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Shifting perspectives in polar research: Global lessons on the barriers and drivers for securing academic careers in natural sciences

11 November, 2021 by Huw Griffiths, Peter Convey

The polar regions provide valuable insights into the functioning of the Earth’s regulating systems. Conducting field research in such harsh and remote environments requires strong international cooperation, extended planning horizons,…

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Effects of competitive pressure and habitat heterogeneity on niche partitioning between Arctic and boreal congeners

11 November, 2021 by Anne-Sophie Bonnet-Lebrun, Derren Fox, Norman Ratcliffe

The rapidly changing climate in the Arctic is expected to have a major impact on the foraging ecology of seabirds, owing to changes in the distribution and abundance of their…

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Large within, and between, species differences in marine cellular responses: Unpredictability in a changing environment

10 November, 2021 by Lloyd Peck, Martin Collins, Melody Clark

Predicting the impacts of altered environments on future biodiversity requires a detailed understanding of organism responses to change. To date, studies evaluating mechanisms underlying marine organism stress responses have largely…

Read more on Large within, and between, species differences in marine cellular responses: Unpredictability in a changing environment

Untangling local and remote influences in two major petrel habitats in the oligotrophic Southern Ocean

1 November, 2021 by Dani Jones, Eugene Murphy, Richard Phillips

Ocean circulation connects geographically distinct ecosystems across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales via exchanges of physical and biogeochemical properties. Remote oceanographic processes can be especially important for…

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A long road to recovery: dynamics and ecology of the marbled rockcod (Notothenia rossii) at South Georgia, 50 years after over-exploitation

1 November, 2021 by Alice Clement, Martin Collins, Mark Belchier, Philip Hollyman, Susan Gregory, Simeon Hill

Exploitation is one of the major drivers of change in marine ecosystems. Following discovery in 1775, South Georgia saw sequential overexploitation of living resources, including seals, whales, and fish. Although…

Read more on A long road to recovery: dynamics and ecology of the marbled rockcod (Notothenia rossii) at South Georgia, 50 years after over-exploitation

Taxonomy based on limited genomic markers may underestimate species diversity of rockhopper penguins and threaten their conservation

1 November, 2021 by Philip Trathan

Delimiting recently diverged species is challenging. During speciation, genetic differentiation may be distributed unevenly across the genome, as different genomic regions can be subject to different selective pressures and evolutionary…

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Evidence for a “Little Ice Age” glacial advance within the Antarctic Peninsula – Examples from glacially-overrun raised beaches

1 November, 2021 by Liz Thomas

Recognition of how dynamic the Antarctic ice sheets and glaciers were during the late Holocene has grown in recent years. Proxy data suggests the presence of Neoglacial advances but few…

Read more on Evidence for a “Little Ice Age” glacial advance within the Antarctic Peninsula – Examples from glacially-overrun raised beaches

The nature of ice intermittently accreted at the base of Ronne Ice Shelf, Antarctica, assessed using phase‐sensitive radar

21 October, 2021 by Hugh Corr, Irena Vankova, Keith Nicholls

In-situ phase-sensitive radar measurements from the Ronne Ice Shelf (RIS) reveal evidence of intermittent basal accretion periods at several sites that are melting in the long-term mean. Periods when ice…

Read more on The nature of ice intermittently accreted at the base of Ronne Ice Shelf, Antarctica, assessed using phase‐sensitive radar

Population abundance of recovering humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and other baleen whales in the Scotia Arc, South Atlantic

14 October, 2021 by Eugene Murphy, Jennifer Jackson, Philip Trathan, Sophie Fielding

Following the cessation of whaling, South Atlantic populations of humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) and some other baleen whale species are recovering, but there has been limited monitoring of their recovery in…

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Southern Ocean food web modelling: Progress, prognoses, and future priorities for research and policy makers

14 October, 2021 by Eugene Murphy, Nadine Johnston, Simeon Hill

Globally important services are supported by Southern Ocean ecosystems, underpinned by the structure, function, and dynamics of complex interconnected and regionally distinctive food webs. These food webs vary in response…

Read more on Southern Ocean food web modelling: Progress, prognoses, and future priorities for research and policy makers

Atmospheric tomography using the Nordic Meteor Radar Cluster and Chilean Observation Network De Meteor Radars: Network details and 3D-Var retrieval

8 October, 2021

Ground-based remote sensing of atmospheric parameters is often limited to single station observations by vertical profiles at a certain geographic location. This is a limiting factor for investigating gravity wave…

Read more on Atmospheric tomography using the Nordic Meteor Radar Cluster and Chilean Observation Network De Meteor Radars: Network details and 3D-Var retrieval

The discovery and preliminary geological and faunal descriptions of three new Steinahóll vent Sites, Reykjanes Ridge, Iceland

5 October, 2021 by Katrin Linse

During RV MS Merian expedition MSM75, an international, multidisciplinary team explored the Reykjanes Ridge from June to August 2018. The first area of study, Steinahóll (150–350 m depth), was chosen…

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From data to marine ecosystem assessments of the Southern Ocean: Achievements, challenges, and lessons for the future

5 October, 2021 by Huw Griffiths

Southern Ocean ecosystems offer numerous benefits to human society and the global environment, and maintaining them requires well-informed and effective ecosystem-based management. Up to date and accurate information is needed…

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Developing resilience to climate change impacts in Antarctica: An evaluation of Antarctic Treaty System protected area policy

1 October, 2021 by John Turner, Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey

Antarctica is increasingly vulnerable to climate change impacts, with the continent predicted to warm by ∼4 °C by 2100 under a ‘business as usual’ greenhouse gas emission scenario. Simultaneously, human…

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Exploring the plant environmental DNA diversity in soil from two sites on Deception Island (Antarctica, South Shetland Islands) using metabarcoding

1 October, 2021 by Peter Convey

The few Antarctic studies to date to have applied metabarcoding in Antarctica have primarily focused on microorganisms. In this study, for the first time, we apply high-throughput sequencing of environmental…

Read more on Exploring the plant environmental DNA diversity in soil from two sites on Deception Island (Antarctica, South Shetland Islands) using metabarcoding

Geochronology and geochemistry of the South Scotia Ridge: Miocene island arc volcanism of the Scotia Sea

1 October, 2021 by Alex Burton-Johnson, Kelly Hogan, Philip Leat, Teal Riley

The ancestral South Sandwich arc (ASSA) records evidence of Oligocene – Miocene intra-oceanic island arc volcanism in the central Scotia Sea and potentially formed an important topographic barrier to deep…

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Editorial: ‘No continent is immune, including Antarctica’, but National Antarctic Programmes acted collectively to avert disaster

1 October, 2021 by Jane Francis

The global reach of the COVID-19 pandemic threatened Antarctic activities, even though the continent is isolated and remote. Members of the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP) quickly…

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Drift orbit bifurcations and cross-field transport in the outer radiation belt: Global MHD and integrated test-particle simulations

30 September, 2021 by Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert

Energetic particle fluxes in the outer magnetosphere present a significant challenge to modeling efforts as they can vary by orders of magnitude in response to solar wind driving conditions. In…

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Pragmatic assignment of species groups based on primary species hypotheses: the case of a dominant component of the Southern Ocean benthic fauna

30 September, 2021 by Chester Sands

Ecological studies that enhance our understanding of the structure and function of the natural world rely heavily on accurate species identification. With rapid sample accumulation and declining taxonomic expertise, cladistics,…

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Otolith-derived field metabolic rates of myctophids (Family Myctophidae) from the Scotia Sea (Southern Ocean)

30 September, 2021 by Anna Belcher, Gabriele Stowasser, Ryan Saunders

Myctophids (Family Myctophidae, commonly known as the lanternfishes) are critical components of open ocean food webs and an important part of the ocean biological carbon pump, as many species actively…

Read more on Otolith-derived field metabolic rates of myctophids (Family Myctophidae) from the Scotia Sea (Southern Ocean)

Standing stock of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba Dana, 1850) (Euphausiacea) in the Southwest Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean, 2018–19

22 September, 2021 by Eugene Murphy, Philip Trathan, Sophie Fielding

Estimates of the distribution and density of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba Dana, 1850) were derived from a large-scale survey conducted during the austral summer in the Southwest Atlantic sector of…

Read more on Standing stock of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba Dana, 1850) (Euphausiacea) in the Southwest Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean, 2018–19

Multiyear trend in reproduction underpins interannual variation in gametogenic development of an Antarctic urchin

22 September, 2021 by Lloyd Peck, Rebecca De Leij

Ecosystems and their biota operate on cyclic rhythms, often entrained by predictable, small-scale changes in their natural environment. Recording and understanding these rhythms can detangle the effect of human induced…

Read more on Multiyear trend in reproduction underpins interannual variation in gametogenic development of an Antarctic urchin

Interhemispheric differences of mesosphere-lower thermosphere winds and tides investigated from three whole-atmosphere models and meteor radar observations

17 September, 2021

Long-term and continuous observations of mesospheric-lower thermospheric winds are rare, but they are important to investigate climatological changes at these altitudes on timescales of several years, covering a solar cycle…

Read more on Interhemispheric differences of mesosphere-lower thermosphere winds and tides investigated from three whole-atmosphere models and meteor radar observations

Climatology of quasi-2-day wave structure and variability at middle latitudes in the northern and southern hemispheres.

15 September, 2021 by Tracy Moffat-Griffin

Climatological structure of the quasi-2-day wave (Q2DW) at middle latitudes in temperature and horizontal winds in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) was compared between the northern and southern hemispheres.…

Read more on Climatology of quasi-2-day wave structure and variability at middle latitudes in the northern and southern hemispheres.

Sweepstake reproductive success and collective dispersal produce chaotic genetic patchiness in a broadcast spawner

10 September, 2021 by Lloyd Peck, Michael Meredith, Melody Clark

A long-standing paradox of marine populations is chaotic genetic patchiness (CGP), temporally unstable patterns of genetic differentiation that occur below the geographic scale of effective dispersal. Several mechanisms are hypothesized…

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Societal importance of Antarctic negative feedbacks on climate change: blue carbon gains from sea ice, ice shelf and glacier losses.

7 September, 2021 by Chester Sands, David Barnes, Nadescha Zwerschke

Diminishing prospects for environmental preservation under climate change are intensifying efforts to boost capture, storage and sequestration (long-term burial) of carbon. However, as Earth’s biological carbon sinks also shrink, remediation…

Read more on Societal importance of Antarctic negative feedbacks on climate change: blue carbon gains from sea ice, ice shelf and glacier losses.

External Morphology of Larvae of Belgica antarctica Jacobs, 1900 (Diptera, Chironomidae) Obtained from Two Locations in Maritime Antarctica

3 September, 2021 by Peter Convey

The external morphology of the fourth-instar larva of the Antarctic endemic chironomid midge Belgica antarctica is described. Larvae were collected from Jougla Point (Wiencke Island) and an un-named island close…

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A new percussion hammer mechanism for a borehole deployable subglacial sediment corer

1 September, 2021 by Andy Smith, Dominic Hodgson, Daniel Ashurst, James Smith, Keith Makinson, Paul Anker, Peter Davis

Subglacial sediments have the potential to reveal information about the controls on glacier flow, changes in ice-sheet history and characterise life in those environments. Retrieving sediments from beneath the ice,…

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Strong quasi-stationary wintertime atmospheric surface pressure anomalies drive a dipole pattern in the Subantarctic Mode Water formation

1 September, 2021 by Andrew Meijers

The deepest wintertime (Jul-Sep) mixed layers associated with Subantarctic Mode Water (SAMW) formation develop in the Indian and Pacific sectors of the Southern Ocean. In these two sectors the dominant…

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Utilising IPCC assessments to support the ecosystem approach to fisheries management within a warming Southern Ocean

1 September, 2021 by Eugene Murphy, John Turner, Michael Meredith, Philip Hollyman, Philip Trathan, Rachel Cavanagh, Simeon Hill, Susie Grant

Southern Ocean marine ecosystems are highly vulnerable to climate-driven change, the impacts of which must be factored into conservation and management. The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living…

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Regime behavior in the upper stratosphere as a precursor of stratosphere-troposphere coupling in the northern winter

1 September, 2021 by Hua Lu, John King, Thomas Bracegirdle

A new regime index is constructed to capture the seasonal development of the stratospheric polar vortex in the northern winter, based on the standard deviation of Ertel’s potential vorticity in…

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Future sea level change under Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 and 6 scenarios from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets

28 August, 2021 by Thomas Bracegirdle

Projections of the sea level contribution from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets rely on atmospheric and oceanic drivers obtained from climate models. The Earth System Models participating in the…

Read more on Future sea level change under Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 and 6 scenarios from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets

Frequency-dependent modulation of whistler-mode waves by density irregularities during the recovery phase of a geomagnetic storm

28 August, 2021 by Richard Horne

Density irregularities near the plasmapause are commonly observed and play an important role in whistler-mode wave excitation and propagation. In this study, we report a frequency-dependent modulation event of whistler-mode…

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