Showing 13475 items
24 October, 2018 by Ed King, Hilmar Gudmundsson, Jan De Rydt
The rate and direction of rift propagation through ice shelves depends on both the stress field and the heterogeneity, or otherwise, of the physical properties of the ice. The Brunt…20 October, 2018 by Chester Sands, David Barnes, Simon Morley, Will Goodall-Copestake
There has been a recent shift in global perception of plastics in the environment, resulting in a call for greater action. Science and the popular media have highlighted plastic as…Read more on Marine plastics threatens giant Atlantic Marine Protected Areas
18 October, 2018 by Andy Smith, Dominic Hodgson, Ed King
Lakes beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet are of fundamental scientific interest for their ability to contain unique records of ice sheet history and microbial life in their sediments. However, no…Read more on Evidence for the long-term sedimentary environment in an Antarctic subglacial lake
16 October, 2018 by Keith Nicholls, Tun Jan Young
The delivery of surface meltwater through englacial drainage systems to the bed of the Greenland Ice Sheet modulates ice flow through basal lubrication. Recent studies in Southeast Greenland have identified…Read more on Surface meltwater impounded by seasonal englacial storage in West Greenland
15 October, 2018 by Emilie Capron, Irene Malmierca Vallet, Louise Sime
Last Interglacial (LIG), stable water isotope values (δ18O) measured in Greenland deep ice cores are at least 2.5‰ higher compared to the present day. Previous isotopic climate simulations of the…8 October, 2018 by Emilie Capron
The last deglaciation represents the most recent example of natural global warming associated with large-scale climate changes. In addition to the long-term global temperature increase, the last deglaciation onset is…1 October, 2018 by Andrew Kavanagh, Mark Clilverd, Richard Horne
We examine the variation of stratospheric ozone over northern Finland using ozonesonde observations from 1845 stratospheric balloon flights launched between 1989 and 2015 from near Sodankylä. The annual variation of…Read more on Solar proton events and stratospheric ozone depletion over northern Finland
1 October, 2018 by Richard Horne
Predicting variations in the near-Earth space environment that can lead to spacecraft damage and failure is one example of “space weather” and a big space physics challenge. A project recently…Read more on Specification of the near-Earth space environment with SHIELDS
1 October, 2018
Early life-history stages of cephalopods are known to play an important role as prey in food webs of the Southern Ocean, but little information is available about their biology and…1 October, 2018 by Peter Fretwell
Today albatrosses are threatened worldwide, especially by fishing activities, and many populations are currently in decline. Albatrosses breeding at the French Southern Territories in the south-western Indian Ocean, on the…1 October, 2018 by Richard Phillips
Albatrosses (Diomedeidae) are iconic pelagic seabirds whose life-history traits (longevity, high trophic position) put them at risk of high levels of exposure to methylmercury (MeHg), a powerful neurotoxin that threatens…1 October, 2018 by Richard Phillips
Given the rarity of hybridization in seabirds, which presumably relates to their very high philopatry, the degree of breeding‐site vagrancy should correspond with the incidence of mixed‐species pairing, although not…Read more on Breeding-site vagrancy and hybridization in albatrosses
1 October, 2018 by Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark
Morphologies of animals can vary significantly, and variation in characters in relation to taxonomic discrimination is often either underestimated or not evaluated. It can, however, make the identification and separation…1 October, 2018 by Claire Allen
Semi‐automated methods for microscopic image acquisition, image analysis and taxonomic identification have repeatedly received attention in diatom analysis. Less well studied is the question whether and how such methods might…1 October, 2018
Literature reports that body size can be associated with latitudinal distribution, for instance larger animals inhabit higher latitudes and colder habitats. This rule can be applied for species and populations…1 October, 2018 by Adrian Jenkins, Deb Shoosmith
Mass loss from the Amundsen Sea sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has increased in recent decades, suggestive of sustained ocean forcing or an ongoing, possibly unstable, response to…1 October, 2018 by Dave Munday
The global stratification and circulation, and their sensitivities to changes in forcing, depend crucially on the representation of the mesoscale eddy field in a numerical ocean circulation model. Here, a…1 October, 2018 by Richard Phillips
Many predictive models of spatial and temporal distribution (e.g. in response to climate change or species introductions) assume that species have one environmental niche that applies to all individuals. However,…1 October, 2018 by Keith Nicholls
Hydrographic data collected during five summer surveys between 2002 and 2015 reveal that the subsurface ocean near Petermann Gletscher, Greenland warmed by 0.015 ± 0.013°C yr-1. New 2015 - 2016…Read more on A decade of ocean changes impacting the ice shelf of Petermann Gletscher, Greenland
1 October, 2018 by Kevin Hughes, Kevin Newsham, Marta Misiak
The harsh climatic conditions and low levels of human activity in Antarctica, relative to other regions, means few non-native species have established. However, the risk of introductions is becoming greater…1 October, 2018 by Dave Munday
The Southern Ocean is the largest sink of anthropogenic carbon in the present-day climate. Here, Southern Ocean pCO 2 pCO2 and its dependence on wind forcing are investigated using an…1 October, 2018 by Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
As society becomes more reliant on satellite technology, it is becoming increasingly important to understand the radiation environment throughout the Van Allen radiation belts. Historically most satellites have operated in…Read more on A 30-year simulation of the outer electron radiation belt
1 October, 2018 by Jaume Forcada
Evaluating how populations are connected by migration is important for understanding species resilience because gene flow can facilitate recovery from demographic declines. We therefore investigated the extent to which migration…1 October, 2018 by Alison Ming
Observational and modeling studies suggest that Earth's tropical belt has widened over the late 20th century and will continue to widen throughout the 21st century. Yet, estimates of tropical-width variations…1 October, 2018 by Mervyn Freeman
The substorm process releases large amounts of energy into the magnetospheric system, although where the energy is transferred to and how it is partitioned remains an open question. In this…16 September, 2018 by Mark Clilverd
In this study 30‐ to 1,000‐keV energetic electron precipitation (EEP) data from low Earth orbiting National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and MetOp Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites were processed in two…11 September, 2018 by Andrew Meijers, Thomas Bracegirdle
The Southern Ocean is a pivotal component of the global climate system yet it is poorly represented in climate models, with significant biases in upper-ocean temperatures, clouds and winds. Combining…Read more on Critical Southern Ocean climate model biases traced to atmospheric model cloud errors
1 September, 2018
As climate change, among other factors, is increasingly affecting Antarctic marine systems, competition for prey may increase between predators, particularly in the Antarctic Peninsula which has warmed more than elsewhere.…1 September, 2018 by Lloyd Peck
The accepted paradigm for reproduction in Antarctic marine species is one where oogenesis takes 18 months to 2 years, and a bimodal egg-size distribution where two cohorts of eggs are…1 September, 2018 by Norman Ratcliffe
Environmental changes often affect the persistence of species or populations at different spatial and temporal scales. Thus, species must either adapt to these changes or experience negative impacts at the…1 September, 2018 by Katrin Linse
Approaches to measuring marine biological parameters remain almost as diverse as the researchers who measure them. However, understanding the patterns of diversity in ocean life over different temporal and geographic…1 September, 2018 by Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark, Victoria Sleight
Acclimation, via phenotypic flexibility, is a potential means for a fast response to climate change. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underpinning phenotypic flexibility can provide a fine-scale cellular understanding of how…1 September, 2018 by Alistair Crame, Jane Francis
The shell material of marine benthic bivalves provides a sensitive archive of water chemistry immediately above the sediment–water interface, which in turn is affected by sedimentary geochemistry and redox reactions.…1 September, 2018 by Beatrix Schlarb-Ridley, Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey
Threats to global food security have generated the need for novel food production techniques to feed an ever-expanding population with ever-declining land resources. Hydroponic cultivation has been long recognised as…Read more on Can the optimisation of pop-up agriculture in remote communities help feed the world?
1 September, 2018 by Tom Jordan
Massive volumes of mafic magmatism forming the Karoo-Ferrar Large Igneous Province (LIP) in Southern Africa and Antarctica preceded Jurassic breakup of the Gondwana Supercontinent. This widespread LIP magmatism is attributed…1 September, 2018 by Alison Ming
There is mounting evidence that the width of the tropics has increased over the last few decades, but there are large differences in reported expansion rates. This is, likely, in…Read more on Revisiting the Relationship among Metrics of Tropical Expansion
1 September, 2018 by Mark Phillips, Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
Satellite charging is one of the most important risks for satellites on orbit. Satellite charging can lead to an electrostatic discharge resulting in component damage, phantom commands, and loss of…1 September, 2018 by Andrew Kavanagh, Neil Cobbett, Peter Kirsch
Precipitation of energetic electrons to the atmosphere is both a loss mechanism for radiation belt particles and a means by which the geospace environment influences the Earth's atmosphere; thus it…1 September, 2018 by Gail Ashton
International and national guidelines and regulations to limit the inadvertent transfer of non-native species on the submerged surfaces of vessels and mobile infrastructure are progressing. However, methods to assess compliance…1 September, 2018 by Rosey Grant, John Law, Mairi Simms, Steve Colwell
Direct measurement of precipitation in the Antarctic using ground-based instruments is important to validate the results from climate models, reanalyses and satellite observations. Quantifying precipitation in Antarctica faces many unique…Read more on Precipitation instruments at Rothera Station, Antarctic Peninsula: a comparative study
1 September, 2018 by Andrew Kavanagh, Jade Reidy, Jade Reidy
This study investigates the interhemispheric nature of polar cap auroras via ultraviolet imaging, combined with particle data, to determine whether they occur on open or closed field lines. Data from…1 September, 2018
International Polar Week is an educational activity that has been carried out since the International Polar Year 2007–2008 (known then as International Polar Days). This event, which brings together educators…28 August, 2018 by David Vaughan, Tom Jordan, Yasmina Martos-Martin
Curie depths beneath Greenland are revealed by spectral analysis of data from the World Digital Magnetic Anomaly Map 2. A thermal model of the lithosphere then provides a corresponding geothermal…Read more on Geothermal heat flux reveals the Iceland hotspot track underneath Greenland
28 August, 2018 by Keith Nicholls, Peter Davis
A climatically‐induced acceleration in ocean‐driven melting of Antarctic ice shelves would have consequences for both the discharge of continental ice into the ocean and thus global sea level, and for…Read more on Basal melt and freezing rates from first noble gas samples beneath an ice shelf
28 August, 2018 by Jeremy Wilkinson
The thermal evolution of melt ponds on Arctic sea ice was investigated through a combination of autonomous observations and two‐dimensional high‐resolution fluid dynamics simulations. We observed one relatively fresh pond…Read more on Salinity control of thermal evolution of late summer melt ponds on Arctic sea ice
28 August, 2018 by Keith Nicholls
The interior dynamics of Helheim Glacier were monitored using an autonomous phase‐sensitive radio‐echo sounder (ApRES) during two consecutive summers. The return signals from all observational sites exhibited strong non‐tidal, depth‐dependent…22 August, 2018 by Sophie Fielding
The island of South Georgia is situated in the iron (Fe) depleted Antarctic Circumpolar Current of the Southern Ocean. Iron emanating from its shelf system fuels large phytoplankton blooms downstream…20 August, 2018 by Hugh Venables, Michael Meredith
The globally-observed relationship between oceanic barium and the macronutrient silicic acid results from the shared influence of large-scale ocean circulation and mixing on the two elements, and the inherent link…Read more on Oceanic fronts control the distribution of dissolved barium in the Southern Ocean
18 August, 2018 by Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
High‐energy trapped electrons in the Van Allen belts pose a threat to the survivability of orbiting spacecraft. Two key radiation effects are total ionising dose (TID) and displacement damage dose…Read more on Radiation effects on satellites during extreme space weather events
10 August, 2018 by Andrew Orr, James Pope
Observational records starting in the 1950s show West Antarctica is amongst the most rapidly warming regions on the planet. Together with increased intrusions of warm circumpolar deep water (CDW) onto…10 August, 2018 by Pierre Mathiot
Versions 6 and 7 of the UK Global Ocean configuration (known as GO6 and GO7) will form the ocean components of the Met Office GC3.1 coupled model and UKESM1 earth…Read more on UK Global Ocean GO6 and GO7: a traceable hierarchy of model resolutions
8 August, 2018 by Jennifer Brown
Five penguin species breed in Antarctica: emperors, Adélies, chinstraps, gentoos and macaronis. These are important Antarctic mid-trophic level predators and under predicted climate change are believed threatened. Accurate monitoring of…7 August, 2018 by Kevin Hughes, Marlon Clark, Sarah Reed
Antarctica and surrounding waters are often considered pristine, but may be subject to local pollution from tourism, fishing and governmental research programme activities. In particular, the quantification of microplastic pollution…Read more on Microplastics in marine sediments near Rothera Research Station, Antarctica
7 August, 2018 by Emma Woodfield, Richard Horne
Understanding of wave environments is critical for the understanding of how particles are accelerated and lost in space. This study shows that in the vicinity of Europa and Ganymede, that…Read more on Strong whistler mode waves observed in the vicinity of Jupiter’s moons
1 August, 2018 by Kelly Hogan
New marine-geophysical data were analyzed to investigate the sedimentary processes operating on the continental slope north of Nordaustlandet, Svalbard. Kvitøya Trough terminates in a trough-mouth fan (TMF) on the slope,…1 August, 2018 by Kelly Hogan
The Disko Trough-Mouth Fan (TMF) is a major submarine sediment fan located along the central west Greenland continental margin offshore of Disko Trough. The location of the TMF at the…1 August, 2018 by Lloyd Peck, Michael Thorne, Michelle King, Melody Clark
1.Phenotypic plasticity is essential for the persistence of organisms under changing environmental conditions but the control of the relevant cellular mechanisms including which genes are involved and the regulation of…Read more on Life in the intertidal: cellular responses, methylation and epigenetics
1 August, 2018 by Brent Minchew
Remote sensing technology is an essential link in the global monitoring of the ocean surface, and radars are efficient sensors for detecting marine pollution. When used operationally by authorities, a…1 August, 2018 by Philip Trathan
To understand and predict current and future distributions of animals under a changing climate it is essential to establish historical ranges as baselines against which distribution shifts can be assessed.…Read more on Managing for change: Using vertebrate at sea habitat use to direct management efforts
1 August, 2018 by Gareth Marshall, Rebecca Vignols
Arctic Fennoscandia has undergone significant climate change over recent decades. Reanalysis data sets allow us to understand the atmospheric processes driving such changes. Here we evaluate four reanalyses against observations…1 August, 2018 by Andrew Orr, Ella Gilbert, John King
The occurrence of surface melt in Antarctica has hitherto been associated with the austral summer season, when the dominant source of melt energy is provided by solar radiation. We use…Read more on Intense winter surface melt on an Antarctic ice shelf
1 August, 2018 by Will Goodall-Copestake
Identifying genetic cues of functional relevance is key to understanding the drivers of evolution and increasingly important for the conservation of biodiversity. This study introduces nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) to…1 August, 2018 by Stephanie Winnard
Variation in the phenology of avian taxa has long been studied to understand how a species reacts to environmental changes over both space and time. Penguins (Sphenicidae) serve as an…1 August, 2018 by Richard Horne
This paper presents observations of EMIC waves from multiple data sources during the four GEM challenge events in 2013 selected by the GEM “Quantitative Assessment of Radiation Belt Modeling” focus…Read more on EMIC wave events during the four GEM QARBM challenge intervals
1 August, 2018 by Jaume Forcada
Recent advances in high throughput sequencing have transformed the study of wild organisms by facilitating the generation of high quality genome assemblies and dense genetic marker datasets. These resources have…1 August, 2018 by Philip Trathan
1.Collecting spatially extensive data on phenology and reproductive success is important for seabird conservation and management, but can be logistically challenging in remote regions. Autonomous time‐lapse camera systems offer an…1 August, 2018 by Eugene Murphy, Emma Young, Philip Trathan, Victoria Warwick-Evans
In the Southern Ocean, the at‐sea distributions of most predators of Antarctic krill are poorly known, primarily because tracking studies have only been undertaken on a restricted set of species,…1 August, 2018 by Brent Minchew, Hilmar Gudmundsson
Ice rheology governs how glaciers flow and respond to environmental change. The rheology of glacier ice evolves in response to a variety of mechanisms, including damage, heating, melting and the…1 August, 2018 by Keith Nicholls, Tun Jan Young
The phase-sensitive radio-echo sounder (pRES) is a powerful new instrument that can measure the depth of internal layers and the glacier bed to millimetre accuracy. We use a stationary 16-antenna…26 July, 2018 by Hamish Pritchard
Over the past 20 years satellite remote sensing has captured significant downwasting of glaciers that drain the West Antarctic Ice Sheet into the ocean, particularly across the Amundsen Sea Sector.…24 July, 2018 by Geraint Tarling, Sally Thorpe, Sophie Fielding
Diel vertical migration (DVM) behaviour in swarms of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba Dana, 1850) is notoriously variable, with swarms being found at a range of depths and in different shapes,…23 July, 2018 by Bianca Perren, Dominic Hodgson, Louise Sime, Stephen Roberts
The Southern Hemisphere westerly winds (SHW) play an important role in regulating the capacity of the Southern Ocean carbon sink. They modulate upwelling of carbon-rich deep water and, with sea…20 July, 2018 by Andy Smith, Claire Allen, Dominic Hodgson, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith, James Smith, Kelly Hogan, Peter Fretwell, Robert Larter, Victoria Peck
The East Antarctic Ice Sheet discharges into the Weddell Sea via the Coats Land ice margin. We have used geophysical data to determine the changing ice sheet configuration in this…Read more on Deglaciation and future stability of the Coats Land ice margin, Antarctica
19 July, 2018
Ice shelf break-up and disintegration events over the past 5 decades have led to speed-up, thinning, and retreat of upstream tributary glaciers and increases to rates of global sea-level rise.…
17 July, 2018 by Sally Thorpe
Microbes occupy diverse ecological niches and only through recent advances in next generation sequencing technologies have the true microbial diversity been revealed. Furthermore, lack of perceivable marine barriers to genetic…16 July, 2018 by Fausto Ferraccioli, Tom Jordan
The second generation Antarctic magnetic anomaly compilation (ADMAP‐2) for the region south of 60oS includes some 3.5 million line‐km of aeromagnetic and marine magnetic data that more than doubles the…16 July, 2018 by Mark Clilverd
While observed mesospheric polar nitric acid enhancements have been attributed to energetic particle precipitation through ion cluster chemistry in the past, this phenomenon is not reproduced in current whole-atmosphere chemistry-climate…6 July, 2018 by Sophie Fielding
The Southern Ocean is an important region for global nitrous oxide (N2O) cycling. The contribution of different source and sink mechanisms is, however, not very well constrained due to a…5 July, 2018 by Tejaswi Yarra
Mollusc shells are unique adaptations that serve to protect the organisms that make them, and are a defining feature of the phylum. However the molecular underpinnings of shell forming processes…Read more on Transcriptional profiling of shell calcification in bivalves
5 July, 2018
This thesis presents the first high-resolution palaeoceanographic study of environmental changes in the Amundsen Sea sector of the West Antarctic continental margin during the Late Quaternary. This part of the…5 July, 2018 by Ashleigh Massam
Three deep ice cores, obtained from Fletcher Promontory, Berkner Island, and James Ross Island across the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) and Weddell Sea region, preserve a climate record that can yield…5 July, 2018 by Hua Lu, Thomas Bracegirdle
The magnitude of observed multi‐decadal variations in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is at the upper end of the range simulated by climate models and a clear explanation for this…Read more on Do CMIP5 models reproduce observed low-frequency North Atlantic jet variability?
1 July, 2018 by Alex Burton-Johnson, Teal Riley
Long-lived continental margin arcs are characterized by episodes of large-volume magmatism (or flare-ups) that can persist for ∼30 m.y. before steady-state arc conditions resume. Flare-up events are characterized by the…1 July, 2018 by Roger Worland, Peter Convey
Ground temperatures in the top few centimetres of the soil profile are key in many biological processes yet remain very poorly documented, especially in the polar regions or over longer…1 July, 2018 by Richard Phillips, Thomas Clay, Thomas Clay
1.Senescence has been widely documented in wild vertebrate populations, yet the proximate drivers of age‐related declines in breeding success, including allocation trade‐offs and links with foraging performance, are poorly understood.…1 July, 2018 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
Geochemical provenance studies of glacial-marine sediments provide a powerful approach to describe subglacial geology, sediment transport pathways, and past ice sheet dynamics. The marine-based West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is…1 July, 2018 by Richard Phillips
We present the first detailed data on the distribution and migration patterns of four pelagic seabird species in the Eastern Indian Ocean—the Lesser Noddy (Anous tenuirostris melanops), Brown Noddy (Anous…1 July, 2018 by Beatrix Schlarb-Ridley
Safe and accepted limits for nitrates in drinking water are exceeded in around one-third of the groundwater bodies in Europe. Whilst anion exchange (AEX) is an effective technology to strip…Read more on Growth of microalgae using nitrate-rich brine wash from the water industry
1 July, 2018 by Andrew Kavanagh, David Newnham, Mark Clilverd
Nitric oxide (NO) produced in the polar middle and upper atmosphere by energetic particle precipitation depletes ozone in the mesosphere and, following vertical transport in the winter polar vortex, in…