Our publications

Filtered view: Research papers

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Landscape mapping at sub-Antarctic South Georgia provides a protocol for underpinning large-scale marine protected areas

3 October, 2016 by Huw Griffiths, Katrin Linse, Oliver Hogg

Global biodiversity is in decline, with the marine environment experiencing significant and increasing anthropogenic pressures. In response marine protected areas (MPAs) have increasingly been adopted as the flagship approach to…

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Changes in ice-shelf buttressing following the collapse of Larsen A Ice Shelf, Antarctica, and the resulting impact on tributaries

1 October, 2016 by Hilmar Gudmundsson, Samantha Royston

The dominant mass-loss process on the Antarctic Peninsula has been ice-shelf collapse, including the Larsen A Ice Shelf in early 1995. Following this collapse, there was rapid speed up and…

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Seasonal evolution of the QBO-induced wave forcing and circulation anomalies in the northern winter stratosphere

27 September, 2016 by Hua Lu, Ian White

Diagnostics of wave-mean-flow and wave-wave interactions in isentropic coordinates are analyzed regarding the mechanisms that govern the Holton-Tan effect (HTE), whereby the tropical quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) modulates the northern winter…

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Ice-flow reorganization in West Antarctica 2.5 kyr ago dated using radar-derived englacial flow velocities

16 September, 2016 by Carlos Martin Garcia, Ed King, Hugh Corr, Jonathan Kingslake, Robert Arthern

We date a recent ice-flow reorganization of an ice divide in the Weddell Sea Sector, West Antarctica, using a novel combination of inverse methods and ice-penetrating radars. We invert for…

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Ice stream retreat following the LGM and onset of the west Greenland current in Uummannaq Trough, west Greenland

1 September, 2016 by Kelly Hogan

The deglacial history and oceanography of Uummannaq Trough, central West Greenland continental shelf, was investigated using foraminiferal, sedimentological, and bathymetric records together with a radiocarbon chronology, providing a timeline for…

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Strong contribution of diatom resting spores to deep-sea carbon transfer in naturally iron-fertilized waters downstream of South Georgia

1 September, 2016 by Clara Manno, Geraint Tarling

Biogeochemical and diatom export fluxes are presented from two bathypelagic sediment trap deployments in the Antarctic Zone of the Southern Ocean. One of the sediment traps was deployed in very…

Read more on Strong contribution of diatom resting spores to deep-sea carbon transfer in naturally iron-fertilized waters downstream of South Georgia

Climate forcing for dynamics of dissolved inorganic nutrients at Palmer Station, Antarctica: An interdecadal (1993-2013) analysis

1 September, 2016 by Michael Meredith

We analyzed 20 years (1993–2013) of observations of dissolved inorganic macronutrients (nitrate, N; phosphate, P; and silicate, Si) and chlorophyll a (Chl) at Palmer Station, Antarctica (64.8°S, 64.1°W) to elucidate how…

Read more on Climate forcing for dynamics of dissolved inorganic nutrients at Palmer Station, Antarctica: An interdecadal (1993-2013) analysis

Environmental correlates of Antarctic krill distribution in the Scotia Sea and southern Drake Passage

1 September, 2016 by Eugene Murphy, Jonathan Watkins, Janet Silk, Philip Trathan, Sally Thorpe, Simeon Hill, Sophie Fielding

Antarctic krill is a key prey species for many vertebrate and invertebrate predators in the Southern Ocean; it is also an abundant fishery resource in the Scotia Sea and southern…

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Bacterial community composition in relation to bedrock type and macrobiota in soils from the Sør Rondane Mountains, East Antarctica

1 September, 2016 by Stephen Roberts

Antarctic soils are known to be oligotrophic and of having low buffering capacities. It is expected that this is particularly the case for inland high-altitude regions. We hypothesized that the…

Read more on Bacterial community composition in relation to bedrock type and macrobiota in soils from the Sør Rondane Mountains, East Antarctica

A new ionospheric electron precipitation module coupled with RAM-SCB within the geospace general circulation model

1 September, 2016 by Richard Horne

Electron precipitation down to the atmosphere due to wave-particle scattering in the magnetosphere contributes significantly to the auroral ionospheric conductivity. In order to obtain the auroral conductivity in global MHD…

Read more on A new ionospheric electron precipitation module coupled with RAM-SCB within the geospace general circulation model

Chemical cycling and deposition of atmospheric mercury in Polar Regions: review of recent measurements and comparison with models

30 August, 2016 by Xin Yang

Mercury (Hg) is a worldwide contaminant that can cause adverse health effects to wildlife and humans. While atmospheric modeling traces the link from emissions to deposition of Hg onto environmental…

Read more on Chemical cycling and deposition of atmospheric mercury in Polar Regions: review of recent measurements and comparison with models

Evolution of a Canada Basin ice-ocean boundary layer and mixed layer across a developing thermodynamically forced marginal ice zone

1 August, 2016 by Jeremy Wilkinson

A comprehensive set of autonomous, ice-ocean measurements were collected across the Canada Basin to study the summer evolution of the ice-ocean boundary layer (IOBL) and ocean mixed layer (OML). Evaluation…

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Unravelling the relative roles of top-down and bottom-up forces driving population change in an oceanic predator

1 August, 2016 by Catharine Horswill, Norman Ratcliffe, Philip Trathan, Richard Phillips

In the open ocean ecosystem, climate and anthropogenic changes have driven biological change at both ends of the food chain. Understanding how the population dynamics of pelagic predators are simultaneously…

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Born blonde: a recessive loss-of-function mutation in the melanocortin 1 receptor is associated with cream coat coloration in Antarctic fur seals

1 August, 2016 by Jaume Forcada

Although the genetic basis of color variation has been extensively studied in humans and domestic animals, the genetic polymorphisms responsible for different color morphs remain to be elucidated in many…

Read more on Born blonde: a recessive loss-of-function mutation in the melanocortin 1 receptor is associated with cream coat coloration in Antarctic fur seals

Controls over Ocean Mesopelagic Interior Carbon Storage (COMICS): fieldwork, synthesis and modelling efforts

1 August, 2016 by Eugene Murphy, Geraint Tarling, Gabriele Stowasser, Peter Enderlein, Sophie Fielding

The ocean’s biological carbon pump plays a central role in regulating atmospheric CO2 levels. In particular, the depth at which sinking organic carbon is broken down and respired in the…

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De novo assembly of complete genome sequence of Planococcus kocurii ATCC 43650T, a potential plant growth-promoting bacterium

1 August, 2016 by David Pearce, Peter Convey

Planococcus kocurii ATCC 43650T is a halotolerant and psychrotolerant bacterium isolated from the skin of a North sea cod. Here, we present the first complete genome and annotation of P.…

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Population size and trends of southern giant petrels (Macronectes giganteus) nesting at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands

1 July, 2016 by Jennifer Jackson, Michael Dunn, Richard Phillips, Stacey Adlard

The southern giant petrel (Macronectes giganteus) has a circumpolar distribution and breeds on subantarctic islands and a few continental Antarctic sites. Although this species has recently been down-listed to “Least…

Read more on Population size and trends of southern giant petrels (Macronectes giganteus) nesting at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands

A draft fur seal genome provides insights into factors affecting SNP validation and how to mitigate them

1 July, 2016 by Jaume Forcada, Michael Thorne, Philip Trathan

Custom genotyping arrays provide a flexible and accurate means of genotyping single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a large number of individuals of essentially any organism. However, validation rates, defined as…

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Re-examining the roles of surface heat flux and latent heat release in a “hurricane-like” polar low over the Barents Sea

1 July, 2016 by Thomas Bracegirdle

Polar lows are intense mesoscale cyclones that occur at high latitudes in both hemispheres during winter. Their sometimes evidently convective nature, fueled by strong surface fluxes and with cloud-free centers,…

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The whole-atmosphere response to changes in the Earth’s magnetic field from 1900 to 2000: an example of “top-down” vertical coupling

1 July, 2016 by Hua Lu, Ingrid Cnossen

We study the effects of changes in the Earth's magnetic field between 1900 and 2000 on the whole atmosphere (0–500 km altitude), based on simulations with the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate…

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Consistency in migration strategies and habitat preferences of brown skuas over two winters, a decade apart

1 July, 2016 by Janet Silk, Michelle King, Richard Phillips, Thomas Clay, Thomas Clay

At-sea movements and activity patterns of brown skuas Stercorarius antarcticus lonnbergi from South Georgia were analysed in 2 winters, a decade apart, to examine the degree of consistency in migration…

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Population structure and historical demography of South American sea lions provide insights into the catastrophic decline of a marine mammal population

1 July, 2016 by Iain Staniland

Understanding the causes of population decline is crucial for conservation management. We therefore used genetic analysis both to provide baseline data on population structure and to evaluate hypotheses for the…

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Absence of 21st century warming on Antarctic Peninsula consistent with natural variability

1 July, 2016 by Gareth Marshall, Hua Lu, Ian White, Scott Hosking, John King, John Turner, Pranab Deb, Robert Mulvaney, Thomas Bracegirdle, Tony Phillips

Since the 1950s, research stations on the Antarctic Peninsula have recorded some of the largest increases in near-surface air temperature in the Southern Hemisphere1. This warming has contributed to the…

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Pup vibrissae stable isotopes reveal geographic differences in adult female southern sea lion habitat use during gestation

15 June, 2016 by Iain Staniland

Individuals within populations often differ substantially in habitat use, the ecological consequences of which can be far reaching. Stable isotope analysis provides a convenient and often cost effective means of…

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The use of fishing vessels to provide acoustic data on the distribution and abundance of Antarctic krill and other pelagic species

1 June, 2016 by Jonathan Watkins, Sophie Fielding

A fishery for Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) has existed for over 3 decades and the Commission for Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) manages this fishery using precautionary catch…

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The first comprehensive description of the biodiversity and biogeography of Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic intertidal communities

1 June, 2016 by Huw Griffiths

Aim To describe the distribution of biodiversity and biogeographical patterns of intertidal organisms in southern temperate and polar waters. We hypothesized that there would be differences in community structure between…

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Transcriptomics provides insight into Mytilus galloprovincialis (Mollusca: Bivalvia) mantle function and its role in biomineralisation

1 June, 2016 by Melody Clark, Tejaswi Yarra

The mantle is an organ common to all molluscs and is at the forefront of the biomineralisation process. The present study used the Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) as a model…

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