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Successful ecosystem-based management of Antarctic krill should address uncertainties in krill recruitment, behaviour and ecological adaptation
15 October, 2020 by Geraint Tarling, Philip Trathan, Sally Thorpe, Simeon Hill
Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, supports a valuable commercial fishery in the Southwest Atlantic, which holds the highest krill densities and is warming rapidly. The krill catch is increasing, is concentrated…Tidal modulation of buoyant flow and basal melt beneath Petermann Gletscher Ice Shelf, Greenland.
13 October, 2020 by Keith Nicholls
A set of collocated, in situ oceanographic and glaciological measurements from Petermann Gletscher Ice Shelf, Greenland, provides insights into the dynamics of under‐ice flow driving basal melting. At a site…
Spotlight on the invasion of a carabid beetle on an oceanic island over a 105-year period island
13 October, 2020 by Peter Convey
The flightless beetle Merizodus soledadinus, native to the Falkland Islands and southern South America, was introduced to the sub-Antarctic Kerguelen Islands in the early Twentieth Century. Using available literature data,…
The Year of Polar Prediction in the Southern Hemisphere (YOPP-SH)
12 October, 2020 by Steve Colwell
The Year of Polar Prediction in the Southern Hemisphere (YOPP-SH) had a Special Observing Period (SOP) that ran from November 16, 2018 to February 15, 2019, a period chosen to…Read more on The Year of Polar Prediction in the Southern Hemisphere (YOPP-SH)
Geomagnetically Induced Currents and Harmonic Distortion: High time Resolution Case Studies
12 October, 2020 by Mark Clilverd
High time resolution (1‐5 s) magnetometer, geomagnetically induced current (GIC), and mains harmonic distortion data from the Halfway Bush substation in Dunedin, New Zealand are analyzed. A recently developed technique…Microplastic pollution in a rapidly changing world: Implications for remote and vulnerable marine ecosystems
10 October, 2020 by David Barnes
Ecosystems in remote regions tend to be highly specific, having historically evolved over long timescales in relatively constant environmental conditions, with little human influence. Such regions are amongst those most…
Unveiling Powell Basin’s tectonic domains and understanding its abnormal magnetic anomaly signature. Is heat the key?
8 October, 2020 by Lara Perez Miguel
Rifting of continental lithosphere leading to oceanic basins is a complex process conditioned by different factors such as the rheology and thermal structure of the underlying lithosphere, as well as…Antarctic geothermal heat flow: future research directions
7 October, 2020 by Alex Burton-Johnson, Carlos Martin Garcia, Fausto Ferraccioli
Antarctic geothermal heat flow (GHF) affects the ice sheet temperature, determining how it slides and internally deforms, as well as the rheological behaviour of the lithosphere. However, GHF remains poorly…Read more on Antarctic geothermal heat flow: future research directions
Abundance and distributional patterns of benthic peracarid crustaceans from the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean and Weddell Sea
7 October, 2020 by Huw Griffiths, Katrin Linse
Climate change is influencing some environmental variables in the Southern Ocean (SO) and this will have an effect on the marine biodiversity. Peracarid crustaceans are one of the dominant and…
Variation in zoobenthic blue carbon in the Arctic’s Barents Sea Shelf Sediments
2 October, 2020 by David Barnes, Terri Souster, Terri Souster
The flow of carbon from atmosphere to sediment fauna and sediments reduces atmospheric CO2, which in turn reduces warming. Here, during the Changing Arctic Ocean Seafloor programme, we use comparable…Read more on Variation in zoobenthic blue carbon in the Arctic’s Barents Sea Shelf Sediments
Marine hotspots of activity inform protection of a threatened community of pelagic species in a large oceanic jurisdiction
1 October, 2020 by Norman Ratcliffe
Remote oceanic islands harbour unique biodiversity, especially of species that rely on the marine trophic resources around their breeding islands. Identifying marine areas used by such species is essential to…
Measurement of snowfall: preliminary tests at the British Antarctic Survey Rothera Research Station, Antarctica
1 October, 2020 by Steve Colwell
A heated snowgauge was installed at Rothera in 2008 and continues to be in operation at the present time. Its measurements have been used to estimate annual snowfall at Rothera,…
From wood to vent: first cocculinid limpet associated with hydrothermal activity discovered in the Weddell Sea
1 October, 2020 by Katrin Linse
Lush ‘oases’ of life seen in chemosynthetic ecosystems such as hot vents and cold seeps represent rare, localized exceptions to the generally oligotrophic deep ocean floor. Organic falls, best known…Biodegradation of diesel oil by cold-adapted bacterial strains of Arthrobacter spp. from Antarctica
1 October, 2020 by Peter Convey
Bioremediation has been proposed as a means of dealing with oil spills on the continent. However, the introduction of non-native organisms, including microbes, even for this purpose would appear to…
Cephalopod beak sections used to trace mercury levels throughout the life of cephalopods: The giant warty squid Moroteuthopsis longimana as a case study
1 October, 2020
Cephalopods represent an important pathway for mercury transfer through food-webs. Due to the general difficulties in capturing oceanic squid, beaks found in the diet of top predators can be used…
Ecophysiology and ecological limits of symbiotrophic vesicomyid bivalves (Pliocardiinae) in the Southern Ocean
1 October, 2020 by Katrin Linse
Geothermal energy provides an important resource in Antarctic marine ecosystems, exemplified by the recent discovery of large-sized chemosymbiotic vesicomyid bivalves (subfamily Pliocardiinae) in the Southern Ocean. These clams, which we…
Nanoplastics affect moulting and faecal pellet sinking in Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) juveniles
1 October, 2020 by Clara Manno
Plastic debris has been identified as a potential threat to Antarctic marine ecosystems, however, the impact of nanoplastics (
Environmental drivers of movement in a threatened seabird: insights from a mechanistic model and implications for conservation
1 October, 2020 by Caitlin Frankish, Richard Phillips
Determining the drivers of movement of different life‐history stages is crucial for understanding age‐related changes in survival rates and, for marine top predators, the link between fisheries overlap and incidental…
The impact of temperature and crystal orientation fabric on the dynamics of mountain glaciers and ice streams
1 October, 2020 by Carlos Martin Garcia
Streaming ice accounts for a major fraction of global ice flux, yet we cannot yet fully explain the dominant controls on its kinematics. In this contribution, we use an anisotropic…
A synthesis of thermodynamic ablation at ice–ocean interfaces from theory, observations and models.
1 October, 2020 by Keith Nicholls
Thermodynamic ablation of ice in contact with the ocean is an essential element of ice sheet and ocean interactions but is challenging to model and quantify. Building on earlier observations…
Inbreeding depresses altruism in a cooperative society
1 October, 2020
In some animal species, individuals regularly breed with relatives, including siblings and parents. Given the high fitness costs of inbreeding, evolutionary biologists have found it challenging to understand the persistence…Read more on Inbreeding depresses altruism in a cooperative society
Efficient path estimation through parallel media for wide-beam ice-sounding radar.
1 October, 2020 by Hugh Corr
The authors propose an algorithm to estimate the path followed by refracted signals from a source to a target, through a medium formed by uniform parallel layers with known different…Read more on Efficient path estimation through parallel media for wide-beam ice-sounding radar.
Stable isotope values in South American fur seal pup whiskers as proxies of year-round maternal foraging ecology
1 October, 2020 by Iain Staniland, Kayleigh Jones, Norman Ratcliffe
Natural selection should favour strategies that maximise reproductive success. Females may use different resources during progressive stages of reproduction according to energetic demands, behavioural constraints and prey availability. We used…Habitat preferences, foraging behaviour and bycatch risk among breeding sooty shearwaters Ardenna grisea in the Southwest Atlantic
1 October, 2020 by Anne-Sophie Bonnet-Lebrun
Pelagic seabirds are important components of many marine ecosystems. The most abundant species are medium/small sized petrels (Observed eddy-internal wave interactions in the Southern Ocean
1 October, 2020 by Alexander Brearley
The physical mechanisms that remove energy from the Southern Ocean’s vigorous mesoscale eddy field are not well understood. One proposed mechanism is direct energy transfer to the internal wave field…Read more on Observed eddy-internal wave interactions in the Southern Ocean
Lithospheric delamination beneath the southern Puna plateau resolved by local earthquake tomography
1 October, 2020 by Sofia-Katerina Kufner
We present a local earthquake tomography to illuminate the crustal and uppermost mantle structure beneath the southern Puna plateau and to test the delamination hypothesis. Vp and Vp/Vs ratios were…Comparison of past and future simulations of ENSO in CMIP5/PMIP3 and CMIP6/PMIP4 models
28 September, 2020 by Louise Sime, Maria Vittoria Guarino
El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the strongest mode of interannual climate variability in the current climate, influencing ecosystems, agriculture and weather systems across the globe, but future projections of ENSO…Read more on Comparison of past and future simulations of ENSO in CMIP5/PMIP3 and CMIP6/PMIP4 models
Global River Discharge and Floods in the Warmer Climate of the Last Interglacial
28 September, 2020 by Maria Vittoria Guarino
We investigate hydrology during a past climate slightly warmer than the present: the Last Interglacial (LIG). With daily output of pre‐industrial and LIG simulations from eight new climate models we…Read more on Global River Discharge and Floods in the Warmer Climate of the Last Interglacial
Modern foraminiferal assemblages in northern Nares Strait, Petermann Fjord, and beneath Petermann ice tongue, NW Greenland
24 September, 2020 by Keith Nicholls
Calving events of Petermann Glacier, northwest Greenland, in 2010 and 2012 reduced the length of its ice tongue by c. 25 km, allowing exploration of newly uncovered seafloor during the…
The geochemical and mineralogical fingerprint of West Antarctica’s weak underbelly: Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers
20 September, 2020 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
The marine-based West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is considered the most unstable part of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, with particular vulnerability in the Amundsen Sea sector where glaciers are melting…
The impact of the Amundsen Sea freshwater balance on ocean melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
18 September, 2020 by Andrew Fleming, Adrian Jenkins, David Bett, Paul Holland
The Amundsen Sea has the highest thinning rates of ice shelves in Antarctica. This imbalance is caused by changes in ocean melting induced by warm Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) intrusions.…
Atmospheric drivers of melt on Larsen C Ice Shelf: surface energy budget regimes and the impact of foehn
16 September, 2020 by Ella Gilbert, John King
Recent ice shelf retreat on the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula has been principally attributed to atmospherically driven melt. However, previous studies on the largest of these ice shelves…
Gene flow in the Antarctic bivalve Aequiyoldia eightsii (Jay, 1839) suggests a role for the Antarctic Peninsula Coastal Current in larval dispersal
16 September, 2020 by Chester Sands, David Barnes, Michael Meredith, Simon Morley
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) dominates the open-ocean circulation of the Southern Ocean, and both isolates and connects the Southern Ocean biodiversity. However, the impact on biological processes of other…
Long-term changes in habitat and trophic level of Southern Ocean squid in relation to environmental conditions
16 September, 2020 by Louise Ireland, Richard Phillips
Long-term studies of pelagic nekton in the Southern Ocean and their responses to ongoing environmental change are rare. Using stable isotope ratios measured in squid beaks recovered from diet samples…
Forecasting extreme stratospheric polar vortex events
15 September, 2020 by Hua Lu
Extreme polar vortex events known as sudden stratospheric warmings can influence surface winter weather conditions, but their timing is difficult to predict. Here, we examine factors that influence their occurrence,…Read more on Forecasting extreme stratospheric polar vortex events
Respiration of mesopelagic fish: a comparison of respiratory electron transport system (ETS) measurements and allometrically calculated rates in the Southern Ocean and Benguela Current
14 September, 2020 by Anna Belcher, Geraint Tarling, Gabriele Stowasser, Ryan Saunders, Sophie Fielding
Mesopelagic fish are an important component of marine ecosystems, and their contribution to marine biogeochemical cycles is becoming increasingly recognized. However, major uncertainties remain in the rates at which they…
New gravity-derived bathymetry for the Thwaites, Crosson and Dotson ice shelves revealing two ice shelf populations
9 September, 2020 by Kelly Hogan, Robert Larter, Tom Jordan
Ice shelves play a critical role in the long-term stability of ice sheets through their buttressing effect. The underlying bathymetry and cavity thickness are key inputs for modelling future ice…
Revealing the former bed of Thwaites Glacier using sea-floor bathymetry: implications for warm-water routing and bed controls on ice flow and buttressing
9 September, 2020 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith, James Kirkham, Kelly Hogan, Robert Arthern, Robert Larter, Tom Jordan
The geometry of the sea floor immediately beyond Antarctica's marine-terminating glaciers is a fundamental control on warm-water routing, but it also describes former topographic pinning points that have been important…The potential of gypsum speleothems for paleoclimatology: application to the Iberian Roman Human Period.
9 September, 2020 by Thomas Bauska
Carbonate cave deposits (speleothems) have been used widely for paleoclimate reconstructions; however, few studies have examined the utility of other speleothem-forming minerals for this purpose. Here we demonstrate for the…
How climate change is affecting sea levels
7 September, 2020 by Dani Jones, David Vaughan, Emily Shuckburgh, Erik Mackie
Sea level rise increases the frequency and severity of storm surges and coastal flooding, causing serious damage to critical infrastructure and leading to the displacement of coastal communities around the…
Genome-wide insights into introgression and its consequences for genome-wide heterozygosity in the Mytilus species complex across Europe
2 September, 2020 by Luca Telesca
The three mussel species comprising the Mytilus complex are widespread across Europe and readily hybridize when they occur in sympatry, resulting in a mosaic of populations with varying genomic backgrounds.…Evolution of the geomagnetic daily variation at Tatuoca, Brazil, from 1957 to 2019: a transition from Sq to EEJ
2 September, 2020 by Ingrid Cnossen
The magnetic equator in the Brazilian region has moved over 1,100 km northward since 1957, passing the geomagnetic observatory Tatuoca (TTB), in northern Brazil, around 2013. We recovered and processed…An 83 000-year-old ice core from Roosevelt Island, Ross Sea, Antarctica
2 September, 2020 by Richard Hindmarsh, Richard Hindmarsh
In 2013 an ice core was recovered from Roosevelt Island, an ice dome between two submarine troughs carved by paleo-ice-streams in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. The ice core is part…Read more on An 83 000-year-old ice core from Roosevelt Island, Ross Sea, Antarctica
The influence of Arctic sea-ice loss on mid-latitude weather and climate: exploring sensitivities and mechanisms
1 September, 2020 by Christine McKenna
Over the past few decades, Arctic sea-ice extent has declined, while there has been an apparent increase in severe winter weather across some mid-latitude regions. This has led to much…
Evidence of strong small-scale population structure in the Antarctic freshwater copepod Boeckella poppei in lakes on Signy Island, South Orkney Islands
1 September, 2020 by Jennifer Jackson, Peter Convey
Environmental conditions were particularly severe during the Last Glacial Maximum, altering the distribution of the Southern Hemisphere biota, particularly at higher latitudes. The copepod Boeckella poppei is the only macroscopic…
Plasticity in dormancy behaviour of Calanoides acutus in Antarctic coastal waters
1 September, 2020 by Hugh Venables
Copepods that enter dormancy, such as Calanoides acutus, are key primary consumers in Southern Ocean food webs where they convert a portion of the seasonal phytoplankton biomass into a longer-term…Read more on Plasticity in dormancy behaviour of Calanoides acutus in Antarctic coastal waters
Lipid storage patterns in marine copepods: environmental, ecological
1 September, 2020 by Alessandro Cavallo, Lloyd Peck
Seasonality of food supply is a major driver of physiological and ecological adaptations of marine zooplankton. High-latitude marine copepods accumulate lipids for maintenance and reproductive maturation during the food-depleted winter…Read more on Lipid storage patterns in marine copepods: environmental, ecological
Main drivers of mercury levels in Southern Ocean lantern fish Myctophidae
1 September, 2020 by Geraint Tarling, Gabriele Stowasser, Ryan Saunders, Sophie Fielding
Myctophids are the most abundant fish group in the Southern Ocean pelagic ecosystem and are an important link in the Antarctic marine food web. Due to their major ecological role,…Read more on Main drivers of mercury levels in Southern Ocean lantern fish Myctophidae
Disturbance, dispersal and marine assemblage structure: A case study from the nearshore Southern Ocean
1 September, 2020 by Ben Robinson, David Barnes, Simon Morley
Disturbance is a key factor in most natural environments and, globally, disturbance regimes are changing, driven by increased anthropogenic influences, including climate change. There is, however, still a lack of…
Twenty first century changes in Antarctic and Southern Ocean surface climate in CMIP6
1 September, 2020 by Kaitlin Naughten, Thomas Bracegirdle
Two decades into the 21st century there is growing evidence for global impacts of Antarctic and Southern Ocean climate change. Reliable estimates of how the Antarctic climate system would behave…Read more on Twenty first century changes in Antarctic and Southern Ocean surface climate in CMIP6
A low resource subglacial bedrock sampler: The percussive rapid access isotope drill (P-RAID)
1 September, 2020 by Daniel Ashurst, Julius Rix, Robert Mulvaney
The paleoclimate community has an interest in distributed subglacial bedrock sampling but, while capable drill systems do exist, they are often incompatible with Twin Otter logistics. To address this issue,…
The role of atmospheric circulation patterns in driving recent changes in indices of extreme seasonal precipitation across Arctic Fennoscandia
1 September, 2020 by Gareth Marshall
Extreme precipitation events (EPEs) have a major impact across Arctic Fennoscandia (AF). Here we examine the spatial variability of seasonal 50-year trends in three EPEs across AF for 1968–2017, using…
Trade-off between aerobic performance and egg production in migratory macaroni penguins
1 September, 2020 by Philip Trathan
When successive stages of an organism's life-history overlap, conflicts and trade-offs can emerge due to competition among physiological pathways. For example, long periods of sustained locomotion in migrating birds are…Read more on Trade-off between aerobic performance and egg production in migratory macaroni penguins
Effect of Heavy Metals and Other Xenobiotics on Biodegradation of Waste Canola Oil by Cold-Adapted Rhodococcus sp. AQ5-07
1 September, 2020 by Peter Convey
The Antarctic is generally considered to be one of the most pristine areas in the world. However, both long and short-range pollutants are now known to be present in the…
Cretaceous arc volcanism of Palmer Land, Antarctic Peninsula: Zircon U-Pb geochronology. geochemistry, distribution and field relationships
1 September, 2020 by Alex Burton-Johnson, Philip Leat, Teal Riley
The Cretaceous marks an episode of enhanced magmatism, sedimentation and tectonic processes along the entire proto-Pacific convergent margin of West Gondwana. Cretaceous magmatism across the Antarctic Peninsula is dominated by…
Antarctic octopod beaks as proxy for mercury concentrations in soft tissues
1 September, 2020 by Mark Belchier, Susan Gregory
As the role of mercury is poorly known in Southern Ocean biota, the total mercury (T-Hg) concentrations were evaluated in upper/lower beaks, digestive gland, gills and mantle muscle of Adelieledone…Read more on Antarctic octopod beaks as proxy for mercury concentrations in soft tissues
The evaluation of the North Atlantic climate system in UKESM1 historical simulations for CMIP6
1 September, 2020 by Thomas Bracegirdle
Earth System models enable a broad range of climate interactions that physical climate models are unable to simulate. However, the extent to which adding Earth System components changes or improves…Modeling the impact of ocean circulation on chlorophyll blooms around South Georgia, Southern Ocean.
1 September, 2020 by Emma Young, Michael Meredith
The northeast periphery of the Scotia Sea hosts one of the largest chlorophyll‐a blooms of the Southern Ocean. This bloom peaks to the northwest of the island of South Georgia,…Effects of heavy metals on diesel metabolism of psychrotolerant strains of Arthrobacter sp. from Antarctica
1 September, 2020 by Peter Convey
This present study aimed at examining the ability of cold-adapted Antarctic bacteria to tolerate and degrade diesel in the presence of different types of heavy metal co-pollutants.
Latitudinal biogeographic structuring in the globally distributed moss Ceratodon purpureus
28 August, 2020 by Elisabeth Biersma, Jennifer Jackson, Katrin Linse, Peter Convey
Biogeographic patterns of globally widespread species are expected to reflect regional structure, as well as connectivity caused by occasional long-distance dispersal. We assessed the level and drivers of population structure,…
Multiple colonization and dispersal events hide the early origin and induce a lack of genetic structure of the moss Bryum argenteum in Antarctica.
27 August, 2020 by Peter Convey
The dispersal routes of taxa with transoceanic disjunctions remain poorly understood, with the potential roles of Antarctica not yet demonstrated. Mosses are suitable organisms to test direct intra‐Antarctic dispersal, as…
Response surface methodology optimisation and kinetics of diesel degradation by a cold-adapted Antarctic bacterium, Arthrobacter sp. strain AQ5-05
27 August, 2020 by Peter Convey
Petroleum hydrocarbons, notably diesel oil, are the main energy source for running amenities in the Antarctic region and are the major cause of pollution in this area. Diesel oil spills…
Biosurfactant production and growth kinetics studies of the waste canola oil-degrading bacterium Rhodococcus erythropolis AQ5-07 from Antarctica
26 August, 2020 by Peter Convey
With the progressive increase in human activities in the Antarctic region, the possibility of domestic oil spillage also increases. Developing means for the removal of oils, such as canola oil,…Ecophysiology, Morphology and Phylogeography of Insects in the Scotia Arc.
25 August, 2020 by Felipe Simoes
The Scotia Arc, comprising southern South America, South Georgia and the South Orkney Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula, is home to a range of understudied insect species which are constantly…Read more on Ecophysiology, Morphology and Phylogeography of Insects in the Scotia Arc.
Genetic diversity of soil invertebrates corroborates timing estimates for past collapses of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
24 August, 2020 by Peter Convey
During austral summer field seasons between 1999 and 2018, we sampled at 91 locations throughout southern Victoria Land and along the Transantarctic Mountains for six species of endemic microarthropods (Collembola),…Strong ice-ocean interaction beneath Shirase Glacier Tongue in East Antarctica
24 August, 2020 by Keith Nicholls
Mass loss from the Antarctic ice sheet, Earth’s largest freshwater reservoir, results directly in global sea-level rise and Southern Ocean freshening. Observational and modeling studies have demonstrated that ice shelf…Read more on Strong ice-ocean interaction beneath Shirase Glacier Tongue in East Antarctica
Synchronous timing of abrupt climate changes during the last glacial period
21 August, 2020 by Emilie Capron
Abrupt climate changes during the last glacial period have been detected in a global array of palaeoclimate records, but our understanding of their absolute timing and regional synchrony is incomplete.…Read more on Synchronous timing of abrupt climate changes during the last glacial period
Multiple late-Pleistocene colonisation events of the Antarctic pearlwort Colobanthus quitensis (Caryophyllaceae) reveal the recent arrival of native Antarctic vascular flora
20 August, 2020 by Elisabeth Biersma, Kevin Newsham, Peter Convey, Will Goodall-Copestake
Aim: Antarctica's remote and extreme terrestrial environments are inhabited by only two species of native vascular plants. We assessed genetic connectivity amongst Antarctic and South American populations of one of…Bipolar volcanic synchronization of abrupt climate change in Greenland and Antarctic ice cores during the last glacial period
19 August, 2020 by Robert Mulvaney
The last glacial period is characterized by a number of millennial climate events that have been identified in both Greenland and Antarctic ice cores and that are abrupt in Greenland…
Control of the oceanic heat content of the Getz‐Dotson Trough, Antarctica, by the Amundsen Sea Low
18 August, 2020 by Adrian Jenkins, Paul Holland
The changing supply of warm Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) to the West Antarctic continental shelf is responsible for the basal melting and thinning of the West Antarctic ice shelves that…Modeling of the Influence of Sea Ice Cycle and Langmuir Circulation on the Upper Ocean Mixed Layer Depth and Freshwater Distribution at the West Antarctic Peninsula
18 August, 2020 by Heather Regan, Michael Meredith, Paul Holland
The Southern Ocean is chronically undersampled due to its remoteness, harsh environment, and sea ice cover. Ocean circulation models yield significant insight into key processes and to some extent obviate…
Can DEB models infer metabolic differences between intertidal and subtidal morphotypes of the Antarctic limpet Nacella concinna (Strebel, 1908)?
15 August, 2020 by Simon Morley
Studying the influence of changing environmental conditions on Antarctic marine benthic invertebrates is strongly constrained by limited access to the region, which poses difficulties to performing long-term experimental studies. Ecological…
Mg/Ca-temperature calibration of polar benthic foraminifera species for reconstruction of bottom water temperatures on the Antarctic shelf
15 August, 2020 by Elaine Mawbey, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith
Benthic foraminifera Mg/Ca is a well-established bottom water temperature (BWT) proxy used in paleoclimate studies. The relationship between Mg/Ca and BWT for numerous species has been determined using core-top and…Estimating circumpolar distributions of lanternfish using 2D and 3D ecological niche models.
13 August, 2020 by Geraint Tarling, Jennifer Freer, Martin Collins
Ecological niche models (ENMs) can be a practical approach for investigating distributions and habitat characteristics of pelagic species. In principle, to reflect the ecological niche of a species well, ENMs…Scientific challenges and present capabilities in underwater robotic vehicle design and navigation for oceanographic exploration under-ice.
11 August, 2020 by Pierre Dutrieux
This paper reviews the scientific motivation and challenges, development, and use of underwater robotic vehicles designed for use in ice-covered waters, with special attention paid to the navigation systems employed…
Sea-ice-free Arctic during the Last Interglacial supports fast future loss
10 August, 2020 by Irene Malmierca Vallet, Louise Sime, Maria Vittoria Guarino
The Last Interglacial (LIG), a warmer period 130,000–116,000 years before present, is a potential analogue for future climate change. Stronger LIG summertime insolation at high northern latitudes drove Arctic land…Read more on Sea-ice-free Arctic during the Last Interglacial supports fast future loss
RABID: Basal conditions on Rutford Ice Stream, West Antarctica: Hot-water drilling and downhole instrumentation. British Antarctic Survey Field Report, R/2004/S3 [BAS Archives Ref: AD6/2R/2004/S3]
7 August, 2020 by Andy Smith
The main fieldwork for project AFI 1-05 (the RABID project) was carried out on Rutford Ice Stream in the 2004/05 field season. The biggest scientific task was to access the…
CMIP6/PMIP4 simulations of the mid-Holocene and Last Interglacial using HadGEM3: comparison to the pre-industrial era, previous model versions and proxy data
6 August, 2020 by Irene Malmierca Vallet, Louise Sime, Maria Vittoria Guarino
Palaeoclimate model simulations are an important tool to improve our understanding of the mechanisms of climate change. These simulations also provide tests of the ability of models to simulate climates…
Projecting ozone hole recovery using an ensemble of chemistry-climate models weighted by model performance and independence
1 August, 2020 by Scott Hosking
The current method for averaging model ensembles, which is to calculate a multi model mean, assumes model independence and equal model skill. Sharing of model components amongst families of models…
High mercury levels in Antarctic toothfish Dissostichus mawsoni from the Southwest Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean
1 August, 2020 by Simeon Hill
Mercury is a bioaccumulating toxic pollutant which can reach humans through the consumption of contaminated food (e.g. marine fish). Although the Southern Ocean is often portrayed as a pristine ecosystem,…
Cryptic speciation in gentoo penguins is driven by geographic isolation and regional marine conditions: Unforeseen vulnerabilities to global change
1 August, 2020 by Philip Trathan
The conservation of biodiversity is hampered by data deficiencies, with many new species and subspecies awaiting description or reclassification. Population genomics and ecological niche modelling offer complementary new tools for…
Forecasting GOES 15 >2 MeV electron fluxes from solar wind data and geomagnetic indices
1 August, 2020 by Richard Horne
The flux of > 2 MeV electrons at geosynchronous orbit is used by space weather forecasters as a key indicator of enhanced risk of damage to spacecraft in low, medium…Read more on Forecasting GOES 15 >2 MeV electron fluxes from solar wind data and geomagnetic indices
Sex-specific effects of wind on the flight decisions of a sexually-dimorphic soaring bird
1 August, 2020 by Richard Phillips
1. In a highly dynamic airspace, flying animals are predicted to adjust foraging behaviour to variable wind conditions to minimize movement costs. 2. Sexual size dimorphism is widespread in wild…
A Triassic to Jurassic arc in north Borneo: Geochronology, geochemistry, and genesis of the Segama Valley Felsic Intrusions and the Sabah ophiolite
1 August, 2020 by Alex Burton-Johnson
New field, geochemical, and geochronological data from the Segama Valley Felsic Intrusions (SVFI) of Sabah, north Borneo, shows them to be arc-derived tonalites; not windows or partial melts of a…Multiscale observation of two polar cap arcs occurring on different magnetic field topologies
1 August, 2020 by Andrew Kavanagh, Jade Reidy, Jade Reidy
This paper presents observations of polar cap arc substructure down to scale sizes of meters and temporal resolution of milliseconds. Two case studies containing polar cap arcs occurring over Svalbard…Interhemispheric comparisons of large nighttime magnetic perturbation events relevant to GICs
1 August, 2020 by Michael Rose, Mervyn Freeman
Nearly all studies of impulsive magnetic perturbation events (MPEs) with large magnetic field variability (dB/dt) that can produce dangerous geomagnetically‐induced currents (GICs) have used data from the northern hemisphere. Here…An 85K SNP array uncovers inbreeding and cryptic relatedness in an Antarctic fur seal breeding colony
1 August, 2020 by Jaume Forcada
High density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays allow large numbers of individuals to be rapidly and cost-effectively genotyped at large numbers of genetic markers. However, despite being widely used in…
A comparison of baleen whale density estimates derived from overlapping satellite imagery and a shipborne survey
31 July, 2020 by Connor Bamford, Hannah Cubaynes, Jennifer Jackson, Laura Gerrish, Philip Trathan, Peter Fretwell
As whales recover from commercial exploitation, they are increasing in abundance in habitats that they have been absent from for decades. However, studying the recovery and habitat use patterns of…
Changing biogeochemistry of the Southern Ocean and its ecosystem implications
31 July, 2020 by David Barnes
The Southern Ocean plays a critical role in regulating global climate as a major sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), and in global ocean biogeochemistry by supplying nutrients to the…Read more on Changing biogeochemistry of the Southern Ocean and its ecosystem implications
Microalgae as potential anti-inflammatory natural products against human inflammatory skin diseases
31 July, 2020 by Peter Convey
The skin is the first line of defense against pathogen and other environmental pollutant. The body is constantly exposed to reactive oxygen species (ROS) that stimulates inflammatory process in the…Depth-dependent artifacts resulting from ApRES signal clipping
28 July, 2020 by Irena Vankova, Keith Nicholls
Several autonomous phase-sensitive radio-echo sounders (ApRES) were deployed at Greenland glaciers to investigate ice deformation. Different attenuation settings were tested and it was observed that, in the presence of clipping…Read more on Depth-dependent artifacts resulting from ApRES signal clipping
Experimental protocol for sea level projections from ISMIP6 stand-alone ice sheet models
23 July, 2020 by Thomas Bracegirdle
Projection of the contribution of ice sheets to sea level change as part of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) takes the form of simulations from coupled ice…