A model for assessing iceberg hazard
2 March, 2018 by Andrew Fleming
With the polar regions opening up to more marine activities but iceberg numbers more likely to increase than decline as a result of global warming, the risk from icebergs to…Our publications
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Holocene glacier activity reconstructed from proglacial lake Gjøavatnet on Amsterdamøya, NW Svalbard
1 March, 2018 by Bianca Perren
Well-dated and highly resolved paleoclimate records from high latitudes allow for a better understanding of past climate change. Lake sediments are excellent archives of environmental change, and can record processes…Effects of low crude oil chronic exposure on the northern krill ( Meganyctiphanes norvegica )
1 March, 2018 by Geraint Tarling
Chronic oil pollution related to gas and oil drilling activities is increasing in the sea due to the rising offshore petroleum industry activity. Among marine organisms, zooplankton play a crucial…Effects of temperature on extracellular hydrolase enzymes from soil microfungi
1 March, 2018 by Peter Convey
Soil microbes play important roles in global carbon and nutrient cycling. Soil microfungi are generally amongst the most important contributors. They produce various extracellular hydrolase enzymes that break down the…Read more on Effects of temperature on extracellular hydrolase enzymes from soil microfungi
Biodegradation of phenol by cold-adapted bacteria from Antarctic soils
1 March, 2018 by Peter Convey
Phenol is an important pollutant widely discharged as a component of hydrocarbon fuels, but its degradation in cold regions is a great challenge due to the harsh environmental conditions. To…Read more on Biodegradation of phenol by cold-adapted bacteria from Antarctic soils
Accurate coastal DEM generation by merging ASTER GDEM and ICESat/GLAS data over Mertz Glacier, Antarctica
1 March, 2018 by Hilmar Gudmundsson
Mertz Glacier (MG) calved in February 2010 and a 70-years' calving cycle of MG was reported recently because of the shallow Mertz Bank. To better investigate the calving process, a…Southern Ocean mesopelagic fish comply with Bergmann’s Rule
1 March, 2018 by Geraint Tarling, Ryan Saunders
The applicability of macroecological rules to patterns in body size varies between taxa. One of the most examined is Bergmann’s rule, which states that body size increases with decreasing temperature…Read more on Southern Ocean mesopelagic fish comply with Bergmann’s Rule
An effective treatment in the austere environment? A critical appraisal into the use of intra-articular local anesthetic to facilitate reduction in acute shoulder dislocation
1 March, 2018
Acute shoulder dislocation is a common injury in the outdoor environment. The objective of this systematic review of the literature was to determine if intra-articular local anesthetic (IAL) is an…Diurnal, seasonal, and annual trends in tropospheric CO in Southwest London during 2000–2015: Wind sector analysis and comparisons with urban and remote sites
1 March, 2018 by James France
Ambient carbon monoxide (CO) and meteorological parameters measured at the Egham (EGH) semi-rural site in SW London during 2000–2015 have permitted wind sector analysis of diurnal and seasonal cycles, and…Sources, variability and fate of freshwater in the Bellingshausen Sea, AntarcticaSources, variability and fate of freshwater in the Bellingshausen Sea, Antarctica
1 March, 2018 by Heather Regan, Michael Meredith, Paul Holland
During the second half of the twentieth century, the Antarctic Peninsula was subjected to a rapid increase in air temperatures. This was accompanied by a reduction in sea ice extent,…Prospects for reconstructing paleoenvironmental conditions from organic compounds in polar snow and ice
1 March, 2018 by Amy King, Liz Thomas
Polar ice cores provide information about past climate and environmental changes over periods ranging from a few years up to 800,000 years. The majority of chemical studies have focused on…The impact of the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) mass extinction event on the global sulfur cycle: Evidence from Seymour Island, Antarctica
1 March, 2018 by Alistair Crame, Jane Francis
The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) mass extinction event 66 million years ago led to large changes to the global carbon cycle, primarily via a decrease in primary or export productivity of the…The devil is in the detail: small-scale sexual segregation despite large-scale spatial overlap in the wandering albatross
1 March, 2018 by Richard Phillips
Sexual segregation in foraging habitat occurs in many marine predators and is usually attributed to competitive exclusion, different parental roles of each sex or niche specialisation associated with sexual size…Redescription and neotype designation of the Antarctic springtail Folsomotoma octooculata (Collembola: Isotomidae)
1 March, 2018 by Peter Convey
The growing interest in Antarctic collembolan species has led us to re-evaluate both the morphological and molecular aspects of different species adapted to the extreme Antarctic environment. The genus Folsomotoma…A New Daily Observational Record from Grytviken, South Georgia: Exploring Twentieth-Century Extremes in the South Atlantic
1 March, 2018 by Steve Colwell
The sparse nature of observational records across the mid- to high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere limits the ability to place late-twentieth-century environmental changes in the context of long-term (multidecadal…Genetic connectivity from the Arctic to the Antarctic: Sclerolinum contortum and Nicomache lokii (Annelida) are both widespread in reducing environments
1 March, 2018 by Katrin Linse
The paradigm of large geographic ranges in the deep sea has been challenged by genetic studies, which often reveal putatively widespread species to be several taxa with more restricted ranges.…Characterization of unstable blinking pixels in the AisaOWL thermal hyperspectral imager
1 March, 2018 by Gary Llewellyn
The AisaOWL thermal hyperspectral instrument, manufactured by Specim, is a relatively new push-broom sensor well suited to airborne environmental surveys. The sensor covers the 7.6-12.6 μm part of the long-wave…Atmospheric ice-nucleating particles in the dusty tropical Atlantic
1 March, 2018 by Gillian Young
Desert dust is one of the most important atmospheric ice‐nucleating aerosol species around the globe. However, there have been very few measurements of ice‐nucleating particle (INP) concentrations in dusty air…Read more on Atmospheric ice-nucleating particles in the dusty tropical Atlantic
Comparative marine biodiversity and depth zonation in the Southern Ocean: evidence from a new large polychaete dataset from Scotia and Amundsen seas
1 March, 2018 by Katrin Linse
Based on a dataset of 16,991 and 307 morphospecies of polychaete worms collected from 58 epibenthic sledge deployments across the Scotia and Amundsen Seas, we show that the structures of…The role of localized compressional ultra-low frequency waves in energetic electron preipitation
1 March, 2018 by Mark Clilverd
Typically, ultra‐low frequency (ULF) waves have historically been invoked for radial diffusive transport leading to acceleration and loss of outer radiation belt electrons. At higher frequencies, very low frequency waves…Northern Hemisphere stratospheric ozone depletion caused by solar proton events: the role of the polar vortex
28 February, 2018 by Mark Clilverd
Ozonesonde data from four sites are analyzed in relation to 191 solar protons events (SPEs) from 1989-2016. Analysis shows ozone depletion (~10-35 km altitude) commencing following the SPEs. Seasonally-corrected ozone…Projected distributions of Southern Ocean albatrosses, petrels and fisheries as a consequence of climatic change
23 February, 2018 by Richard Phillips
Given the major ongoing influence of environmental change on the oceans, there is a need to understand and predict the future distributions of marine species in order to plan appropriate…Migratory movements and winter diving activity of Adélie penguins in East Antarctica
23 February, 2018 by Philip Trathan
Seabirds breeding on the Antarctic continent must cope with extreme changes in sea ice cover and day length throughout the year. Adélie penguins are expected to adjust their migratory movements…Read more on Migratory movements and winter diving activity of Adélie penguins in East Antarctica
The Ross Sea Dipole – temperature, snow accumulation and sea ice variability in the Ross Sea region, Antarctica, over the past 2700 Years
21 February, 2018 by Richard Hindmarsh, Richard Hindmarsh
High-resolution, well-dated climate archives provide an opportunity to investigate the dynamic interactions of climate patterns relevant for future projections. Here, we present data from a new, annually-dated ice core record…Multi-model comparison of the volcanic sulfate deposition from the 1815 eruption of Mt. Tambora
15 February, 2018 by James Pope
The eruption of Mt. Tambora in 1815 was the largest volcanic eruption of the past 500 years. The eruption had significant climatic impacts, leading to the 1816 “year without a…Stepping stones to isolation: impacts of a changing climate on the connectivity of fragmented fish populations
14 February, 2018 by Eugene Murphy, Emma Young, Mark Belchier, Michael Meredith
In the marine environment, understanding the biophysical mechanisms that drive variability in larval dispersal and population connectivity is essential for estimating the potential impacts of climate change on the resilience…Blue mussel shell shape plasticity and natural environments: a quantitative approach
12 February, 2018 by Lloyd Peck, Luca Telesca
Shape variability represents an important direct response of organisms to selective environments. Here, we use a combination of geometric morphometrics and generalised additive mixed models (GAMMs) to identify spatial patterns…Read more on Blue mussel shell shape plasticity and natural environments: a quantitative approach
Antarctic Marine Biodiversity
10 February, 2018 by Huw Griffiths, Susie Grant
Recent rift formation and impact on the structural integrity of the Brunt Ice Shelf, East Antarctica
9 February, 2018 by Hilmar Gudmundsson, Jan De Rydt
We report on the recent reactivation of a large rift in the Brunt Ice Shelf, East Antarctica, in December 2012 and the formation of a 50 km long new rift in…The Arctic sea ice cover of 2016: a year of record-low highs and higher-than-expected lows
6 February, 2018 by Paul Holland
The Arctic sea ice cover of 2016 was highly noteworthy, as it featured record low monthly sea ice extents at the start of the year but a summer (September) extent…Geothermal environments in Antarctica
6 February, 2018 by Peter Convey
Geothermal environments in Antarctica have profound ecological and scientific value. They are single points of heat and moisture in an icy and dry landscape, and provide habitats for diverse living…Modelling the physical multiphase interactions of HNO3 between snow and air on the Antarctic Plateau (Dome C) and coast (Halley)
2 February, 2018 by Hoi Ga Chan, Markus Frey
Emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx = NO + NO2) from the photolysis of nitrate (NO3−) in snow affect the oxidising capacity of the lower troposphere especially in remote regions of high latitudes with little…Archibald Lang McLean (1885-1922) – Explorer, writer and soldier
1 February, 2018
Archibald McLean qualified in Sydney in 1910 and in the following year joined Douglas Mawson’s Australasian Antarctic Expedition (1911–1914). He took a full part in the expedition and was forced…Read more on Archibald Lang McLean (1885-1922) – Explorer, writer and soldier
Diversity of macrofaunal Mollusca of the abyssal Vema Fracture Zone and hadal Puerto Rico Trench, tropical North Atlantic
1 February, 2018 by Katrin Linse
While biodiversity patterns of Atlantic deep-sea bivalves and gastropods have served as model taxa for setting global latitudinal and bathymetric hypotheses, less is known on abyssal, amphi-Atlantic molluscan assemblage compositions.…Holocene multi-proxy environmental reconstruction from Lake Hakluytvatnet, Amsterdamøya Island, Svalbard (79.5°N)
1 February, 2018 by Bianca Perren
High resolution proxy records of past climate are sparse in the Arctic due to low organic production that restricts the use of radiocarbon dating and challenging logistics that make data…From the midnight sun to the longest night: sleep in Antarctica
1 February, 2018
Sleep disturbances are the main health complaints from personnel deployed in Antarctica. The current paper presents a systematic review of research findings on sleep disturbances in Antarctica. The available sources…Read more on From the midnight sun to the longest night: sleep in Antarctica
Composition of abyssal macrofauna along the Vema Fracture Zone and the hadal Puerto Rico Trench, northern tropical Atlantic
1 February, 2018 by Katrin Linse
We analyzed composition and variations in benthic macrofaunal communities along a transect of the entire length of the Vema-Fracture Zone on board of RV Sonne (SO-237) between December 2014 and…Links between bacteria derived from penguin guts and deposited guano and the surrounding soil microbiota
1 February, 2018 by Michael Dunn, Peter Convey, Stacey Adlard
Penguins are an important indicator of marine ecosystem health and a major contributor of nutrients to terrestrial ecosystems in Antarctica. Their stomach microbiota is influenced by both the prey consumed…Cross-disciplinarity in the advance of Antarctic ecosystem research
1 February, 2018 by Huw Griffiths, Peter Convey, Rachel Cavanagh, Thomas Bracegirdle
The biodiversity, ecosystem services and climate variability of the Antarctic continent and the Southern Ocean are major components of the whole Earth system. Antarctic ecosystems are driven more strongly by…Read more on Cross-disciplinarity in the advance of Antarctic ecosystem research
Ocean-forced ice-shelf thinning in a synchronously coupled ice-ocean model
1 February, 2018 by Adrian Jenkins, James Jordan, Paul Holland, Robert Arthern
The first fully synchronous, coupled ice shelf-ocean model with a fixed grounding line and imposed upstream ice velocity has been developed using the MITgcm (Massachusetts Institute of Technology general circulation…Read more on Ocean-forced ice-shelf thinning in a synchronously coupled ice-ocean model
Army imposters: diversification of army ant-mimicking beetles with their Eciton hosts
1 February, 2018 by Will Goodall-Copestake
Colonies of neotropical army ants of the genus Eciton Latreille offer some of the most captivating examples of intricate interactions between species, with hundreds of associated species already described in…Read more on Army imposters: diversification of army ant-mimicking beetles with their Eciton hosts
Rigorous 3D change determination in Antarctic Peninsula glaciers from stereo WorldView-2 and archival aerial imagery
1 February, 2018 by Adrian Fox, Louise Ireland
This paper presents detailed elevation and volume analysis of 16 individual glaciers, grouped at four locations, spread across the Antarctic Peninsula (AP). The study makes use of newly available WorldView-2…Determination of Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb in seawater using offline extraction and triple quadrupole ICP-MS/MS
1 February, 2018 by Sarah Jackson
Highly resolved temporal and spatial distributions of trace elements in ocean water can provide insight into ocean processes but carry a significant analytical demand which requires methods that combine accuracy…Left in the cold? Evolutionary origin of Laternula elliptica a keystone bivalve species of Antarctic benthos
1 February, 2018 by Alistair Crame
The large, burrowing bivalve Laternula elliptica is an abundant component of shallow-water soft-substrate communities around Antarctica but its congeners are temperate and tropical in distribution and their phylogenetic relationships are…Global patterns of declining temperature variability from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Holocene
1 February, 2018 by Kira Rehfeld
Changes in climate variability are as important for society to address as are changes in mean climate1. Contrasting temperature variability during the Last Glacial Maximum and the Holocene can provide…Coastal polynyas: Winter oases for subadult southern elephant seals in East Antarctica
1 February, 2018 by Jean-Baptiste Sallee
Antarctic coastal polynyas are regions of persistent open water and are thought to be key bio-physical features within the sea-ice zone. However, their use by the upper trophic levels of…Read more on Coastal polynyas: Winter oases for subadult southern elephant seals in East Antarctica
Physical Conditions of Fast Glacier Flow: 1. Measurements From Boreholes Drilled to the Bed of Store Glacier, West Greenland
1 February, 2018 by Tun Jan Young
Marine‐terminating outlet glaciers of the Greenland Ice Sheet make significant contributions to global sea level rise, yet the conditions that facilitate their fast flow remain poorly constrained owing to a…Physical conditions of fast glacier flow: 2. Variable extent of anisotropic ice and soft basal sediment from seismic reflection data acquired on Store Glacier, West Greenland
1 February, 2018 by Tun Jan Young
Outlet glaciers of the Greenland Ice Sheet transport ice from the interior to the ocean and contribute directly to sea level rise because discharge and ablation often exceed the accumulation.…Comparison of relativistic microburst activity seen by SAMPEX with ground-based wave measurements at Halley, Antarctica
1 February, 2018 by Mark Clilverd
Relativistic electron microbursts are a known radiation belt particle precipitation phenomenon; however, experimental evidence of their drivers in space have just begun to be observed. Recent modeling efforts have shown…A year long comparison of GPS TEC and global ionosphere-thermosphere models
1 February, 2018 by Ingrid Cnossen
The prevalence of GPS total electron content (TEC) observations has provided an opportunity for extensive global ionosphere‐thermosphere model validation efforts. This study presents a year‐long data‐model comparison using the Global…Read more on A year long comparison of GPS TEC and global ionosphere-thermosphere models
Impacts of rising sea temperatures on krill increase risks for predators in the Scotia Sea
31 January, 2018 by Simeon Hill, Tony Phillips
Climate change is a threat to marine ecosystems and the services they provide, and reducing fishing pressure is one option for mitigating the overall consequences for marine biota. We used…Contribution of deformation to sea-ice mass balance: a case study from an N-ICE2015 storm
28 January, 2018 by Jeremy Wilkinson
The fastest and most efficient process of gaining sea ice volume is through the mechanical redistribution of mass as a consequence of deformation events. During the ice growth season divergent…Arctic Sea Ice Loss in Different Regions Leads to Contrasting Northern Hemisphere Impacts
28 January, 2018 by Christine McKenna, Emily Shuckburgh, Thomas Bracegirdle
To explore the mechanisms linking Arctic sea ice loss to changes in midlatitude surface temperatures, we conduct idealized modeling experiments using an intermediate general circulation model and with sea ice…Relativistic electron microburst events: Modeling the atmospheric impact
28 January, 2018 by Mark Clilverd
Relativistic electron microbursts are short-duration, high-energy precipitation events that are an important loss mechanism for radiation belt particles. Previous work to estimate their atmospheric impacts found no significant changes in…Read more on Relativistic electron microburst events: Modeling the atmospheric impact
Pteropods counter mechanical damage and dissolution through extensive shell repair
17 January, 2018 by Clara Manno, Geraint Tarling, Victoria Peck
The dissolution of the delicate shells of sea butterflies, or pteropods, has epitomised discussions regarding ecosystem vulnerability to ocean acidification over the last decade. However, a recent demonstration that the…Read more on Pteropods counter mechanical damage and dissolution through extensive shell repair
The last forests on Antarctica: reconstructing flora and temperature from the Neogene Sirius Group, Transantarctic Mountains
12 January, 2018 by Jane Francis
Fossil-bearing deposits in the Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica indicate that, despite the cold nature of the continent’s climate, a tundra ecosystem grew during periods of ice sheet retreat in the mid…Modelling present-day basal melt rates for Antarctic ice shelves using a parametrization of buoyant meltwater plumes
9 January, 2018 by Adrian Jenkins, Hilmar Gudmundsson
Basal melting below ice shelves is a major factor in mass loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet, which can contribute significantly to possible future sea-level rise. Therefore, it is important…“Live” (stained) benthic foraminiferal living depths, stable isotopes, and taxonomy offshore South Georgia, Southern Ocean: implications for calcification depths
5 January, 2018 by Claire Allen, Victoria Peck
It is widely held that benthic foraminifera exhibit species-specific calcification depth preferences, with their tests recording sediment pore water chemistry at that depth (i.e. stable isotope and trace metal compositions).…Jurassic high heat production granites associated with the Weddell Sea rift system, Antarctica.
2 January, 2018 by Fausto Ferraccioli, Philip Leat, Tom Jordan, Teal Riley
The distribution of heat flow in Antarctic continental crust is critical to understanding continental tectonics, ice sheet growth and subglacial hydrology. We identify a group of High Heat Production granites,…Temperature adaptation of lipids in diapausing Ostrinia nubilalis: an experimental study to distinguish environmental versus endogenous controls
1 January, 2018 by Roger Worland
Larvae of the European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis Hubn.) were cold acclimated during different phases of diapause to determine if changes in the fatty acid composition lipids occur as part…Spatial distributions of Southern Ocean mesozooplankton communities have been resilient to long-term surface warming
1 January, 2018 by Geraint Tarling, Peter Ward, Sally Thorpe
The biogeographic response of oceanic planktonic communities to climatic change has a large influence on the future stability of marine food webs and the functioning of global biogeochemical cycles. Temperature…Conflicting science requirements impact on rare moss conservation measures
1 January, 2018 by Kevin Hughes
The Antarctic Treaty recognizes the outstanding scientific values of the Antarctic environment through the designation of Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs) that have rigorous management plans specific to each site.…Read more on Conflicting science requirements impact on rare moss conservation measures
CMIP5 diversity in southern westerly jet projections related to historical sea ice area; strong link to strengthening and weak link to shift
1 January, 2018 by Caroline Holmes, Thomas Bracegirdle
A major feature of projected changes in Southern Hemisphere climate under future scenarios of increased greenhouse gas concentrations is the poleward shift and strengthening of the main eddy-driven belt of…Predicting ecological responses in a changing ocean: the effects of future climate uncertainty
1 January, 2018 by Geraint Tarling
Predicting how species will respond to climate change is a growing field in marine ecology, yet knowledge of how to incorporate the uncertainty from future climate data into these predictions…Southern Ocean pteropods at risk from ocean warming and acidification
1 January, 2018 by Clara Manno, Geraint Tarling, Jessie Gardner, Victoria Peck
Early life stages of marine calcifiers are particularly vulnerable to climate change. In the Southern Ocean aragonite undersaturation events and areas of rapid warming already occur and are predicted to…Read more on Southern Ocean pteropods at risk from ocean warming and acidification
Precipitation regime influence on oxygen triple-isotope distributions in Antarctic precipitation and ice cores
1 January, 2018 by Martin Miller
The relative abundance of 17O in meteoric precipitation is usually reported in terms of the 17O-excess parameter. Variations of 17O-excess in Antarctic precipitation and ice cores have hitherto been attributed…Lagrangian ocean analysis: fundamentals and practices
1 January, 2018 by Joakim Kjellsson
Lagrangian analysis is a powerful way to analyse the output of ocean circulation models and other ocean velocity data such as from altimetry. In the Lagrangian approach, large sets of…Read more on Lagrangian ocean analysis: fundamentals and practices
An empirical orthogonal function reanalysis of the northern polar external and induced magnetic field during solar cycle 23
1 January, 2018 by Mervyn Freeman, Rob Shore
We apply the method of data-interpolating Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOFs) to ground-based magnetic vector data from the SuperMAG archive to produce a series of month-length reanalyses of the surface external…Spacecraft charging related risk of floating connector pins
1 January, 2018 by Nigel Meredith
Every national spacecraft charging related design guideline or design standard includes prohibitions against floating, or ungrounded, connector pins. The rationale is obvious. A floating connector pin represents ungrounded metal with…Read more on Spacecraft charging related risk of floating connector pins
A tuff cone erupted under frozen-bed ice (northern Victoria Land, Antarctica): linking glaciovolcanic and cosmogenic nuclide data for ice sheet reconstructions
1 January, 2018 by Joanne Johnson
The remains of a small volcanic centre are preserved on a thin bedrock ridge at Harrow Peaks, northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. The outcrop is interpreted as a monogenetic tuff cone…Thermal adaptation in a marine-derived tropical strain of Fusarium equiseti and polar strains of Pseudogymnoascus spp. under different nutrient sources
1 January, 2018 by Peter Convey
We documented relative growth rates (RGRs) and activities of extracellular hydrolytic enzymes (EHEs) of one marine-derived tropical strain of Fusarium equiseti originally isolated from Malaysia and two polar strains of…A method for acquiring random range uncertainty probability distributions in proton therapy
1 January, 2018 by Max Holloway
In treatment planning we depend upon accurate knowledge of geometric and range uncertainties. If the uncertainty model is inaccurate then the plan will produce under-dosing of the target and/or overdosing…The far reach of ice-shelf thinning in Antarctica
1 January, 2018 by Hilmar Gudmundsson
Floating ice shelves, which fringe most of Antarctica’s coastline, regulate ice flow into the Southern Ocean1,2,3. Their thinning4,5,6,7 or disintegration8,9 can cause upstream acceleration of grounded ice and raise global…Read more on The far reach of ice-shelf thinning in Antarctica
A 2018 Horizon Scan of Emerging Issues for Global Conservation and Biological Diversity
1 January, 2018 by Lloyd Peck
This is our ninth annual horizon scan to identify emerging issues that we believe could affect global biological diversity, natural capital and ecosystem services, and conservation efforts. Our diverse and…Read more on A 2018 Horizon Scan of Emerging Issues for Global Conservation and Biological Diversity
Polar ozone response to energetic particle precipitation over decadal time scales: The role of medium-energy electrons
1 January, 2018 by Mark Clilverd
One of the key challenges in polar middle atmosphere research is to quantify the total forcing by energetic particle precipitation (EPP) and assess the related response over solar cycle time…The rise of Portuguese Antarctic research: implications for Portugal’s status under the Antarctic Treaty
1 January, 2018 by Andrew Gray, Kevin Hughes
Portugal has developed an active Antarctic programme over the past decade. Here, we examine Portuguese Antarctic activity using a variety of bibliometric measures, showing that Portuguese scientific output has grown…Spacecraft surface charging induced by severe environments at geosynchronous orbit
1 January, 2018 by Nigel Meredith
Severe and extreme surface charging on geosynchronous spacecraft is examined through the analysis of 16 years of data from particles detectors on-board the Los Alamos National Laboratory spacecraft. Analysis shows…Read more on Spacecraft surface charging induced by severe environments at geosynchronous orbit
Innovative transportable laboratories for Polar science
1 January, 2018 by Dave Wattam, Michael Pinnock
The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research and the British Antarctic Survey have built a transportable laboratory facility, named the Dirck Gerritsz Laboratory, to accommodate new scientific research on and from…Read more on Innovative transportable laboratories for Polar science
Choosing the future of Antarctica
1 January, 2018
We present two narratives on the future of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, from the perspective of an observer looking back from 2070. In the first scenario, greenhouse gas emissions…Ontogenetic changes in stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) values in squid Gonatus fabricii (Cephalopoda) reveal its important ecological role in the Arctic
1 January, 2018
Gonatus fabricii is the most abundant cephalopod species in Arctic waters, and the only squid that completes its entire life cycle there. In order to understand its ecological role in…Surface temperatures of albatross eggs and nests
1 January, 2018 by Richard Phillips
Knowledge of thermal traits is essential for understanding and modelling physiological responses to environmental change. Egg temperatures are poorly studied in most tubenose species. We employed a contactless infrared thermometer…Read more on Surface temperatures of albatross eggs and nests
Coming up short: Identifying substrate and geographic biases in fungal sequence databases
1 January, 2018
Insufficient reference database coverage is a widely recognized limitation of molecular ecology approaches which are reliant on database matches for assignment of function or identity. Here, we use data from…Review of potential line-transect methodologies for estimating abundance of dolphin stocks in the eastern tropical Pacific
1 January, 2018 by Peter Fretwell
A twelve-year hiatus in fishery-independent marine mammal surveys in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean (ETP), combined with a mandate to monitor dolphin stock status under international agreements and the need…Guidelines for genetic data analysis
1 January, 2018 by Jennifer Jackson
The IWC Scientific Committee recently adopted guidelines for quality control of DNA data. Once data have been collected, the next step is to analyse the data and make inferences that…The South Georgia Wave Experiment (SG-WEX): Radiosonde observations of gravity waves in the lower stratosphere. Part 1: Energy density, momentum flux and wave propagation direction
27 December, 2017 by John King, Steve Colwell, Tracy Moffat-Griffin
Gravity waves play a critical role in the transport of energy and momentum throughout the atmosphere. It has been suggested that small mountainous islands located in regions of strong winds…Cyclone-induced surface ozone and HDO depletion in the Arctic
19 December, 2017 by Xin Yang
Ground-based, satellite, and reanalysis datasets were used to identify two similar cyclone-induced surface ozone depletion events at Eureka, Canada (80.1° N, 86.4° W), in March 2007 and April 2011. These two events…Read more on Cyclone-induced surface ozone and HDO depletion in the Arctic
Response to van der Meer
18 December, 2017 by David Barnes, Gail Ashton, Lloyd Peck, Simon Morley
In our recent Current Biology paper [1], we describe an ocean warming experiment in which we manipulated the temperature of panels set on the seafloor to provide a realistic and…The last glaciation of Bear Peninsula, central Amundsen Sea Embayment of Antarctica: Constraints on timing and duration revealed by in situ cosmogenic 14C and 10Be dating
15 December, 2017 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith, Joanne Johnson
Ice streams in the Pine Island-Thwaites region of West Antarctica currently dominate contributions to sea level rise from the Antarctic ice sheet. Predictions of future ice-mass loss from this area…Additive effects of climate and fisheries drive ongoing declines in multiple albatross species
12 December, 2017 by Andrew Wood, Deborah Pardo, Jaume Forcada, Louise Ireland, Richard Phillips
Environmental and anthropogenic factors often drive population declines in top predators, but how their influences may combine remains unclear. Albatrosses are particularly threatened. They breed in fast-changing environments, and their…Influence of device accuracy and choice of algorithm for species distribution modelling of seabirds: A case study using black-browed albatrosses
1 December, 2017 by Janet Silk, Richard Phillips
Species distribution models (SDM) based on tracking data from different devices are used increasingly to explain and predict seabird distributions. However, different tracking methods provide different data resolutions, ranging from…Polar zoobenthos blue carbon storage increases with sea ice losses, because across-shelf growth gains from longer algal blooms outweigh ice scour mortality in the shallows
1 December, 2017 by David Barnes
One of the major climate-forced global changes has been white to blue to green; losses of sea ice extent in time and space around Arctic and West Antarctic seas has…Dwarf males of giant warty squid Kondakovia longimana and a description of their spermatophores
1 December, 2017
Antarctic squids are widely known to play an important role in the diet of various Antarctic predators, although the biology of those squids and how that relates to their availability…Bacterial community composition in Adélie (Pygoscelis adeliae) and chinstrap (Pygoscelis antarctica) penguin stomach contents from Signy Island, South Orkney Islands
1 December, 2017 by David Pearce, Michael Dunn, Peter Convey
Penguin stomach microbiota and its variability are important as these microbes may contribute to the fitness of the host birds and their chicks, and influence the microbial ecosystem of the…Dwarf shrub and grass vegetation resistant to long-term experimental warming while microarthropod abundance declines on the Falkland Islands
1 December, 2017 by Peter Convey
Dwarf shrubs are a dominant plant type across many regions of the Earth and have hence a large impact on carbon and nutrient cycling rates. Climate change impacts on dwarf…Oil spill response capabilities and technologies for ice-covered Arctic marine waters: A review of recent developments and established practices
1 December, 2017 by Jeremy Wilkinson
Renewed political and commercial interest in the resources of the Arctic, the reduction in the extent and thickness of sea ice, and the recent failings that led to the Deepwater…