Ben Evans, David Vaughan, Scott Hosking
Accurate quantification of iceberg populations is essential to inform estimates of Southern Ocean freshwater and heat balances as well as shipping hazards. The automated operational monitoring of icebergs remains challenging,…1 November, 2023 by Alistair Crame, Jane Francis, Rowan Whittle, Vanessa Bowman
Lower Paleocene marine siliciclastics of the Sobral Formation (Seymour Island, Antarctica) form an important component of a key southern high latitude reference section for the Maastrichtian–Eocene. The formation comprises a…1 November, 2023 by Jonathan Adams, Joanne Johnson
Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica, is the largest Antarctic contributor to global sea-level rise and is vulnerable to rapid retreat, yet our knowledge of its deglacial history since the Last…1 November, 2023 by Louise Sime
The Antarctic ice sheet (AIS) is the Earth’s largest store of frozen water; understanding how it changed in the past allows us to improve projections of how it, and sea…1 November, 2023 by Alice Fremand
Scienists are increasingly using autonomous and remotely piloted aerial vehicles (commonly referenced here as UAVs) to collect large volume of data in a range of different scienific domains. These data…1 November, 2023 by Alice Fremand
This document gives relevant information related to the management of remotely piloted or uncrewed airborne vehicles (commonly referenced as UAV in this document) data collected as part of NERC funded…1 November, 2023 by Richard Phillips
For decades, studies have highlighted links between wind patterns and the behavior, ecology, distribution, energetics and life history of seabirds. However, only relatively recently have advancements in tracking technologies and…28 October, 2023 by Jeremy Wilkinson
Snow depth on sea ice is an Essential Climate Variable and a major source of uncertainty in satellite altimetry-derived sea ice thickness. During winter of the MOSAiC Expedition, the “KuKa”…24 October, 2023 by Eugene Murphy, Jennifer Jackson, Nadine Johnston, Richard Phillips
The Southern Ocean, which flows around the Antarctic continent, is home to vast numbers of unique and remarkable animals, including penguins, albatrosses, petrels, seals, and whales. The ocean bursts into…Read more on The Southern Ocean Ecosystem Affects The Entire World
23 October, 2023 by Kaitlin Naughten, Paul Holland
Ocean-driven melting of floating ice-shelves in the Amundsen Sea is currently the main process controlling Antarctica’s contribution to sea-level rise. Using a regional ocean model, we present a comprehensive suite…19 October, 2023 by Peter Convey, Peter Fretwell
Precise mapping of Blue Ice Regions (BIRs) in Antarctica can facilitate resource management during expeditions and help plan field investigations. Satellite-based BIR mapping was traditionally performed with large-swath, coarse to…Read more on How precisely can we map blue ice in Antarctica?
19 October, 2023 by Paul Holland, Pierre Dutrieux
Glaciers in the Amundsen Sea Embayment of West Antarctica are rapidly retreating and contributing to sea level rise. Ice loss is occurring primarily via exposure to warm ocean water, which…18 October, 2023 by Eugene Murphy, Huw Griffiths, Nadine Johnston, Rachel Cavanagh, Simon Morley, Susie Grant
i. The Antarctic Treaty System (beginning in 1959 with the Antarctic Treaty) and its emphasis on conservation and protection, exemplified in the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living…Read more on Marine Ecosystem Assessment for the Southern Ocean: Summary for Policymakers
17 October, 2023 by Elisabeth Biersma, Kevin Newsham, Peter Convey
Aim Poa annua L. (annual bluegrass) is presently the sole invasive vascular plant species to have successfully established in Maritime Antarctica, where it poses a significant conservation threat to native…17 October, 2023 by Huw Griffiths, Katrin Linse
This dataset contributes to the knowledge of macro- and megafaunal Mollusca associated with a range of benthic habitat types in the South Orkney Islands, Antarctica, an exceptionally diverse region of…16 October, 2023 by Peter Davis
Understanding ice shelf water (ISW) structure is crucial for studying the basal melting of ice shelves. In this study, we performed large-eddy simulation experiments to assess ISW structure and basal…Read more on Ice Shelf Water Structure Beneath the Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica
16 October, 2023 by Dave Munday
During the Eocene and the Eocene-Oligocene transition, the lower cell of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC), associated with bottom water formation, underwent changes associated with the geological evolution of Southern…15 October, 2023 by Norman Ratcliffe
Over the past decade, drones have become increasingly popular in environmental biology and have been used to study wildlife on all continents. Drones have become of global importance for surveying…Read more on Best practices for using drones in seabird monitoring and research
12 October, 2023 by Joseph Ulanowski
Dust particles in lofted atmospheric layers may present a preferential orientation, which could be detected from the resulting dichroic extinction of the transmitted sunlight. The first indications were provided relatively…10 October, 2023 by Robert Mulvaney
High-resolution stable isotope records obtained from Antarctic ice cores can be used as proxies to investigate past climatic changes in Antarctica, overcoming the spatiotemporal limitations of observational and instrumental records.…3 October, 2023 by Victoria Warwick-Evans
Understanding the processes that drive interpopulation differences in demography and population dynamics is central to metapopulation ecology. In colonial species, populations are limited by local resource availability. However, individuals from…1 October, 2023 by Hannah Cubaynes, Peter Fretwell
The use of satellite imagery to find, count and monitor whales in remote and hard to access areas has shown some promise, but few satellite studies have, as yet, provided…Read more on Satellite image survey of beluga whales in the southern Kara Sea
1 October, 2023 by Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey
Signatories to the Antarctic Treaty System’s Environmental Protocol are committed to preventing incursions of non-native species into Antarctica, but systematic surveillance is rare. Environmental DNA (eDNA) methods provide new opportunities…1 October, 2023 by Sandra McInnes, Sandra McInnes
Glaciers are inhabited by various cryophilic organisms ranging from single celled to multicellular, like Tardigrada (water bears). Owing to their scattered distribution, glaciers represent extremely fragmented habitats, and it remains…1 October, 2023 by Peter Convey
Climate change, coupled with the introduction of non-native organisms, represent major threats to the functioning of ecosystems, especially in species-poor communities such as polar terrestrial ecosystems. In this laboratory study,…