Found 14089 items
14 March, 2025 by Peter Convey
A major natural route of dispersal to Antarctica is often assumed to be atmospheric transport, although few studies have documented this in detail. Aerial dispersal to Antarctica is very challenging…14 March, 2025 by Sophie Fielding
Hypoxic (O2 < 60 μmol kg−1) waters are found below 27% of the ocean surface and are predicted to expand in the near future; however, the organic carbon cycle in…
13 March, 2025 by Claire Allen, Dieter Tetzner, Jack Humby, Liz Thomas
Low-concentration insoluble microparticles that are preserved in ice cores offer valuable information for reconstructing past environmental changes. However, their low concentrations and limited sample availability present challenges for extraction and…12 March, 2025 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
Ice sheet models should be able to accurately simulate palaeo ice sheets to have confidence in their projections of future polar ice sheet mass loss and resulting global sea level…Read more on Quantitative sub-ice and marine tracing of Antarctic sediment provenance (TASP v1.0)
10 March, 2025 by Lloyd Peck, Nicholas Barrett
Coastal freshening in the Southern Ocean is expected to increase under projected climate scenarios. As a major environmental stressor, prolonged reduced salinity could pose a significant challenge to Antarctica's endemic…10 March, 2025 by Alice Fremand, Andy Smith, David Vaughan, Ed King, Elena Field, Fausto Ferraccioli, Hugh Corr, Hamish Pritchard, James Kirkham, Peter Fretwell, Richard Hindmarsh, Tom Jordan, Richard Hindmarsh
We present Bedmap3, the latest suite of gridded products describing surface elevation, ice-thickness and the seafloor and subglacial bed elevation of the Antarctic south of 60 °S. Bedmap3 incorporates and…Read more on Bedmap3 updated ice bed, surface and thickness gridded datasets for Antarctica
10 March, 2025 by Peter Convey
Background and Methods: We assessed the prokaryotic and eukaryotic diversity present in non-vegetated and vegetated soils on King George Island, Maritime Antarctic, in combination with measurements of carbon dioxide fluxes.…6 March, 2025 by Paul Holland, Pierre Dutrieux
The retreat of the Antarctic Ice Sheet is conventionally attributed to increased ocean melting of ice shelves, potentially enhanced by internal instability from grounding lines near retrograde bed slopes. Ocean…6 March, 2025 by Ashley Bennison, David Barnes, Emma Young, Martin Collins, Simon Morley, Stephanie Martin
ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) events are becoming more frequent and more intense as climate change continues. Although ENSO effects are known to propagate into the southwest Atlantic, knowledge of…Read more on Dramatic ENSO related Southwestern Atlantic ecosystem shifts
5 March, 2025 by Nicholas Barrett
Climate change is impacting marine ecosystems worldwide, presenting a significant threat to biodiversity. In the Southern Ocean, organisms are facing increasing challenges due to warming, ocean acidification, reduced sea-ice cover,…4 March, 2025 by Kate Hendry
Subglacial weathering releases biologically important nutrients into meltwaters that have the potential to influence downstream ecosystems. There is a need to understand how accelerated glacial retreat could impact biogeochemical cycling…Read more on High-Resolution Sensors Reveal Nitrate and Dissolved Silica Dynamics in an Arctic Fjord
4 March, 2025 by Elizabeth Boyse
A good understanding of biotic interactions is necessary to accurately predict the vulnerability of ecosystems to climate change. Recently, co-occurrence networks built from environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding data have arisen…4 March, 2025 by Michael Meredith
Phytoplankton play a pivotal role as the primary producers in polar marine ecosystems. Despite evidence suggesting that production rates and loss factors vary from year to year, and thus drive…3 March, 2025 by Aaron Hendry, Mark Clilverd
Previously the geomagnetic Ap index has been used as a proxy to produce empirical energetic electron precipitation (EEP) forcing representations suitable for incorporation into coupled-climate model runs. The long-running Ap…3 March, 2025 by Michael Thorne
For years, a main focus of ecological research has been to better understand the complex dynamical interactions between species which comprise food webs. Using the connectance properties of a widely…1 March, 2025 by Dominic Hodgson, Peter Fretwell, Richard Phillips
Knowledge of the spatial distribution of many polar seabird species is incomplete due to the remoteness of their breeding locations. Here, we compiled a new database of published and unpublished…1 March, 2025 by David Barnes
Microplastics, small pieces of plastic measuring less than five millimeters, have spread to all ecosystems, even those in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. In particular, microplastics have been found contaminating…Read more on Quantifying microplastics concentration of invertebrates from three Antarctic fjords
1 March, 2025 by Mark Clilverd
Sudden Stratospheric Warmings (SSW) and Elevated Stratopause (ES) events are mid-to-high latitudinal, atmospheric wave-driven phenomena leading to significant changes in wind, temperatures, and vertical mass transport, especially at stratospheric and…1 March, 2025 by Peter Convey
Polar microalgae are microscopic organisms adapted to survive in cold and extreme habitats such as sea-ice, glaciers, lakes and snow. These microorganisms provide an essential basis as primary food sources…Read more on Adaptations, Cultivation, and Commercial Prospects of Polar Microalgae
28 February, 2025 by Neil Brough
Water-insoluble organic material extracted from atmospheric aerosol samples collected in urban (Royal Holloway, University of London, UK) and remote (Halley Research Station, Antarctica) locations were shown to form stable thin…28 February, 2025 by Andrew Orr, Ruth Price
The Southern Ocean and offshore coastal Antarctica are key regions for global climate. Low level mixed-phase clouds strongly control the surface radiation budget of this region but remain challenging for…28 February, 2025 by Bianca Perren, Dominic Hodgson
Recent intensification of the Southern Hemisphere Westerlies has resulted in important changes to ocean circulation, Antarctic ice shelf stability and precipitation regimes in the continents abutting the Southern Ocean. Efforts…27 February, 2025 by Norman Ratcliffe, Ryan Saunders
The porbeagle shark Lamna nasus, a top predator in the North Atlantic, is vulnerable to anthropogenic stressors due to its life history characteristics. Understanding its biology, abundance and spatial ecology…Read more on Migration and space use by porbeagle sharks Lamna nasus in the northeast Atlantic
26 February, 2025 by Xu Zhang
The rainfall patterns in Eastern Asia are largely a consequence of the Asian winter and summer monsoons. On timescales 10 4 –10 6 of years, the position and strength of…25 February, 2025 by Clara Manno, Claire Waluda, Emily Rowlands, Kirstie Jones-Williams
Microplastic pollution in remote inland Antarctica is largely unknown. This study explored the plastic footprint of snow from remote Antarctic camps: Union Glacier, Schanz Glacier and the South Pole. Refined…Read more on Microplastics in Antarctica – a Plastic Legacy in the Antarctic Snow?
25 February, 2025 by Paul Holland
Sea-ice floating in the Arctic ocean is a constantly moving, growing and melting layer. The seasonal cycle of sea-ice volume has an average amplitude of or 9 trillion tonnes of…21 February, 2025 by Oliver Marsh
We present a 1000 km transect of phase-sensitive radar measurements of ice thickness, basal reflection strength, basal melting, and ice-column deformation across the Ross Ice Shelf (RIS). Measurements were gathered…20 February, 2025 by Michael Meredith
As a net source of nutrients fuelling global primary production, changes in Southern Ocean productivity are expected to influence biological carbon storage across the global ocean. Following a high-emission, low-mitigation…19 February, 2025 by Markus Frey
Aerosols play a critical role in the Arctic's radiative balance, influencing solar radiation and cloud formation. Limited observations in the central Arctic leave gaps in understanding aerosol dynamics year-round, affecting…16 February, 2025 by Richard Phillips
Aim: To identify the broad‐scale oceanic migration routes (‘marine flyways’) used by multiple pelagic, long‐distance migratory seabirds based on a global compilation of tracking data. Location: Global. Time Period: 1989–2023.…15 February, 2025 by Dominic Hodgson, James Smith, Joanne Johnson, Teal Riley
The Hudson Mountains are situated in the eastern Amundsen Sea sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, adjacent to Pine Island Glacier. They form a volcanic field of 17 stratovolcanoes…Read more on Glacial geology of the Hudson Mountains, Amundsen Sea sector, West Antarctica
12 February, 2025 by Andrew Kavanagh, Jade Reidy, Jade Reidy
The mesosphere/lower-thermosphere/ionosphere (MLTI) region is a critical boundary in the coupling of the atmosphere, climate and space weather, however it is one of the least understood regions, making it hard…12 February, 2025 by Peter Convey
The Antarctic midge, Belgica antarctica, is a unique insect endemic to Antarctica. It has a 2-year life cycle, with larvae overwintering in two different instars and adults emerging the following…11 February, 2025
Ice cores provide an un-matched high-resolution archive into paleoclimate reconstruction that other environmental archives (e.g. coral, sediment cores, and tree rings) do not. Limited research has focussed on terrestrial organic…11 February, 2025 by Andrew Orr, Ella Gilbert
We explore how atmospheric rivers (ARs) in a summer and winter case interact with the topography of the Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica, and deposit significant precipitation amounts. To do…11 February, 2025 by Gareth Marshall
Utilising the 20th Century Reanalysis version 3 (20CRv3), we examine changes in the extent and rate of autumn Eurasian snow cover (SC) advance and the temporal variability in the SC–Arctic…10 February, 2025 by Andrew Orr
Since the late 1990s, summer surface melt across ice shelves in the Ross-Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica increased significantly, as demonstrated by satellite measurements and MetUM simulations. This contrasts…8 February, 2025 by Michael Meredith
Background: The west Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is a region of rapid environmental changes, with regional differences in climate warming along the north–south axis of the peninsula. Along the WAP, Palmer…7 February, 2025 by Louise Sime, Qinggang Gao, Rahul Sivankutty, Xu Zhang
Given relatively abundant paleo-proxies, the study of the last interglacial (LIG, ∼ 129–116 000 years ago, ka) is valuable to understanding the responses and feedback of the Southern Ocean and Antarctica in…7 February, 2025 by Hugo Rodrigues Guimaro
Cephalopods are crucial to the Southern Ocean ecosystem, connecting top predators with mid-trophic organisms, yet their ecology in the Pacific sector is not well understood. This research used stable isotope…Read more on Evidence of eastern rockhopper penguin feeding on a key commercial arrow squid species
7 February, 2025 by Philip Leat
Mechanisms regulating material transfer from subducted slabs to arc magmas remain debated, centered on metasomatized mantle wedge interactions versus mélange mobilization at the slab-mantle interface. The South Sandiwch Islands arc…Read more on Mélange dehydration and melting beneath South Sandwich Islands arc
6 February, 2025 by Patrick Keith
The Southern Ocean is experiencing major environmental and ecological changes which could drastically alter communities and impact ecosystem functioning. We still have a poor understanding of the structure of Southern…Read more on Drivers of Southern Ocean food web structure and impacts of environmental change
6 February, 2025 by Huw Griffiths, Kevin Hughes, Lloyd Peck, Peter Convey
Antarctica harbors many distinctive features of life, yet much about the diversity and functioning of Antarctica’s life remains unknown. Evolutionary histories and functional ecology are well understood only for vertebrates,…5 February, 2025 by Rebecca Peel
This thesis details the development and application of a pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) method for the quantification of microplastic pollution in terrestrial samples. Initial analysis of plastic standards using Py-GC/MS…5 February, 2025 by Hua Lu
Significant changes have occurred during the last few decades across the North Atlantic climate system, including in the atmosphere, ocean, and cryosphere. These large-scale changes play a vital role in…4 February, 2025 by David Pearce
In this review, we delineate the unique set of characteristics associated with cryosphere environments (namely, ice and permafrost) which present both challenges and opportunities for studying ancient environmental microbiomes (AEMs).…Read more on Ancient environmental microbiomes and the cryosphere
4 February, 2025 by Lloyd Peck
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an emerging tool that could be leveraged to identify the effective conservation solutions demanded by the urgent biodiversity crisis. We present the results of our horizon…Read more on The potential for AI to revolutionize conservation: a horizon scan
4 February, 2025 by Emma Boland
Climate models are increasingly used to derive localised, specific information to guide adaptation to climate change. Model projections of future scenarios are conferred credibility by evaluating model skill in reproducing…4 February, 2025 by Ananth Ranjithkumar, Markus Frey, Thomas Lachlan-Cope, Xin Yang
In the polar regions, there is significant model bias in the number concentrations and seasonality of sea salt aerosol (SSA) due to the lack of understanding of aerosol sources associated…3 February, 2025 by James Smith, Keith Makinson, Keith Nicholls, Paul Anker, Peter Davis
Thwaites Glacier is one of the fastest-changing ice-ocean systems in Antarctica. Basal melting beneath Thwaites' floating ice shelf, especially around pinning points and at the grounding line, sets the rate…Read more on Lateral Fluxes Drive Basal Melting Beneath Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf, West Antarctica
2 February, 2025 by Peter Convey
In this study, we evaluated the pathogenic potential of the fungi Aspergillus thermomutatus and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa obtained from maritime Antarctic permafrost using in vivo experiments on immunocompromised BALB/c mice. Despite…1 February, 2025 by Anne-Sophie Bonnet-Lebrun, Norman Ratcliffe
Aim: Ecologically similar species living in sympatry are expected to segregate to reduce the effects of competition where re-sources are limiting. Segregation from heterospecifics commonly occurs in space, but it…1 February, 2025 by Peter Convey
During a 2019 Chilean Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ECA 55) studying crustose coralline algae (CCA) diversity on the Antarctic Peninsula, bleaching of these algae was observed for the first time in…1 February, 2025 by Philip Hollyman, Richard Phillips
Cephalopods play a major role in marine food webs as both predators and prey. Although most of the Hg in cephalopods is present in the muscle, most studies on its…1 February, 2025 by Richard Phillips
Incidental mortality (bycatch) of seabirds in pelagic longline fisheries remains a major threat to many populations. The design and implementation of technical innovations aimed at reducing seabird bycatch rates have…1 February, 2025 by Andrew Fleming, Alexander Tate, Andreas Cziferszky, Jeremy Wilkinson, Michael Thorne
Globally, ships above a certain tonnage, as well as an increasing number of smaller vessels, rely on the AIS (Automatic Identification System) to safely navigate around other vessels, which are…29 January, 2025 by Philip Trathan
Biodiversity is critical for maintaining ecosystem function but is threatened by increasing anthropogenic pressures. In the Southern Ocean, a highly biologically productive region containing many endemic species, proactive management is…29 January, 2025 by Isobel Rowell, Jack Humby, Louise Sime, Robert Mulvaney
The fate of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is the largest cause of uncertainty in long-term sea-level projections. In the last interglacial (LIG) around 125,000 years ago, data suggest…Read more on The Ronne Ice Shelf survived the last interglacial
28 January, 2025 by Megan Malpas
Stable boundary layers (SBLs) commonly form during the Arctic polar night, but their correct representation poses a major challenge for numerical weather prediction (NWP) systems. To enable detailed model verification,…28 January, 2025 by Anna Jones, Floortje Van Den Heuvel, Markus Frey, Thomas Lachlan-Cope
In order to reduce the uncertainty of aerosol radiative forcing in global climate models, we need to better understand natural aerosol sources which are important to constrain the current and…28 January, 2025 by Rosie Williams, James Byrne, Scott Hosking, Robert Arthern
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is losing ice and its annual contribution to sea level is increasing. The future behaviour of WAIS will impact societies worldwide, yet deep uncertainty…27 January, 2025 by Jasmine Lee, Peter Convey
Antarctica is one of Earth's most untouched, inhospitable, and poorly known regions. Although knowledge of its biodiversity has increased over recent decades, a diverse, wide-ranging, and spatially explicit compilation of…Read more on The biodiversity of ice-free Antarctica database [Data paper]
26 January, 2025 by Qinggang Gao
Precessional forcing is a key driver of quaternary climate change. Based on 24 experiments covering a full precession cycle, this study explores spatio-temporal variations of both climate and isotope signals…Read more on Precession Controls on Climate and Water Isotope Signals in Northern Africa
24 January, 2025 by Joanne Johnson
Unambiguous identification of past episodes of ice sheet thinning below the modern surface and grounding line retreat inboard of present requires recovery and exposure dating of subglacial bedrock. Such efforts…22 January, 2025 by Lloyd Peck
Just and fair transitions to low-carbon and nature-positive ways of living need to occur fast enough to limit and reverse the climate and nature crises, but not so fast that…22 January, 2025 by Dani Jones
Submesoscale eddies are important features in the upper ocean where they mediate air-sea exchanges, convey heat and tracer fluxes into ocean interior, and enhance biological production. However, due to their…22 January, 2025 by Dominic Hodgson, Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey
Antarctica, Earth’s least understood and most remote continent, is threatened by human disturbances and climate-related changes, underscoring the imperative for biodiversity inventories to inform conservation. Antarctic ecosystems support unique species…21 January, 2025 by Alistair Monteath
Anthropogenic climate warming is degrading permafrost across Interior Alaska. Information from past warming events provides long-term perspectives of future trajectories, however, late Quaternary seasonal temperatures are poorly constrained. We established…20 January, 2025 by Kevin Hughes, Kudzai Hwengwere, Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark
Despite being recognised as a global problem, our understanding of human-mediated antimicrobial resistance (AMR) spread to remote regions of the world is limited. Antarctica, often referred to as “the last…20 January, 2025 by Peter Convey
Invertebrates are ubiquitous. Diverse in form and function, they play crucial roles in ecosystems: for example as food for other organisms, as pollinators, and as decomposers. Invertebrate species vastly outnumber…19 January, 2025 by Caroline Holmes, Peter Fretwell
Antarctic sea ice forms a critical part of the regional and global climate system [1] and is also a critical habitat [2]. Following the first signs of decline in Antarctic…Read more on Antarctic sea ice #4: record lows between 2022 and 2025
17 January, 2025 by Freya Squires
The North Atlantic Climate System Integrated Study (ACSIS) was a large multidisciplinary research programme funded by the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). ACSIS ran from 2016 to 2022 and…17 January, 2025 by Jonathan Adams, Joanne Johnson, Stephen Roberts
Cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating is an important technique for reconstructing glacial histories. Many of the most commonly applied cosmogenic nuclides are extracted from the mineral quartz, meaning sampling of felsic…16 January, 2025 by Louise Sime
Antarctic ice cores can help determine ice mass loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) during past warm periods. We compile Last Interglacial (LIG) δ18O measurements from eight Antarctic cores…16 January, 2025 by Jeremy Wilkinson
Frequency-domain electromagnetic induction (EMI) is routinely used to detect the presence of seawater due to the inherent electrical conductivity of the seawater. This approach is used to infer sea-ice thickness…16 January, 2025 by Andrew McDonald, Scott Hosking
In this paper, we explore the crucial role and challenges of computational reproducibility in geosciences, drawing insights from the Climate Informatics Reproducibility Challenge (CICR) in 2023. The competition aimed at…16 January, 2025 by Peter Davis, Robert Larter
Executive Summary: Change to Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica, sometimes referred to as the “Doomsday Glacier”, over the coming decades and centuries will have profound implications for global sea-level rise…15 January, 2025 by Mark Clilverd
Subionospheric very low-frequency (VLF) radio signals are reflected by free electrons in the ionospheric D-region at about 60–90 km altitude and can propagate over long distances, which makes them useful for…Read more on Investigation of the October effect in very low-frequency (VLF) signals
15 January, 2025 by Dominic Hodgson, Stephen Roberts
Anthropogenic mercury (Hg) emissions to the atmosphere have increased the concentration of this potent neurotoxin in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The magnitude of regional variation in atmospheric Hg pollution levels…Read more on Perspectives on using peat records to reconstruct past atmospheric Hg levels
13 January, 2025 by Peter Convey
Polar marine macroalgae thrive in extreme conditions, often displaying geographic isolation and high degree of endemism. The “phycosphere” refers to the zone around the algae inhabited by microrganisms. Our study…8 January, 2025 by Lorena Romero Martinez
Diatom resting stages can remain viable in sediments for decades and germinate when exposed to suitable environmental conditions, inoculating the water column and the surface sediments with new populations of…7 January, 2025 by Alistair Monteath
The number of cryptotephra (non-visible volcanic ash) records from northeastern North America is unique in the continent. The resulting tephrostratigraphic framework includes ash deposits sourced from volcanic arcs across the…7 January, 2025 by Andrew Orr
In this study, we investigate the complex relationship between western disturbances (WDs), the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and extreme precipitation events (EPEs) in the western Himalaya (WH) during the extended…6 January, 2025 by Katrin Linse
Understanding how ecological, environmental and geographic features influence population genetic patterns provides crucial insights into a species' evolutionary history, as well as their vulnerability or resilience under climate change. In…2 January, 2025 by Thomas Bauska
Understanding the causes of past atmospheric methane (CH4) variability is important for characterizing the relationship between CH4, global climate and terrestrial biogeochemical cycling. Ice core records of atmospheric CH4 contain…Read more on Abrupt changes in biomass burning during the last glacial period
2 January, 2025 by Xu Zhang
Permafrost is a potentially important source of deglacial carbon release alongside deep-sea carbon outgassing. However, limited proxies have restricted our understanding in circumarctic regions and the last deglaciation. Tibetan Plateau…2 January, 2025 by Dave Munday, Dani Jones, Rachel Furner
Machine learning (ML) techniques have emerged as a powerful tool for predicting weather and climate systems. However, much of the progress to date focuses on predicting the short-term evolution of…Read more on The challenge of land in a neural network ocean model
2 January, 2025 by Raghul Parthipan
Atmospheric models used for weather and climate prediction are traditionally formulated in a deterministic manner. In other words, given a particular state of the resolved scale variables, the most likely…Read more on Machine learning for stochastic parametrization
1 January, 2025 by Joanne Johnson
We review successes and challenges from five recent subglacial bedrock drilling campaigns intended to find evidence for Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat during warm periods in the geologic past. Insights into…Read more on Lessons learned from shallow subglacial bedrock drilling campaigns in Antarctica
1 January, 2025 by Thomas Bauska
Beneath the surface of Antarctica lies a near perfect record of changes in the atmosphere composition over hundreds of thousands of years. This unique archive allows us to reconstruct atmospheric…1 January, 2025 by James Smith, Kelly Hogan
During Quaternary glaciations, ice sheets expanded from continental interiors across continental shelves and delivered large volumes of sediment, transported by meltwater, and icebergs to the marine environment. Glaciomarine sediments preserve…1 January, 2025 by Claire Allen, Dieter Tetzner
Here, we summarize the diatom research topics and applications that have the broadest relevance and importance for Antarctic studies. From the Southern Ocean we focus on biogeography, sea surface temperature…1 January, 2025 by Andrew Wood, Richard Phillips, Victoria Warwick-Evans
The Antarctic seasonal sea-ice zone (SIZ) is one of the most extensive and dynamic habitats on Earth. In summer, increased insolation and ice melt cause primary production to peak, sustaining…1 January, 2025 by Gareth Marshall
The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) is an important pattern of Southern Hemisphere circulation variability: it accounts for between 15 and 30 or more percent of the total variability of the…1 January, 2025 by Clara Manno
Monitoring the movement of plastic into marine food webs is central to understanding and mitigating the plastic pollution crisis. Bioindicators have been a component of the environmental monitoring toolkit for…