10 February, 2026 by Martin Collins, Philip Hollyman, Timothy Jones
Comprehending a species' life-history strategies is crucial to inform effective conservation efforts. Commercial fishing impacts icefish (family: Channichthyidae) in the Scotia Sea, but detailed information on species-specific life histories remains…8 February, 2026 by Dominic Hodgson, Emily Archibald, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Tom Jordan, Teal Riley
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is prone to major retreat. Identifying when previous WAIS retreats occurred could improve sea level rise projections, but detection of these events in marine…6 February, 2026 by Alice Clement, Lloyd Peck, Simon Morley
Seasonal and inter-annual variations in zooplankton play a vital role in marine ecosystems. In Antarctica, because of the extreme seasonality and ice extent, zooplankton studies are predominantly conducted in summer…6 February, 2026 by Elaine Mawbey, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith, Kate Hendry, Pierre Dutrieux, Robert Larter, Svetlana Radionovskaya
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is thinning at an accelerating rate, driven by melting at its margins by warm Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW). However, this understanding is largely based…Read more on Ocean heat forced West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat after the Last Glacial Maximum
6 February, 2026 by Andrew Meijers, Petra ten Hoopen
The Southern Ocean is central to global heat and carbon cycling, connecting all the major ocean basins and regulating Earth’s climate system, and hence providing ecosystem services of global significance.…3 February, 2026 by Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark
1. Amid increasing anthropogenic pressures on ecosystems, standardised biodiversity monitoring is critical for assessing biodiversity change. Marine hard-bottom habitats, though ubiquitous and biodiverse, present challenges for biodiversity monitoring due to…3 February, 2026 by Jaimie Cleeland, Norman Ratcliffe, Richard Phillips
Background: The northern rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes moseleyi) is a threatened species, listed as Endangered globally by the IUCN owing to rapid population decreases in the past, combined with a limited…3 February, 2026 by Andrew Orr, Gareth Marshall, Ryan Williams
The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) strongly modulates Antarctic near-surface air temperature (SAT) variability. We employ a storyline approach to examine projected end of century changes in the spatial SAM-SAT relationship…2 February, 2026 by Connor Bamford, Hannah Cubaynes, Jennifer Jackson, Penny Clarke
The application of very high-resolution satellite imagery for the purpose of studying wildlife, particularly in remote regions, has gained significant traction in recent years. With this, there has been an…1 February, 2026 by Elizabeth Pearmain, Richard Phillips, Victoria Warwick-Evans
Spatial segregation in at-sea distribution is frequently observed in seabirds and can have important implications for conservation and management. Globally, many albatross and petrel populations are declining due to bycatch…1 February, 2026 by Thomas Bauska
Gypsum and marls from the 15 cycles of the Messinian Yesares Member in the Sorbas Basin, SE Spain, were analysed using a multi-isotope approach to reconstruct palaeo-hydrological conditions of the…1 February, 2026 by Philip Trathan
Marine megafauna species are affected by a wide range of anthropogenic threats. To evaluate the risk of such threats, species’ vulnerability to each threat must first be determined. We build…Read more on Vulnerability of marine megafauna to global at‐sea anthropogenic threats
1 February, 2026 by Huw Griffiths, Rowan Whittle, Tasnuva Khan
Seymour (Marambio) Island, Antarctica has one of the most expanded onshore Cretaceous–Paleogene sedimentary successions in the world. The deposition of the López de Bertodano Formation (~70–65.6 Ma) covered a time of…1 February, 2026 by Jane Francis
During the late Paleozoic glacial ice extended from Antarctica across most of the Australian part of Gondwana. Maximum ice thickness over Antarctica was ∼5400–8000 m and over central Australia 2700–4000…1 February, 2026 by Kevin Newsham
Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are present in all ecosystems and encode the defences that microorganisms have naturally evolved to defend themselves against antimicrobial agents. The use and synthesis of antibiotics…1 February, 2026 by Andrew Orr, Grzegorz Muszynski, Hamish Pritchard, Scott Hosking
We perform a causal analysis to quantify the direct causal links on intraseasonal time‐scales associated with the influence of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) teleconnections on summer monsoon Himalayan precipitation (SMHP)…30 January, 2026 by Andrew Kavanagh, Mai Mai Lam
Modelling the Ionosphere-Thermosphere system is one of the grand challenges for Earth system scientists. On 8 March 2024 the Royal Astronomical Society hosted a Specialist Discussion Meeting, with both online…30 January, 2026 by Thomas Caton Harrison, Thomas Bracegirdle
Antarctic marine coastal near-surface winds play a key role in Southern Ocean circulation. Using the ERA5 reanalysis dataset, this paper develops directional wind constancy as a tool for identifying key…28 January, 2026 by Michael Haigh, Paul Holland, Pierre Dutrieux, Thomas Caton Harrison
The ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea are being melted rapidly by warm Circumpolar Deep Water(CDW), causing sea‐level rise. Ice‐shelf melt variability is controlled by the speed of a shelf‐break…28 January, 2026 by Kaine Bunting, Nigel Meredith
Chorus waves are naturally occurring plasma waves often observed in the terrestrial radiation belts that strongly influence the behavior of energetic electrons. These waves can both accelerate electrons to relativistic…28 January, 2026 by David Pearce, Peter Convey
Studying airborne viruses in remote environments like the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia offers key insights into viral ecology, diversity, and their role in shaping ecosystems through microbial and nutrient…Read more on Diversity of DNA viruses in the atmosphere of sub-Antarctic South Georgia
28 January, 2026 by Peter Convey
We evaluated endolithic fungal diversity associated with rocks sampled at the polyextreme Brazilian São Pedro and São Paulo archipelago using a DNA amplicon metagenomics approach. We detected 808,547 fungal DNA…27 January, 2026 by Emma Woodfield
Since the dawn of the space age in 1957, humanity has achieved the remarkable feat of exploring all the planets in our Solar System with robotic spacecraft. This glimpse into…23 January, 2026 by Richard Horne
Scope of this document 1. Space weather may be described as disturbances of the upper atmosphere and near Earth space that disrupt a wide range of technological systems – and,…Read more on Summary of space weather worst-case environments: (4th revised edition)
22 January, 2026
The marginal male hypothesis is a mechanism proposed to explain gregariousness in pinnipeds. Here, we explore whether this mechanism, combined with density-dependent pup survival, can also account for heterogeneity in…21 January, 2026 by Alex Brisbourne, Andy Smith, Rosie Williams, James Smith, Kevin Hank, Robert Arthern
The response of the Antarctic ice sheet to climate change and its contribution to sea level under different emission scenarios are subject to large uncertainties. A key uncertainty is the…21 January, 2026 by Andrew Fleming, Ben Evans, Scott Hosking
Tabular icebergs calve from ice shelves and glaciers in Antarctica, Greenland, and northern Ellesmere Island. These “ice islands”, as they are referred to in the Arctic, drift, melt, and fragment,…20 January, 2026 by Alistair Monteath
Beringia’s extensive late Quaternary deposits of yedoma silt provide rich floristic and faunal records. Sampling of frozen yedoma exposures typically uses multiple baydzherakhs (residual silt heaps developed as conical thermokarst…20 January, 2026 by Peter Fretwell
Emperor penguins are highly reliant on stable fast ice for successful breeding, and some studies project possible quasi-extinction for most colonies by 2100 due to future sea-ice loss. To better…20 January, 2026 by Rachael Sanders
Oxygen is fundamental to ocean biogeochemical processes, with deoxygenation potentially reducing biodiversity, and disrupting biogeochemical cycles. In recent decades, the global ocean oxygen concentration has been decreasing, but this decrease…Read more on Remineralisation changes dominate oxygen variability in the North Atlantic
19 January, 2026 by Kate Owen, Michael Dunn
1. The timing of breeding is an important aspect of any species' realised niche, reflecting adaptations to synchronise with food supplies, dilute predation, avoid competition and exploit seasonal fluctuations in…Read more on Record phenological responses to climate change in three sympatric penguin species
17 January, 2026 by Simon Morley
Ocean warming affects ectotherm physiological and phenological processes, potentially creating mismatches between early life stages and their prey. Seasonal spawning cohorts are thought to provide flexibility in responding to environmental…16 January, 2026 by Andrew Meijers, Pierre Dutrieux, Shenjie Zhou
A compilation of in situ temperature and salinity profiles south of 45° S is assembled, drawing from multiple data centers and sensor sources. This database is then used to create…Read more on The OCEAN ICE hydrography profiles compilation and climatology [in review]
15 January, 2026 by Alexander Tate, Benjamin Dawson, Claudette Lopez, Mike Crosier
This report describes the development of the Data Acquisition and Metadata Platform (DAMP), a real time sensor logging system created by BAS and NOC for use on NERC’s deep-water research…15 January, 2026 by John King, Maria Vittoria Guarino, Steve Colwell
Surface warming in the polar regions has important consequences for the stability of the lowest layers of the atmosphere and for atmospheric vertical movement. Here, using ERA5 reanalysis data and…Read more on A long-term shift in flow regimes over the Antarctic Peninsula
15 January, 2026 by Nigel Meredith
The Earth's outer radiation belt contains highly energetic electrons, also known as “killer electrons”, which can pose a damage to the Earth-orbiting satellites. It is of great importance to understand…14 January, 2026 by Peter Convey
Here we describe a new springtail species found on Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island. The new species, Folsomotoma punctata, is known from sub-Antarctic South Georgia, but this is a first occurrence…14 January, 2026 by Bethany King, Lloyd Peck
Ocean freshening due to increased precipitation and ice melting in a warming world poses a significant threat to marine calcifiers. The reduced availability of calcification substrates and an undersaturated calcium…14 January, 2026 by Tarkan Bilge
In recent decades, high demand from stakeholders and policymakers has intensified research efforts toward operational seasonal forecasts. This is particularly relevant when it comes to El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the…13 January, 2026 by Simon Morley
The Global Biodiversity Framework underpins global policies driving marine protection and conservation. Meeting the targets of these policies requires an understanding of how marine ecosystems respond to anthropogenic pressures such…9 January, 2026 by Claire Allen
Sea surface temperature is a key indicator of climate change on Earth and is central to all related modelling endeavours. However, sea surface temperature is notoriously difficult to reconstruct accurately…Read more on Diatom lipids open window to past ocean temperatures in the polar regions
8 January, 2026 by Richard Phillips
Background: Albatrosses can commute long distances to feed during the breeding season by avoiding energetically costly flapping flight. Energy from both wind and waves can be used to sustain soaring…8 January, 2026 by Andrew Fleming, Andrew Meijers, James Smith, Kelly Hogan, Paul Holland, Yavor Kostov
Icebergs that ground on the submarine Bear Ridge in the Amundsen Sea are known to block the drift of sea ice, playing a crucial role in maintaining shelf sea ocean…7 January, 2026 by Andrew Orr, David Goodger, Douglas Boyle, Ed King, Hamish Pritchard
Mountain glaciers provide an important service in sustaining river flows for large populations downstream of High Mountain Asia (HMA) but these glaciers are retreating and the future of this water…7 January, 2026
Bobtail squids from the genera Sepiola spp. are known for their association with the bioluminescent bacteria Vibrio fischeri and V. logei. Although the ecology and behaviour of the bobtail squids…6 January, 2026 by Jasmine Lee
Antarctica’s compositionally and functionally unusual biodiversity is typically neglected in global biodiversity analyses, and ecological theory is rarely applied in the Antarctic context. These omissions mean that predictions of the…Read more on Ecological processes shaping Antarctic terrestrial biodiversity change
6 January, 2026 by Martin Collins, Simeon Hill, Timothy Jones, Victoria Warwick-Evans
Demersal fish are a critical component of Antarctic marine ecosystems and may consume large quantities of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), placing them at risk from competition with commercial krill fishing.…2 January, 2026 by Peter Convey
Primary producers shape terrestrial biodiversity, but most research has focused on vascular plants, while the role of cryptogams (mosses, lichens and algae) remains under-explored. Cryptogams dominate Antarctic vegetation and support…2 January, 2026 by Ryan Williams
Storylines are physically plausible scenarios of future climate change, statistically derived from an ensemble of climate model projections and organized according to the magnitude of projected changes in two or…Read more on Selecting CMIP6 Models for Future Arctic Storylines Using a Novel Performance Score
1 January, 2026 by Emma Pearce, Ronan Agnew
The grounding zone of a marine‐terminating glacier, where ice begins to float, is a key control on glacier stability and ice discharge. Seismic deployments are a powerful means of studying…1 January, 2026 by Aliaksandra Skachkova, Hannah Cubaynes, Jennifer Jackson, Penny Clarke, Peter Fretwell
Monitoring live and stranded cetaceans can be expensive and logistically challenging, resulting in knowledge gaps. Very high-resolution (VHR) optical satellites are considered a potential solution to addressing some of these…1 January, 2026 by Emma Young, Joanna Zanker
Climate change is impacting high-latitude fjord circulation with consequences for the transport of marine biota essential for supporting local ecosystems. Currently, little is understood about oceanographic variability in sub-Antarctic island…1 January, 2026 by Philip Hollyman
Mercury (Hg) is a neurotoxic element that can harm marine wildlife. Hg can reach the Southern Ocean through atmospheric and oceanic currents. However, data on Hg in Southern Ocean deep-sea…1 January, 2026 by Teal Riley
South Georgia forms one of the most isolated fragments of continental crust on Earth and lies in a remote location in the Southern Ocean. Its geology is dominated by Early…1 January, 2026 by Lloyd Peck
We present outcomes from our 17th horizon scan of issues potentially impacting global biodiversity conservation in the next decade. Issues are novel, or represent a significant step-change in impact, and…Read more on A horizon scan of biological conservation issues for 2026
1 January, 2026 by Teal Riley
South Georgia lies in a remote position in the circumpolar South Atlantic and forms one of the most isolated continental fragments on Earth. The basement geology of South Georgia is…1 January, 2026 by Hua Lu
The Arctic is warming rapidly, with atmospheric rivers (ARs) amplifying ice melt, extreme precipitation, and abrupt temperature shifts. Detecting ARs in the Arctic remains challenging, because AR detection algorithms designed…Read more on A Deep Learning Approach to Detecting Atmospheric Rivers in the Arctic
1 January, 2026 by Andrew Wood, Richard Phillips
Phenotypic responses to climate affect individual fitness, but the extent to which this translates into effects on population dynamics remains poorly understood. We assemble 213 time series on phenotypes and…Read more on Changes in phenology mediate vertebrate population responses to temperature globally
1 January, 2026 by Peter Convey
An epipelic strain of the cyanobacterium Pseudanabaena (USMAC20) obtained from the sediment of Dian Pu River, Shanghai, China, was characterized using combined phenotypic and genetic approaches. The morphological plasticity of…28 December, 2025
In this study, we report the response of migrating diurnal tides (DW1) in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region to the Madden‒Julian oscillation (MJO). The DW1 amplitudes are decomposed…23 December, 2025 by Chester Sands, David Barnes, Simon Morley
Marine biological (‘blue’) carbon pathways are crucial components of the global carbon budget due to the ecosystem services they provide through the fixation of CO2 from the atmosphere. CO2 is…22 December, 2025 by Katrin Linse
Methane seepage at the seafloor can form gas hydrate and sustain chemosynthetic communities of deep-sea animals. Most known hydrate seeps occur shallower than 2000 m on continental slopes, whereas hydrothermal…22 December, 2025 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
The stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), crucial for predicting future sea-level rise, is threatened by ocean-forced melting in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean. While some…19 December, 2025 by Katrin Linse
Peracarida is a large group containing twelve orders of brooding crustaceans, including the large orders Amphipoda, Isopoda, Tanaidacea and Cumacea, and a series of smaller orders, some restricted to isolated…Read more on Unpouching Peracarida relationships with ultraconserved elements
18 December, 2025 by Alex Brisbourne, Andy Smith, Ronan Agnew
Understanding how an ice sheet slips at its base is an important part of ice sheet models; this requires knowledge of the geological materials underlying the ice. Controlled-source seismic surveys…18 December, 2025 by Hamish Pritchard
The rapid expansion of glacial lakes in high-mountain regions, both in number and area, increases the risk of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) to downstream communities. Optical remote sensing is…18 December, 2025 by Anje-Margriet Neutel, David Barnes
Ecological networks tend to contain many weak and only a few strong links. Furthermore, link strengths are often patterned within a network in ways that enhance system stability considerably, increasing…18 December, 2025 by Birgit Rogalla
Humans emitted millions of tons of the toxic element lead (Pb) into the atmosphere. The North Atlantic Ocean has been strongly affected by atmospheric Pb deposition, however the role of…Read more on The Arctic Ocean is a net sink for anthropogenic lead deposited into the Atlantic Ocean
16 December, 2025 by Thomas Lachlan-Cope
Over the Southern Ocean, atmospheric and climate models have large biases in their radiative fluxes, primarily caused by the representation of supercooled liquid and mixed-phase low-level clouds, both at the…15 December, 2025 by Thomas Bracegirdle
The Amundsen Sea is dominated by a quasi-stationary low-pressure region, the Amundsen Sea Low (ASL). ASL variability impacts on regional weather and the basal melting of ice shelves, an important…13 December, 2025 by Yohei Takano
Emissions-driven (prognostic CO2) simulations are essential for representing two-way carbon-climate feedback in Earth System Models. We present an emissions-driven land–atmosphere coupled biogeochemistry (BGC) configuration (BGCLNDATM_progCO2) in version 2.1 of the…12 December, 2025 by Anna Jones, Thomas Lachlan-Cope
Measurements of pre-industrial conditions are of paramount importance for understanding historical climate change. The Southern Ocean and Antarctic continent are some of the least polluted environments on planet Earth. Alkylamines…Read more on Multiple oceanic sources of alkylamines in Southern Ocean atmospheres
12 December, 2025 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith
Sedimentary records can illuminate relationships between the climate, topography, and glaciation of West Antarctica by revealing its Cenozoic topographic and paleoenvironmental history. Eocene fluvial drainage patterns have previously been inferred…12 December, 2025 by Beverley Ager
This paper reviews recent developments in bibliometric studies of polar research, building on papers presented to the 2016 and 2018 Colloquies. It extends existing work to consider the patterns of…Read more on Collaborations in polar research: a bibliometric study
11 December, 2025 by Kate Hendry
Far from being frozen and sterile environments, glaciers are biogeochemical reactors and regulators. In this Review, we discuss the hydrology and biogeochemistry of glacierized environments and their impact on downstream…Read more on Glacier biogeochemical cycling and downstream impacts
10 December, 2025 by Peter Davis
Dotson Ice Shelf (DIS) is located in the Amundsen Sea sector of Antarctica, an area of rapid glacial mass loss due to ocean-driven basal melting. Here, warm Circumpolar Deep Water…Read more on Observations of turbulent mixing in the Dotson Ice Shelf cavity
9 December, 2025 by Shenjie Zhou
Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) is derived from dense water that sinks from the Antarctic continental shelf to the deep ocean. The sinking of AABW is balanced by a return flow…8 December, 2025 by Alistair Monteath
Radiocarbon-dated fossils indicate woolly mammoths were extirpated from mainland Beringia around 13 000 years ago. However, environmental DNA in permafrost suggests small “cryptic“ populations survived into the Holocene. Resolving this discrepancy…Read more on Adopted “mammoths” from Alaska turn out to be a whale’s tale
4 December, 2025 by Kaitlin Naughten, Keith Nicholls
Societal adaptation to rising sea levels requires robust projections of the Antarctic Ice Sheet's retreat, particularly due to ocean-driven basal melting of its fringing ice shelves. Recent advances in ocean…Read more on Multi-model estimate of Antarctic ice-shelf basal mass budget and ocean drivers
4 December, 2025 by Kevin Hank
We document the glacial system model (GSM), which is designed for large ensemble ice sheet modelling in glacial cycle contexts. A distinguishing feature is the extent to which it addresses…1 December, 2025 by Kevin Hughes
Biological invasions are one of the major drivers of biodiversity decline and have been shown to have far‐reaching consequences for society and the economy. Preventing the introduction and spread of…1 December, 2025 by Jose Marques Queiros, Jose Dos Santos Abreu, Richard Phillips
The giant warty squid Moroteuthopsis longimana is an important prey of top predators in the Southern Ocean. It is therefore a major link in the pathway of contaminants like mercury…1 December, 2025 by Xu Zhang
Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1; ~17.5-15 thousand years before present) was characterized by a weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) that resulted in large hydroclimate changes across the global…1 December, 2025 by Thomas Bauska
Numerous evaporative saline playa lakes exist within the Thar Desert in Northwest India. Some are active seasonally, whereas others are dry and preserve up to several meters of sedimentary deposits.…1 December, 2025 by Alistair Monteath
Cryptotephra (non-visible volcanic ash) deposits in the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) provide a distal record of South American volcanism and ash dispersal into the South Atlantic Ocean. Here, we present…1 December, 2025 by Dominic Hodgson, Stephen Roberts, Tony Phillips
Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) are a group of temperature-sensitive membrane lipids found in bacteria that have been widely used in palaeo-temperature reconstruction. Despite recent advances in analytical methods,…1 December, 2025 by Sophie Fielding
Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) are among the most abundant species on our planet and serve as a vital food source for many marine predators in the Southern Ocean. In this…1 December, 2025 by Richard Phillips
Advancements in acoustic data collection technologies have greatly increased their use in wildlife monitoring, but produce large volumes of data that are challenging to analyse manually. Recent developments in machine…1 December, 2025 by Katrin Linse
Amathillopsis spinigera Heller, 1875, is an enigmatic peracarid crustacean species found in the Arctic Ocean. During the summer of 2024, it was recorded in the HAUSGARTEN observatory for the first…1 December, 2025 by Alex Brisbourne, Carlos Martin Garcia
Dielectric anisotropy in ice alters the propagation of polarized radio waves, so polarimetric radar sounding can be used to survey anisotropic properties of ice masses. Ice anisotropy is either intrinsic,…1 December, 2025 by Jasmine Lee, Kevin Hughes, Richard Phillips
Tourism in Antarctica is increasing rapidly and is concentrated predominantly in ice-free areas in the Antarctic Peninsula region, an area that holds globally important colonies of breeding birds. Since 2005,…1 December, 2025
Understanding how deleterious mutations affect fitness is central to evolutionary and conservation biology. However, most empirical studies rely on inbreeding as a proxy for the mutation load, overlooking the substantial…Read more on Early-life viability selection targets deleterious mutations in exons
1 December, 2025 by Ashley Bennison
Conserving marine species effectively requires spatially and temporally explicit knowledge of their abundance and distribution for assessing potential impacts (e.g., from fishery bycatch, anthropogenic sound, ship strikes) over different spatial…1 December, 2025 by Alistair Monteath, Emma Young, Stephen Roberts, Tom Jordan, Teal Riley
Pumice rafts derived from submarine eruptions can remain afloat for months or even years, traveling thousands of kilometers on ocean currents. These natural phenomena disperse marine organisms and provide important…28 November, 2025
As sea ice retreats in a warming climate, the Arctic Ocean is becoming more energetic; yet little is known about this additional energy's distribution in the water column. We use…28 November, 2025 by Peter Convey
Microorganisms often occur in association with macroalgae, with the term “phycosphere” referring to the seaweed surface where they may be present. Phycosphere represents a poorly explored niche of marine diversity,…27 November, 2025 by Caroline Holmes
Antarctic sea ice showed a profound, step-wise reduction around 2016-2017, but the scarcity of modern time series means that we know very little about how Southern Ocean biota have responded.…26 November, 2025 by Dominic Hodgson
Understanding past variability in Antarctic sea ice is of critical importance to determine how it regulates global climate processes, biogeochemistry, and Southern Ocean marine ecosystems. Records of changes in Holocene…