Showing 11923 items
1 February, 2016 by Mervyn Freeman
We describe a novel method for identifying times when a spacecraft is in Earth's magnetotail lobes solely using magnetometer data. We propose that lobe intervals can be well identified as…Read more on Identifying the magnetotail lobes with Cluster magnetometer data
1 February, 2016 by Andrew Wood, Richard Phillips
Fitness can be profoundly influenced by the age at first reproduction (AFR), but to date the AFR–fitness relationship only has been investigated intraspecifically. Here, we investigated the relationship between AFR…28 January, 2016 by Andy Smith, Dominic Hodgson, James Smith, Keith Makinson, Michael Rose
Accumulations of sediment beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet contain a range of physical and chemical proxies with the potential to document changes in ice sheet history and to identify and…Read more on Technologies for retrieving sediment cores in Antarctic subglacial settings
28 January, 2016 by Andy Smith, Dominic Hodgson, Keith Makinson, Michael Rose
Accessing and sampling subglacial environments deep beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet presents several challenges to existing drilling technologies. With over half of the ice sheet believed to be resting on…Read more on Clean subglacial access: prospects for future deep hot-water drilling
28 January, 2016 by David Pearce
During the attempt to directly access, measure and sample Subglacial Lake Ellsworth in 2012–2013, we conducted microbiological analyses of the drilling equipment, scientific instrumentation, field camp and natural surroundings. From…Read more on Microbiology: lessons from a first attempt at Lake Ellsworth
27 January, 2016 by Xin Yang
Multiple year-round records of bulk and size-segregated compositions of aerosol were obtained at the coastal Dumont d'Urville (DDU) and inland Concordia sites located in East Antarctica. They document the sea-salt…19 January, 2016 by Jenny Roberts, Victoria Peck
Explanations of the glacial–interglacial variations in atmospheric pCO2 invoke a significant role for the deep ocean in the storage of CO2. Deep-ocean density stratification has been proposed as a mechanism…16 January, 2016 by Andrew Orr, Scott Hosking, John Turner, Thomas Bracegirdle
The Amundsen Sea Low (ASL) is a major driver of West Antarctic climate variability, with the potential to accelerate the loss of glacial ice. Using the 11 global climate models…16 January, 2016 by Xin Yang
Ozone depletion events in the polar troposphere have been linked to extremely high concentrations of bromine, known as bromine explosion events (BEE). However, the optimum meteorological conditions for the occurrence…Read more on A case study of a transported bromine explosion event in the Canadian high arctic
14 January, 2016 by Lloyd Peck, Michael Thorne, Melody Clark, Victoria Sleight
Members of the Myidae family are ecologically and economically important, but there is currently very little molecular data on these species. The present study sequenced and assembled the mantle transcriptome…1 January, 2016 by Jane Francis
Two stratigraphically closely spaced bedding planes exposed at Lamping Peak in the Upper Buckley Formation, Beardmore Glacier area, Antarctica contain abundant in situ stumps (n=53, n=21) and other plant fossils…Read more on Highly productive polar forests from the Permian of Antarctica
1 January, 2016 by John King
Before Shackleton arrived at South Georgia aboard Endurance on 5 November 1914 he was aware that the vessel might meet bad pack-ice in the Weddell Sea. This had been forecast…Read more on Robert Mossman, Endurance and the Weddell Sea ice
1 January, 2016 by Gareth Marshall, Scott Hosking, John Turner
The Amundsen Sea Low (ASL) is a climatological low pressure center that exerts considerable influence on the climate of West Antarctica. Its potential to explain important recent changes in Antarctic…Read more on The Amundsen Sea Low: Variability, change and impact on Antarctic climate
1 January, 2016
Cephalopods have a key role in the marine environment though knowledge of their distribution and trophic ecology is limited by a lack of observations. This is particularly true for Antarctic…1 January, 2016 by Andrew Orr, John King, Thomas Lachlan-Cope
The structure of leeside warming during foehn events is investigated as a function of cross-barrier flow regime linearity. Two contrasting cases of westerly flow over the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) are…1 January, 2016 by Simon Morley
The distribution of the Southern Ocean nearshore marine benthic fauna is the consequence of major geologic, oceanographic, and climatic changes during the last 50 Ma. As a result, a main…1 January, 2016 by Peter Convey
Fungi are known to produce a range of extracellular enzymes and other secondary metabolites. Investment in extracellular enzyme production may be an important element of the survival strategy of these…Read more on Production of extracellular hydrolase enzymes by fungi from King George Island
1 January, 2016 by Louise Sime, Max Holloway
Reconstructions of salinity are used to diagnose changes in the hydrological cycle and ocean circulation. A widely used method of determining past salinity uses oxygen isotope (δOw) residuals after the…1 January, 2016 by Peter Convey
At a global scale, there is no evidence for synchronous multi-decadal warm (‘Medieval Warm Period’, MWP) or cold (‘Little Ice Age’, LIA) periods in the late Holocene. On the other…1 January, 2016 by Lloyd Peck, Michael Thorne, Melody Clark
Understanding species’ responses to environmental challenges is key to predicting future biodiversity. However, there is currently little data on how developmental stages affect responses and also whether universal gene biomarkers…Read more on Age-related thermal response: the cellular resilience of juveniles
1 January, 2016 by John Turner, Liz Thomas
This study presents a high-resolution (~ 5.5 km) estimate of Surface Mass Balance (SMB) over the period 1979–2014 for the Antarctic Peninsula (AP), generated by the regional atmospheric climate model…1 January, 2016 by Alexandra Weiss, John King, Thomas Lachlan-Cope
Eight atmospheric reanalyses were compared against observed vertical profiles of temperature, specific humidity and wind speed collected by two research aircraft in February–March 2010 in the Antarctic Peninsula region. These…Read more on Validation of eight atmospheric reanalyses in the Antarctic Peninsula region
1 January, 2016 by Gabriele Stowasser, Richard Phillips, Rocio Moreno
Summary 1.Understanding interspecific interactions, and the influences of anthropogenic disturbance and environmental change on communities, are key challenges in ecology. Despite the pressing need to understand these fundamental drivers of…1 January, 2016 by Lloyd Peck
Temperature affects biological functions by altering reaction rates. Physiological rates usually double to treble for every 10°C rise, and 1–4 fold encompasses normal biological functions. However, in polar marine species…1 January, 2016 by Dominic Hodgson, Stephen Roberts
A regional network of quantitative reconstructions of past climate variability is required to test climate models. In recent studies, temperature calibration models based on the relative abundances of sedimentary glycerol…1 January, 2016 by Dave Munday
Adrian Gill’s (1968) model of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is reinterpreted for a stratified, reduced-gravity ocean, where the barotropic streamfunction is replaced by the pycnocline depth, and the bottom…1 January, 2016 by Lloyd Peck
This paper presents the results of our seventh annual horizon scan, in which we aimed to identify issues that could have substantial effects on global biological diversity in the future,…Read more on A horizon scan of global conservation issues for 2016
1 January, 2016 by Michael Meredith
The Southern Ocean exerts a profound influence on the functioning of the Earth System, in part because its location and unique bathymetric configuration enable direct linkages to the other major…1 January, 2016 by Paul Rodhouse
The jumbo, or Humboldt, squid Dosidicus gigas currently accounts for about one third of total world squid landings ( Arkhipkin et al., 2015). It is the largest and most abundant…Read more on Jumbo squid in the eastern Pacific Ocean: A quarter century of challenges and change
1 January, 2016 by Michael Meredith, Paul Holland
The thermodynamic balance of the Weddell Gyre is assessed from an inverse estimate of the circulation across the gyre's rim. The gyre experiences a weak net buoyancy gain that arises…1 January, 2016 by David Pearce, Michael Thorne, Will Goodall-Copestake
Recent attempts to explore marine microbial diversity and the global marine microbiome have indicated a large proportion of previously unknown diversity. However, sequencing alone does not tell the whole story,…1 January, 2016 by David Barnes, Lloyd Peck, Simon Morley
Seasonal measurements of the metabolic physiology of four Antarctic demosponges and their associated assemblages, maintained in a flow through aquarium facility, demonstrated one of the largest differences in seasonal strategies…Read more on Extreme phenotypic plasticity in metabolic physiology of Antarctic demosponges
1 January, 2016 by Jaume Forcada
Females of many species adaptively program their offspring to predictable environmental conditions, a process that is often mediated by hormones. Laboratory studies have shown, for instance, that social density affects…1 January, 2016 by Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark, Sabrina Heiser
Cold polar marine species have very slow embryonic and larval development rates. Antarctic echinoids, bivalve molluscs and brooding gastropods develop up to 12 times slower than temperate and tropical species,…Read more on Very slow embryonic and larval development in the Antarctic limpet Nacella polaris
1 January, 2016 by Hugh Corr, Keith Nicholls
Antarctica's ice shelves are thinning at an increasing rate, affecting their buttressing ability. Channels in the ice shelf base unevenly distribute melting, and their evolution provides insight into changing subglacial…1 January, 2016 by Mark Clilverd
The solar minimum of 2007–2010 was unusually deep and long lived. In the later stages of this period the electron fluxes in the radiation belts dropped to extremely low levels.…1 January, 2016 by Ingrid Cnossen
Previous studies have revealed that ion drift and neutral wind speeds at ~400 km in the polar cap (>80° magnetic latitude) are on average larger in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) than…1 January, 2016 by Kelly Hogan
The provenance of sand-sized ice-rafted debris (IRD) sourced from Greenland is currently difficult to determine. Such knowledge, if it could be ascertained with a high degree of certainty, could be…1 January, 2016 by Robert Larter
The DRAKE-SCOTIA SEA GATEWAYS is a new multidisciplinary International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) drilling proposal aimed at determining the time of opening and pattern of development of gateways in the…20 December, 2015 by Hugh Venables
The Scotia Sea region contains some of the most productive waters of the Southern Ocean. It is also a dynamic region through the interaction of deep water masses with the…18 December, 2015 by Richard Horne
Fast mode magnetosonic waves are typically confined close to the magnetic equator and exhibit harmonic structures at multiples of the local, equatorial proton cyclotron frequency. We report observations of magnetosonic…Read more on Observations of discrete magnetosonic waves off the magnetic equator
11 December, 2015 by John Turner, Thomas Bracegirdle, Tony Phillips
Climate models exhibit large biases in sea ice area (SIA) in their historical simulations. This study explores the impacts of these biases on multimodel uncertainty in Coupled Model Intercomparison Project…3 December, 2015 by Emily Ludlow, Scott Hosking, Liz Thomas, Rebecca Tuckwell
The Amundsen Sea sector of the West Antarctic ice sheet has been losing mass in recent decades; however, long records of snow accumulation are needed to place the recent changes…Read more on Twentieth century increase in snowfall in coastal West Antarctica
3 December, 2015 by Richard Hindmarsh, Richard Hindmarsh
Large parts of the Antarctic ice sheet lying on bedrock below sea level may be vulnerable to marine-ice-sheet instability (MISI)1, a self-sustaining retreat of the grounding line triggered by oceanic…1 December, 2015 by Michael Thorne, Melody Clark
454 RNA-Seq transcriptome data were generated from foot tissue of the Antarctic brooding gastropod mollusc Margarella antarctica. A total of 6195 contigs were assembled de novo, providing a useful resource…Read more on Transcriptome of the Antarctic brooding gastropod mollusc Margarella antarctica
1 December, 2015 by Xin Yang
At present, anthropogenic halogens and oceanic emissions of Very Short-Lived Substances (VSLS) are responsible for stratospheric ozone destruction. Emissions of the, mostly long-lived, anthropogenic halogens have been reduced, and as…Read more on Oceanic bromine emissions weighted by their ozone depletion potential
1 December, 2015 by Katrin Linse
Hydrothermal vents on mid-oceanic ridges are patchily distributed and host many taxa endemic to deep-sea chemosynthetic environments, whose dispersal may be constrained by geographical barriers. The aim of this study…1 December, 2015 by Elisabeth Biersma, Peter Convey
The extreme polar environment creates challenges for the resident invertebrate communities and the stress tolerance of some of these animals has been examined over many years. However, although it is…1 December, 2015 by Roger Worland, Peter Convey
As small bodied poikilothermic ectotherms, invertebrates, more so than any other animal group, are susceptible to extremes of temperature and low water availability. In few places is this more apparent…Read more on Responses of invertebrates to temperature and water stress: A polar perspective
1 December, 2015 by Iain Staniland
Despite global declines in the abundance of marine predators, knowledge of foraging ecology, necessary to predict the ecological consequences of large changes in marine predator abundance, remains enigmatic for many…1 December, 2015 by Zhaomin Wang
Surface roughness which partitions surface net radiation into energy fluxes is a key parameter for estimation of biosphere–atmosphere interactions and climate variability. An earth system model of intermediate complexity (EMIC),…Read more on Contribution of surface roughness to simulations of historical deforestation
1 December, 2015 by Dominic Hodgson
Higher homologues of widely reported C86 isoprenoid diglycerol tetraether lipid cores, containing 0–6 cyclopentyl rings, have been identified in (hyper)thermophilic archaea, representing up to 21% of total tetraether lipids in…1 December, 2015 by Dave Munday, Dani Jones
On planetary scales, surface wind stress and differential buoyancy forcing act together to produce isopycnal surfaces that are relatively flat in the tropics/subtropics and steep near the poles, where they…Read more on Planetary-geometric constraints on isopycnal slope in the Southern Ocean
1 December, 2015 by David Jones, Michael Rose
The Halley VI Antarctic Research station was designed as a series of linked, ski-mounted modules. This makes it possible to relocate the station in the event that changing Antarctic conditions…1 December, 2015 by Emilie Capron
The Last Interglacial (LIG) represents an invaluable case study to investigate the response of components of the Earth system to global warming. However, the scarcity of absolute age constraints in…1 December, 2015 by Philip Trathan
The relationship between ammonia (NH3) concentrations downwind from a penguin colony and local surface greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes was investigated on the remote sub-Antarctic Bird Island (54°00′S, 38°03′W) during summer…1 December, 2015 by Dani Jones, Richard Phillips
Rationale The main limitation of isotopic tracking for inferring distribution is the lack of detailed reference maps of the isotopic landscape (i.e. isoscapes) in the marine environment. Here, we attempt…1 December, 2015 by Lloyd Peck, Michael Thorne, Melody Clark
Background The capacity of marine species to survive chronic heat stress underpins their ability to survive warming oceans as a result of climate change. In this study RNA-Seq and 2-DE…1 December, 2015 by Martin Wearing, Richard Hindmarsh, Richard Hindmarsh
We investigate the relationship between four ice-shelf characteristics in the area close to the calving front: ice flow speed, strain rate, ice thickness and shelf width. Data are compiled for…1 December, 2015 by Eugene Murphy
The Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research (IMBER) project aims at developing a comprehensive understanding of and accurate predictive capacity of ocean responses to accelerating global change and the consequent…Read more on IMBER – Research for marine sustainability: Synthesis and the way forward
1 December, 2015 by Hua Lu, Ian White, Tony Phillips
Wave–mean flow interactions associated with the Holton–Tan effect (HTE), whereby the tropical quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) modulates the Northern Hemisphere wintertime stratospheric polar vortex, are studied using the ERA-Interim dataset. Significant…1 December, 2015 by Pierre Mathiot
The Younger Dryas cooling event disrupted the overall warming trend in the North Atlantic region during the last deglaciation1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Climate change during the Younger Dryas…Read more on Multiple causes of the Younger Dryas cold period
1 December, 2015 by Geraint Tarling, Gabriele Stowasser, Peter Ward, Ryan Saunders, Simeon Hill
Myctophids are the most abundant mesopelagic fishes in the Southern Ocean, although their trophic role within the predominantly krill-based food web in regions south of the Antarctic Polar Front (APF)…1 December, 2015 by Sandra McInnes, Sandra McInnes
Antarctica contains some of the most challenging environmental conditions on the planet due to freezing temperatures, prolonged winters and lack of liquid water. Whereas 99.7% of Antarctica is permanently covered…Read more on Mitochondrial DNA analyses reveal widespread tardigrade diversity in Antarctica
1 December, 2015 by Mervyn Freeman
We present a new quantitative technique that determines the times and durations of substorm expansion and recovery phases and possible growth phases based on percentiles of the rate of change…28 November, 2015 by Mark Clilverd
Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves are thought to be important drivers of energetic electron losses from the outer radiation belt through precipitation into the atmosphere. While the theoretical possibility of…Read more on High-resolution in situ observations of electron precipitation-causing EMIC waves
27 November, 2015 by Ingrid Cnossen
This special issue bundles some of the latest results on decadal-scale variations in the stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and ionosphere, following on from the 8th Workshop on Long-Term Changes and Trends…18 November, 2015 by Andrew Gray
Recent research has tried to calculate the "total cost of publication" in the British academic sector, bringing together the costs of journal subscriptions, the article processing charges (APCs) paid to…Read more on Considering Non-Open Access Publication Charges in the “Total Cost of Publication”
13 November, 2015 by David Barnes
The Antarctic Peninsula (AP) is one of the three places on Earth that registered the most intense warming in the last 50 years, almost five times the global mean. This…Read more on Climate change and glacier retreat drive shifts in an Antarctic benthic ecosystem
13 November, 2015 by Emily Shuckburgh
In the last century, the Earth has undergone a very fast and unusual change in the radiative forcing of its climate, resulting from human actions. This change in forcing has…Read more on Feedbacks on climate in the Earth system: introduction
1 November, 2015 by Hugh Venables, Michael Meredith
Iron (Fe) is an essential micronutrient for phytoplankton, and is scarce in many regions including the open Southern Ocean. The western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), an important source region of Fe…1 November, 2015 by Peter Convey
Sea ice algae are primary producers of the ice-covered oceans in both polar regions. Changes in sea ice distribution are potentially altering exposure to photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and ultraviolet-B…Read more on Aspects of resilience of polar sea ice algae to changes in their environment
1 November, 2015
Tracking studies normally focus on long-distance migrants, meaning that our understanding about short-distance migration remains limited. In this study, we present the first individual tracks of the Eurasian golden plover…1 November, 2015 by Alex Burton-Johnson, Teal Riley
The allochthonous terrane accretion model previously proposed for the geological development of the Antarctic Peninsula continental margin arc is reviewed in light of recent data and the geology is reinterpreted…1 November, 2015 by Richard Phillips
1. There is growing interest in the effects of wind on wild animals, given evidence that wind speeds are increasing and becoming more variable in some regions, particularly at temperate…Read more on Contrasting responses of male and female foraging effort to year-round wind conditions
1 November, 2015 by Christopher Darvill
The timing and extent of former glacial advances can demonstrate leads and lags during periods of climatic change and their forcing, but this requires robust glacial chronologies. In parts of…1 November, 2015 by Dave Munday
The influence of different wind stress bulk formulae on the response of the Southern Ocean circulation to wind stress changes is investigated using an idealised channel model. Surface/mixed layer properties…1 November, 2015 by Catharine Horswill, Iain Staniland, Norman Ratcliffe, Philip Trathan, Simeon Hill, Stacey Adlard
Aim To infer the potential for competition between an important Antarctic predator, the macaroni penguin, and the krill fishery by examining the spatial overlap in prey consumption and catches. Location…1 November, 2015 by Gareth Marshall
We examine trends in the Southern Annular Mode (SAM), and the strength, position and width of the Southern Hemisphere surface westerly wind jet in observations, reanalyses and the Coupled Model…Read more on Comparing trends in the Southern Annular Mode and surface westerly jet
1 November, 2015 by Carlos Martin Garcia, Hamish Pritchard, Jonathan Kingslake, Keith Nicholls, Richard Hindmarsh, Robert Mulvaney, Richard Hindmarsh
Locally grounded features in ice shelves, called ice rises and rumples, play a key role buttressing discharge from the Antarctic Ice Sheet and regulating its contribution to sea level. Ice…1 November, 2015 by Hua Lu
Since the pioneering work of Bagnold in the 1940s, aeolian research has grown to become an integral part of earth-system science. Many individuals have contributed to this development, and Dr.…Read more on A tribute to Michael R. Raupach for contributions to aeolian fluid dynamics
1 November, 2015 by Peter Convey
Antarctica is an isolated continent whose conditions challenge the survival of living organisms. High levels of endemism are now known in many Antarctic organisms, including algae, tardigrades, nematodes and microarthropods.…Read more on Antarctic bdelloid rotifers: diversity, endemism and evolution
1 November, 2015 by Dominic Hodgson
Substantial parts of the beds of glaciers, ice sheets and ice caps are at the pressure melting point1. The resulting water harbours diverse subglacial microbial ecosystems2, 3 capable of affecting…Read more on Rock comminution as a source of hydrogen for subglacial ecosystems
1 November, 2015
The future ice dynamical contribution to sea-level rise (SLR) from 210 ice shelf nourishing drainage basins of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet (APIS) is simulated, using the British Antarctic Survey…Read more on Modelling ice dynamic contributions to sea level rise from the Antarctic Peninsula
1 November, 2015 by Daniel Bannister, John King
Average summer temperatures over South Georgia have risen by 1°C along with an increase in the rate of glacial retreat since the 1920s. Glaciers on the northeast of the island…Read more on Föhn winds on South Georgia and their impacts on regional climate
1 November, 2015 by Geraint Tarling
Studies carried out on a wide variety of Arctic species during the polar night reveal continued feeding, growth and reproduction, changing our view of this period from one of biological…Read more on Marine ecology: a wonderland of marine activity in the Arctic night
1 November, 2015 by David Vaughan, Hugh Corr, Keith Nicholls
The ApRES (autonomous phase-sensitive radio-echo sounder) instrument is a robust, lightweight and relatively inexpensive radar that has been designed to allow long-term, unattended monitoring of ice-shelf and ice-sheet thinning. We…1 November, 2015 by Dominic Hodgson
Background and aims – Non-marine diatom communities in the Antarctic Region are characterized by a typical species composition, dominated by a large number of Antarctic endemic species. Despite recent advances…30 October, 2015 by Markus Frey
Unraveling the modern budget of reactive nitrogen on the Antarctic plateau is critical for the interpretation of ice core records of nitrate. This requires accounting for nitrate recycling processes occurring…16 October, 2015 by Andrew Kavanagh
Modeling results have suggested that the circulation of the stratosphere and mesosphere in spring is strongly affected by the perturbations in heating induced by the Antarctic ozone hole. Here using…16 October, 2015 by David Newnham, Mark Clilverd
Magnetospheric substorms drive energetic electron precipitation into the Earth's atmosphere. We use the output from a substorm model to describe electron precipitation forcing of the atmosphere during an active substorm…Read more on Substorm-induced energetic electron precipitation: Impact on atmospheric chemistry
4 October, 2015 by Martin Black, Peter Convey, Peter Fretwell
On the Antarctic Peninsula, lichens are the most diverse botanical component of the terrestrial ecosystem. However, detailed information on the distribution of lichens on the Antarctic Peninsula region is scarce,…1 October, 2015 by Peter Convey
Seabirds are among the most important vectors transferring biogenic compounds from the sea onto land in the polar regions and, consequently, influencing the properties of soil and vegetation. We studied…1 October, 2015 by Rosey Grant
The planar fit (PF) method is often recommended for long-term eddy covariance flux measurements because it offers a number of advantages over rotating into streamwise coordinates. For sites over complex,…Read more on A new continuous planar fit method for calculating fluxes in complex, forested terrain
1 October, 2015
The identification of year-round geographical ranges and the quantification of the degree of migratory connectivity are fundamental to the successful conservation of migratory bird populations. The Stone-curlew Burhinus oedicnemus is…1 October, 2015 by Jeremy Wilkinson
Small-scale (~100 to 200 m) deformations of an Arctic sea ice floe were detected from multiple GPS-equipped buoys that were deployed on the same ice floe. Over a nine-month period…Read more on Small-scale deformation of an Arctic sea ice floe detected by GPS and satellite imagery