Showing 11862 items
1 January, 2020 by Lloyd Peck
In this horizon scan, we highlight 15 emerging issues of potential relevance to global conservation in 2020. Seven relate to potentially extensive changes in vegetation or ecological systems. These changes…Read more on A Horizon Scan of Emerging Global Biological Conservation Issues for 2020.
1 January, 2020 by Peter Convey
Pravastatin is a clinically useful cholesterol-lowering agent. The development of a one-step fermentation process using pravastatin-producing microfungi may be an attractive approach from an economic point of view. To facilitate…1 January, 2020 by Scott Hosking
Ensembles of geophysical models improve projection accuracy and express uncertainties. We develop a novel data-driven ensembling strategy for combining geophysical models using Bayesian Neural Networks, which infers spatiotemporally varying model…Read more on Ensembling geophysical models with Bayesian Neural Networks
30 December, 2019 by Anna Jones, Markus Frey
The cryosphere, which comprises a large portion of Earth’s surface, is rapidly changing as a consequence of global climate change. Ice, snow, and frozen ground in the polar and alpine…27 December, 2019 by Mark Clilverd
A technique for analysing very low frequency (VLF) radiowave signals is investigated in order to achieve rapid, real‐time detection of large solar flares, through the monitoring of changes in VLF…26 December, 2019 by Alex Brisbourne
Using 8‐25s period Rayleigh and Love wave phase velocity dispersion data extracted from seismic ambient noise, we (i) model the 3D shear wave velocity structure of the West Antarctic crust…26 December, 2019 by Hayley Allison, Nigel Meredith, Sarah Glauert
Using a particle‐in‐cell code, we study the diffusive response of electrons due to wave‐particle interactions with whistler‐mode waves. The relatively simple configuration of field‐aligned waves in a cold plasma is…26 December, 2019 by Mark Clilverd
Many factors influence relativistic outer radiation belt electron fluxes, such as waves in the ultra low frequency (ULF) Pc5, very low frequency (VLF), and electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) frequency bands,…23 December, 2019 by Andrew Orr, Clare Allen, Daniel Bannister, Scott Hosking, Tony Phillips
The need to provide accurate estimates of precipitation over catchments in the Hindu Kush, Karakoram, and Himalaya mountain ranges for hydrological and water resource systems assessments is widely recognized, as…23 December, 2019 by Jakob Thyrring
Species expand towards higher latitudes in response to climate warming, but the pace of this expansion is related to the physiological capacity to resist cold stress. However, few studies exist…Read more on Local cold adaption increases the thermal window of temperate mussels in the Arctic
17 December, 2019 by Liz Thomas, Robert Mulvaney
We study a firn and ice core drilled at the new "Lock-In" site in East Antarctica, located 136 km away from Concordia station towards Durmont d'Urville. High resolution chemical and physical…Read more on Multi-tracer study of gas trapping in an East Antarctic ice core
17 December, 2019 by Tracy Moffat-Griffin
Atmospheric gravity waves play a key role in the transfer of energy and momentum between layers of the Earth's atmosphere. However, nearly all Global Circulation Models (GCMs) seriously under-represent the…13 December, 2019
Vampyroteuthis infernalis Chun, 1903, is a widely distributed deepwater cephalopod with unique morphology and phylogenetic position. We assessed its habitat and trophic ecology on a global scale via stable isotope…12 December, 2019 by Fausto Ferraccioli, Peter Fretwell
The Antarctic ice sheet has been losing mass over past decades through the accelerated flow of its glaciers, conditioned by ocean temperature and bed topography. Glaciers retreating along retrograde slopes…12 December, 2019
Rossia palpebrosa (Sepiolida) is the most abundant nekto-benthic cephalopod in the Arctic; however, its feeding and trophic ecology are largely unknown. This work aims to assess the role of this…10 December, 2019 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith
Reductions in the thickness and extent of Antarctic ice shelves are triggering increased discharge of marine-terminating glaciers. While the impacts of recent changes are well documented, their role in modulating…Read more on The marine geological imprint of Antarctic ice shelves
4 December, 2019 by Amy King, Claire Allen, Liz Thomas, Holly Winton, Victoria Peck
Dramatic changes in sea ice have been observed in both poles in recent decades. However, the observational period for sea ice is short, and the climate models tasked with predicting…2 December, 2019 by Ed King
Suture zones are abundant on Antarctic ice shelves and widely observed to impede fracture propagation, greatly enhancing ice-shelf stability. Using seismic and radar observations on the Larsen C Ice Shelf…
1 December, 2019 by Michael Thorne
Teleost fish scales play important roles in animal protection and homeostasis. They can be targeted by endogenous estrogens and by environmental estrogenic endocrine disruptors. The phytoestrogen genistein is ubiquitous in…
1 December, 2019 by Jakob Thyrring, Lloyd Peck, Luca Telesca
Although geographical patterns of species' sensitivity to environmental changes are defined by interacting multiple stressors, little is known about compensatory processes shaping regional differences in organismal vulnerability. Here, we examine…1 December, 2019 by Fausto Ferraccioli
Accurate models of past Antarctic ice sheet behaviour require realistic reconstructions of the evolution of bedrock topography. However, other than a preliminary attempt to reconstruct Antarctic topography at the Eocene–Oligocene…Read more on Reconstructions of Antarctic topography since the Eocene–Oligocene boundary.
1 December, 2019 by Dave Munday, Michael Meredith, Paul Holland, Ryan Patmore
In the Southern Ocean the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is significantly steered by large topographic features, and sub-polar gyres form in their lee. The geometry of topographic features in the Southern…1 December, 2019 by Kevin Newsham
In contrast to the situation in plants inhabiting most of the world’s ecosystems, mycorrhizal fungi are usually absent from roots of the only two native vascular plant species of maritime…1 December, 2019 by Michael Thorne
Fish scales are mineralized structures that play important roles in protection and mineral homeostasis. This tissue expresses multiple estrogen receptor subtypes and can be targeted by estrogens or estrogenic endocrine-disrupting…
1 December, 2019 by Antony Siahaan
We document the development of the first version of the United Kingdom Earth System Model UKESM1. The model represents a major advance on its predecessor HadGEM2‐ES, with enhancements to all…Read more on UKESM1: description and evaluation of the U.K. Earth System Model
1 December, 2019 by Fausto Ferraccioli
In this study we combine seismological and petrological models with satellite gravity gradient data to obtain the thermal and compositional structure of the Antarctic lithosphere. Our results indicate that Antarctica…1 December, 2019 by Richard Phillips, Thomas Clay, Thomas Clay
Individual foraging site fidelity, whereby individuals repeatedly visit the same foraging areas, is widespread in nature, and likely benefits individuals through higher foraging efficiency and potentially, higher breeding success. It…
1 December, 2019 by Katrin Linse
We report in situ observations that reveal the presence of the thorid genus Eualus at hydrothermally active sites. The shrimp Eualus amandae Nye, Copley & Linse, 2013 was first collected…
1 December, 2019 by Andrew Meijers, Dani Jones, Emma Boland, Emily Shuckburgh
The Southern Ocean features regionally‐varying ventilation pathways that transport heat and carbon from the surface ocean to the interior thermocline on timescales of decades to centuries, but the factors that…1 December, 2019 by Andrew Meijers
Subantarctic Mode Water (SAMW) in the Pacific forms in two distinct pools in the south central and southeast Pacific, which subduct into the ocean interior and impact global storage of…Read more on A see-saw in Pacific Subantarctic Mode Water formation driven by atmospheric modes
1 December, 2019 by Peter Convey
Highlights • Insects sampled along the invasion gradient were not characterized by an increased thermal tolerance. • Significant differences in the ability to recover from thermal stress were found among…
1 December, 2019 by Richard Phillips
Illex argentinus is an ecologically and economically important species, assumed to be restricted to the Patagonian Shelf and around the subtropical convergence. Beaks found in diet samples from black-browed albatrosses…1 December, 2019 by Christian Buckingham
The ocean surface boundary layer is a critical interface across which momentum, heat, and trace gases are exchanged between the oceans and atmosphere. Surface processes (winds, waves, and buoyancy forcing)…29 November, 2019 by Oliver Marsh
Differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (DInSAR) is an essential tool for detecting ice-sheet motion near Antarctica's oceanic margin. These space-borne measurements have been used extensively in the past to map…
27 November, 2019 by Lloyd Peck, Peter Convey
Antarctica and the surrounding Southern Ocean are facing complex environmental change. Their native biota has adapted to the region’s extreme conditions over many millions of years. This unique biota is…Read more on Antarctic environmental change and biological responses
27 November, 2019 by Rachel Cavanagh, Susie Grant
The impacts of climate change and the socioecological challenges they present are ubiquitous and increasingly severe. Practical efforts to operationalize climate-responsive design and management in the global network of marine…Read more on Integrating climate adaptation and biodiversity conservation in the global ocean
25 November, 2019 by Melody Clark
Coastal ecosystems, including estuaries, are increasingly pressured by expanding hypoxic regions as a result of human activities such as increased release of nutrients and global warming. Hypoxia is often defined…21 November, 2019 by Michael Thorne
Most animal species reproduce sexually and fully parthenogenetic lineages are usually short lived in evolution. Still, parthenogenesis may be advantageous as it avoids the cost of sex and permits colonisation…
21 November, 2019 by Mark Clilverd
Observations of relativistic energetic electron fluxes in the outer radiation belt can show dropouts, i.e., sudden electron flux depletions during the main phase of a geomagnetic storm. Many recent studies…
20 November, 2019 by Andrew Clarke, David Pearce, Katrin Linse, Robert Larter
Faunal assemblages at hydrothermal vents associated with island-arc volcanism are less well known than those at vents on mid-ocean ridges and back-arc spreading centres. This study characterizes chemosynthetic biotopes at…20 November, 2019 by Maria Vittoria Guarino
The last extended time period when climate may have been warmer than today was during the Last Interglacial (LIG; ca. 129 to 120 thousand years ago). However, a global view…
19 November, 2019 by Peter Convey
Vegetation near bird and seal rookeries typically has high δ15N signatures and these high values are linked to the enriched δ15N values of rookery soils. However, Antarctic cryptogams are mostly…18 November, 2019 by Louis-Alexandre Couston
Bowman et al. reported low-frequency photometric variability in 164 O- and B-type stars observed with K2 and TESS. They interpret these motions as internal gravity waves, which could be excited…Read more on Low-frequency variability in massive stars: core generation or surface phenomenon?
9 November, 2019 by Chester Sands, Quentin Jossart
Poecilogony, or multiple developmental modes in a single species, is exceedingly rare. Several species described as poecilogenous were later demonstrated to be multiple (cryptic) species with a different developmental mode.…
8 November, 2019 by Richard Horne
Space weather phenomena have been studied in detail in the peer‐reviewed scientific literature. However, there has arguably been scant analysis of the potential socioeconomic impacts of space weather, despite a…8 November, 2019 by Peter Convey
Antarctica is isolated, surrounded by the Southern Ocean, and has experienced extreme environmental conditions for millions of years, including during recent Pleistocene glacial maxima. How Antarctic terrestrial species might have…8 November, 2019 by Joanne Johnson
We describe new Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) ice thickness constraints for three locations spanning the Weddell Sea Embayment (WSE) of Antarctica. Samples collected from the Shackleton Range, Pensacola Mountains, and…
7 November, 2019 by Chester Sands, David Barnes
Biodiversity tends to decrease with increasing isolation and reduced habitat size, and increase with habitat age. Ascension Island and its seamounts are small, isolated and relatively young, yet, within its…5 November, 2019 by Rebecca Vignols
The taxonomic composition of the biota of the Coralline Crag Formation (early Pliocene, eastern England) provides conflicting evidence of seawater temperature during deposition, some taxa indicating cool temperate conditions by…
4 November, 2019 by Peter Convey
Terrestrial cyanobacteria are very diverse and widely distributed in Antarctica, where they can form macroscopically visible biofilms on the surfaces of soils and rocks, and on benthic surfaces in fresh…1 November, 2019 by Kevin Newsham
A resumption of climate warming in maritime Antarctica, arising from continued greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere, is predicted to lead to further expansions of plant populations across the region,…
1 November, 2019 by Alistair Crame, Jane Francis, Rowan Whittle, Vanessa Bowman
Taxonomic and ecological recovery from the Cretaceous–Palaeogene (K–Pg) mass extinction 66 million years ago shaped the composition and structure of modern ecosystems. The timing and nature of recovery has been…
1 November, 2019 by Lara Perez Miguel
The Scotia Sea is a complex geological area located in the Southern Ocean which evolution is closely linked to the opening of the Drake Passage. Structural highs of continental nature…
1 November, 2019 by Hugh Venables
Climate change at the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is predicted to cause major changes in phytoplankton community composition, however, detailed seasonal field data remain limited and it is largely unknown…
1 November, 2019 by Aurelia Reichardt, Lloyd Peck, Simon Morley
For many types of seaweeds in Polar Regions, open questions remain about how their life cycle contributes to their overall adaptation to the extreme abiotic environment. This applies in particular…
1 November, 2019 by Katrin Linse
Traits are increasingly being used to quantify global biodiversity patterns, with trait databases growing in size and number, across diverse taxa. Despite growing interest in a trait‐based approach to the…Read more on sFDvent: a global functional trait database for deep-sea hydrothermal vent fauna
1 November, 2019 by Mark Clilverd
VLF radio signals with travel times ~100 ms were observed continuously for up to ~11 hours at night on Rarotonga (Cook Islands, ~21°S) at 21.4 kHz from US Navy transmitter…Read more on Very low latitude whistler‐mode signals: Observations at three widely spaced latitudes
1 November, 2019 by Hayley Allison, Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
In the Outer Radiation Belt, the acceleration and loss of high‐energy electrons is largely controlled by wave‐particle interactions. Quasilinear diffusion coefficients are an efficient way to capture the small‐scale physics…Read more on Variability of quasilinear diffusion coefficients for plasmaspheric hiss
1 November, 2019 by Katrin Linse
The recent discovery and exploration of deep-sea hydrothermal vent fields in the Mid-Cayman Spreading Centre, Caribbean Sea (Beebe Vent Field, 4956–4972 m depth) and the East Scotia Ridge, Southern Ocean…1 November, 2019 by Hugh Venables, Alexander Brearley, Michael Meredith
Oceanic heat strongly influences the glaciers and ice shelves along West Antarctica. Prior studies show that the subsurface onshore heat flux from the Southern Ocean on the shelf occurs through…1 November, 2019 by Alexander Brearley, Ryan Scott
A rapid, high‐resolution shipboard survey, using a combination of lowered and expendable hydrographic measurements and vessel‐mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler data, provided a unique three‐dimensional view of an Arctic anti‐cyclonic…1 November, 2019 by Mervyn Freeman
Sudden commencements (SCs) are rapid increases in the northward component of the surface geomagnetic field, related to sharp increases in the dynamic pressure of the solar wind. Large rates of…30 October, 2019 by Bianca Perren, Claire Allen
The sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia provides terrestrial and coastal marine records of climate variability, which are crucial for the understanding of the drivers of Holocene climate changes in the…29 October, 2019 by Richard Phillips
The Southern Ocean represents a continuous stretch of circumpolar marine habitat, but the potential physical and ecological drivers of evolutionary genetic differentiation across this vast ecosystem remain unclear. We tested…29 October, 2019 by Mervyn Freeman
We use National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis data to show that Antarctic surface air temperature anomalies result from differences in the daily-mean duskward component, By,…28 October, 2019 by John Turner
Recent major melting events in West Antarctica have raised concerns about a potential hydrofracturing and ice shelf instability. These events often share common forcings of surface melt-like anomalous radiative fluxes,…Read more on West Antarctic surface melt triggered by atmospheric rivers
24 October, 2019 by Dominic Hodgson, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith, Michael Meredith, Stephen Roberts, William Dickens
The Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet is currently experiencing sustained and accelerating loss of ice. Determining when these changes were initiated and identifying the main drivers is hampered by the short…24 October, 2019 by Peter Convey
Biological invasions represent significant economic and conservation challenges, though it is widely acknowledged that their impacts are often poorly documented and difficult to predict. In the Antarctic, one non-native vascular…18 October, 2019 by Anna Belcher, Geraint Tarling, Simeon Hill
Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) are swarming, oceanic crustaceans, up to two inches long, and best known as prey for whales and penguins – but they have another important role. With…Read more on The importance of Antarctic krill in biogeochemical cycles
17 October, 2019 by Jennifer Jackson, Peter Fretwell
We test the ability of Very High Resolution satellite (VHR) imagery to detect stranded whales using both manual and automated methods. We use the 2015 mass mortality event in the…16 October, 2019 by Jennifer Jackson
The recovery of whale populations from centuries of exploitation will have important management and ecological implications due to greater exposure to anthropogenic activities and increasing prey consumption. Here, a Bayesian…Read more on Assessing the recovery of an Antarctic predator from historical exploitation
9 October, 2019 by Katrin Linse
Hydrothermal vents at the East Scotia Ridge (ESR) were the first vents to be visually confirmed and surveyed in the Southern Ocean. A trochoid snail was recovered from low diffuse…2 October, 2019 by Hugh Venables, Alexander Brearley, Michael Meredith, Sophie Fielding
The OceanGliders program started in 2016 to support active coordination and enhancement of global glider activity. OceanGliders contributes to the international efforts of the Global Ocean Observation System (GOOS) for…Read more on OceanGliders: a component of the integrated GOOS
2 October, 2019 by Claire Waluda, Norman Ratcliffe, Philip Trathan
There is growing evidence that microplastic pollution (Read more on Microplastics in gentoo penguins from the Antarctic region
2 October, 2019 by Keith Nicholls
Thinning rates of ice shelves vary widely around Antarctica, and basal melting is a major component of ice shelf mass loss. In this study, we present records of basal melting…2 October, 2019 by Keith Nicholls
The buttressing potential of ice shelves is modulated by changes in subshelf melting, in response to changing ocean conditions. We analyze the temporal variability in subshelf melting using an autonomous…1 October, 2019 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
About 400 subglacial lakes are known from Antarctica. The question of whether life unique of subglacial lakes exists has been paramount since their discovery. Despite frequent evidence of microbial life…1 October, 2019 by Philip Trathan
The study of systematics in wide-ranging seabirds can be challenging due to the vast geographic scales involved, as well as the possible discordance between molecular, morphological and behavioral data. In…
1 October, 2019 by Peter Convey
In this study, two cyanobacterial strains (morphologically identified as Microcystis novacekii BA005 and Nostoc paludosum BA033) were exposed to different Mn concentrations: 7.0, 10.5, 15.7, 23.6 and 35.4 mg L−1 for BA005;…1 October, 2019 by Iain Staniland
Understanding how changes in oceanographic conditions affect predators and their prey is fundamental for interpreting variability in natural marine ecosystems. At South Georgia, Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella are known…1 October, 2019 by Jaume Forcada
Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella colonies are found on sub-Antarctic islands around the continent. These islands experience a range of conditions in terms of physical and biological habitat, creating a…Read more on Prey differences drive local genetic adaptation in Antarctic fur seals
1 October, 2019 by Liz Thomas
The progress of science is tied to the standardization of measurements, instruments, and data. This is especially true in the Big Data age, where analyzing large data volumes critically hinges…Read more on PaCTS 1.0: A Crowdsourced Reporting Standard for Paleoclimate Data
1 October, 2019 by Iain Staniland
South American fur seals (Arctocephalus australis) are widely distributed, yet surprisingly little is known about their ecology. In particular, population data are sparse and outdated for many breeding locations, including…
30 September, 2019 by Jeremy Wilkinson
Snow thickness measurements over relatively smooth Arctic first-year sea ice, obtained near Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada (2014, 2016 and 2017) and near Elson Lagoon, Alaska, USA (2003 and 2006), are…
18 September, 2019 by Simon Morley
The dynamics of microfilament (Read more on Dynamics of marine debris ingestion by profitable fishes along the estuarine ecocline
18 September, 2019 by Richard Phillips
Penguins (Sphenisciformes) are a remarkable order of flightless wing-propelled diving seabirds distributed widely across the southern hemisphere. They share a volant common ancestor with Procellariiformes close to the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary…Read more on High-coverage genomes to elucidate the evolution of penguins
15 September, 2019 by Alex Brisbourne
We present a shear wave model of the West Antarctic upper mantle to ∼200 km depth with enhanced regional resolution from the 2016-2018 UK Antarctic Seismic Network. The model is…
10 September, 2019 by Adrian Jenkins, Paul Holland
Variability in the heat delivery by Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) is responsible for modulating the basal melting of the Amundsen Sea ice shelves. However, the mechanisms controlling the CDW inflow…Read more on Wind-driven processes controlling oceanic heat delivery to the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica
6 September, 2019 by Jaume Forcada
The Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella) is an abundant Antarctic otariid. Here, we present the complete mitochondrial DNA sequence of this species, which includes 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA…Read more on Complete mitochondrial genome of the Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella)
5 September, 2019 by Mark Clilverd
Particle observations from low Earth orbiting satellites are used to undertake superposed epoch analysis around clusters of substorms, in order to investigate radiation belt dynamical responses to mild geomagnetic disturbances.…
4 September, 2019 by Eugene Murphy, Geraint Tarling, Ryan Saunders, Simeon Hill
Myctophid fish are the most abundant and diverse mesopelagic fishes in the Southern Ocean. They are a conduit of energy between primary consumers and higher marine predators, and between the…