1 April, 2023 by Teal Riley
Lithic technologies dominate understanding of early humans, yet natural processes can fracture rock in ways that resemble artefacts made by Homo sapiens and other primates. Differentiating between fractures made by…1 April, 2023 by Jose Marques Queiros
The Antarctic toothfish Dissostichus mawsoni is a Southern Ocean long-lived top predator which is regularly captured on an annual fishery operating in the region. By its biological and ecological characteristics,…1 April, 2023 by Clara Manno
The biological carbon pump (BCP) contributes to the oceanic CO2 sink by transferring particulate organic carbon (POC) into the deep ocean. The magnitude and efficiency of the BCP is likely…1 April, 2023 by Kate Hendry
The concentration of dissolved barium in seawater ([Ba]SW) is influenced by both primary productivity and ocean circulation patterns. Reconstructing past subsurface [Ba]SW can therefore provide important information on processes which…Read more on Ba/Ca of stylasterid coral skeletons records dissolved seawater barium concentrations
1 April, 2023 by Keith Nicholls, Paul Holland
Numerical studies of ice flow have consistently identified the grounding zone of outlet glaciers and ice streams (the region where ice starts to float) as crucial for predicting the rate…1 April, 2023 by Peter Convey
Antarctic soils provide an excellent setting to test biogeographical patterns across spatial and environmental scales given their relatively simple communities and the dominance of physical factors that create strong environmental…1 April, 2023 by Diana Vladimirova, Dieter Tetzner, Jack Humby, Liz Thomas
The remote Antarctic continent, distant from human industrial activity, should be one of the last places on Earth to capture Anthropogenic change. Hence, stratigraphic evidence of pollution and nuclear activity…1 April, 2023 by Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey
Protection of Antarctica's biodiversity and ecosystem values is enshrined in the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, which provides for the designation of Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs)…Read more on The need for increased protection of Antarctica’s inland waters
29 March, 2023 by Jaume Forcada
Heavy metals, including mercury (Hg) and cadmium (Cd), occur naturally or anthropogenically and are considered toxic to the environment and human health. However, studies on heavy metal contamination focus on…29 March, 2023 by Clara Manno, Elisa Bergami, Emily Rowlands, Laura Wilkie Johnston
Microplastics (MP) have been reported in Southern Ocean (SO), where they are likely to encounter Antarctic zooplankton and enter pelagic food webs. Here we assess the presence of MP within…Read more on Organic or junk food? Microplastic contamination in Antarctic krill and salps
28 March, 2023 by Antony Siahaan, Emma Young, Felipe Gomez Valdivia, Paul Holland, Pierre Dutrieux
We use United Kingdom Earth System Model simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 to analyze the Ross Gyre (RG) dynamics during the historical 1850–2014 period and under two…Read more on Projected West Antarctic Ocean Warming Caused by an Expansion of the Ross Gyre
28 March, 2023 by Peter Convey
The underexplored intertidal ecosystems of Antarctica are facing rapid changes in important environmental factors. Associated with temperature increase, reduction in coastal ice will soon expose new ice-free areas that will…27 March, 2023 by Ananth Ranjithkumar, Markus Frey, Xin Yang
Natural aerosols and their interactions with clouds remain an important uncertainty within climate models, especially at the poles. Here, we study the behavior of sea salt aerosols (SSaer) in the…Read more on The representation of sea salt aerosols and their role in polar climate within CMIP6
24 March, 2023 by Dani Jones
The vertical distribution of ozone in the atmosphere, which features complex spatial and temporal variability set by a balance of production, loss, and advection, is relevant for both surface air…Read more on Technical note: Unsupervised classification of ozone profiles in UKESM1
23 March, 2023 by Oliver Marsh
Ice tongues at the fringes of the Antarctic ice sheet lose mass primarily through both basal melting and calving. They are sensitive to ocean conditions which can weaken the ice…Read more on Basal mass balance and prevalence of ice tongues in the Western ross sea
21 March, 2023 by Elisa Bergami
This chapter describes the best current definitions for nanoplastics in terms of specific origin, size, properties, their behavior in aquatic media, and ecotoxic interactions with other aquatic pollutants and living…Read more on Nanoplastics in Urban Waters: Recent Advances in the Knowledge Base
21 March, 2023 by Teal Riley
The importance of topography generated by Eocene Eurekan deformation as a sediment source for sandstones deposited on the western Barents Shelf margin is evaluated through a sediment provenance study conducted…17 March, 2023 by Florian Mekhaldi
Extreme solar particle events (ESPEs) are rare and the most potent known processes of solar eruptive activity. During ESPEs, a vast amount of cosmogenic isotopes (CIs) 10Be, 36Cl and 14C…17 March, 2023 by Paul Holland, Pierre Dutrieux
Mass loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is dominated by glaciers draining into the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE), yet the impact of anomalous precipitation on the mass balance of…16 March, 2023 by Amanda Burson
Despite their wide use in past sea-ice reconstructions, the seasonal, habitat and species-based sources of sedimentary sea-ice proxies are poorly understood. Here, we conduct direct observations of the community composition…15 March, 2023 by Rowan Whittle
Many modern extinction drivers are shared with past mass extinction events, such as rapid climate warming, habitat loss, pollution and invasive species. This commonality presents a key question: can the…15 March, 2023 by Dorothea Moser, Liz Thomas
Here we present a case study for using visual stratigraphy to date a shallow firn core from coastal West Antarctica. The Mount Siple ice core has the potential to reconstruct…15 March, 2023 by Robert Mulvaney
Here we present a newly developed ice core gas-phase proxy that directly samples a component of the large-scale atmospheric circulation: synoptic-scale pressure variability. Surface pressure changes weakly disrupt gravitational isotopic…15 March, 2023 by James Smith
Nioghalvfjerdsbrae, or 79∘ N Glacier, is the largest marine-terminating glacier draining the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS). In recent years, its ∼ 70 km long fringing ice shelf (hereafter referred to as the…14 March, 2023 by Lily Bentley
In the dynamic marine environment, highly mobile predators are expected to select profitable foraging areas, especially when provisioning young in addition to meeting their own energy needs. Knowing how and…Read more on The sea is the limit: Foraging ecology of breeding Antarctic Procellariiformes
11 March, 2023 by Hannah Cubaynes, Penny Clarke
Monitoring marine mammals is of broad interest to governments and individuals around the globe. Very high-resolution (VHR) satellites hold the promise of reaching remote and challenging locations to fill gaps…10 March, 2023 by Nigel Meredith
Plasmaspheric hiss is an electromagnetic wave mode that occurs ubiquitously in the high-density plasmasphere and contributes crucially to the dynamic behavior of the Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts. While plasmaspheric…Read more on Unique Banded Structures of Plasmaspheric Hiss Waves in the Earth’s Magnetosphere
9 March, 2023 by Alexandra Weiss
A new, simple parameterization scheme for scalar (heat and moisture) exchange over sea ice and the marginal ice zone is tested in a numerical weather and climate prediction model. This…9 March, 2023 by Katrin Linse
Schmidt Ocean Institute, in partnership with The Ditchley Foundation, hosted Credit where credit is due: Authorship of open ocean data at Ditchley Park, in Chipping Norton, UK, on October 6-7,…Read more on Credit Where Credit is Due: Authorship of Open Ocean Data Workshop Report
7 March, 2023 by Keith Nicholls
The transport of oceanic heat towards the Antarctic continental margin is central to the mass balance of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Recent modeling efforts challenge our view on where and…7 March, 2023 by Subir Mandal
Gravity waves, which are considered omnipresent in the Earth's upper atmosphere, are generally investigated by monitoring the fluctuations in different atmospheric parameters. Here, we report the propagation characteristics of thermospheric…3 March, 2023 by Alexandra Weiss
Marine cold air outbreaks are vigorous equatorward excursions of cold air over the ocean, responsible for the majority of wintertime oceanic heat loss from the subpolar seas of the North…1 March, 2023 by Peter Convey
We provide the first assessment of fungal diversity associated with historic wooden structures at Whalers Bay (Heritage Monument 71), Deception Island, maritime Antarctic, using DNA metabarcoding. We detected a total…1 March, 2023 by Rachel Cavanagh
The unsustainable trade in elasmobranch products, particularly fins, contributes to the decline of elasmobranch populations worldwide. Designing and implementing context-appropriate solutions to mitigate unsustainable trade requires a thorough analysis of…Read more on Mitigating elasmobranch fin trade: A market analysis for made-to-measure interventions
1 March, 2023 by Peter Convey
Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic islands include some of the world’s most extreme and pristine terrestrial habitats. While they are characterized by low biodiversity and terrestrial communities comprise small, often microscopic,…1 March, 2023
Intensive hunting activities such as commercial fishing and trophy hunting can have profound influences on natural populations. However, less intensive recreational hunting can also have subtle effects on animal behaviour,…1 March, 2023 by Ingrid Cnossen, Mervyn Freeman
On December 04, 2021, a total solar eclipse occurred over west Antarctica. Nearly an hour beforehand, a geomagnetic substorm onset was observed in the northern hemisphere. Eclipses are suggested to…1 March, 2023
The germline mutation rate determines the pace of genome evolution and is an evolving parameter itself. However, little is known about what determines its evolution, as most studies of mutation…Read more on Evolution of the germline mutation rate across vertebrates
1 March, 2023 by Alex Brisbourne, Andy Smith, Carlos Martin Garcia, Sofia-Katerina Kufner
The crystal orientation fabric of glacier ice impacts its strength and flow. Crystal fabric is therefore an important consideration when modelling ice flow. Here, we show that shear-wave splitting (SWS)…1 March, 2023 by Hamish Pritchard, Shuhong Wang
Glacier retreat is altering the water regime of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) as the region's climate changes, but there remain substantial gaps in our knowledge of recent glacier loss in…1 March, 2023 by Susan Gregory
White-blooded Antarctic icefishes, a family within the adaptive radiation of Antarctic notothenioid fishes, are an example of extreme biological specialization to both the chronic cold of the Southern Ocean and…Read more on Genomics of Secondarily Temperate Adaptation in the Only Non-Antarctic Icefish
1 March, 2023 by Peter Convey
The aim of the present study was to optimize the fermentation process for enhanced production of pravastatin by a wild-type Penicillium brefeldianum ESF21P strain using statistical approaches. Initial screening of…1 March, 2023 by Scott Hosking, Tom Andersson
Conditional neural processes (CNPs; Garnelo et al., 2018a) are attractive meta-learning models which produce well-calibrated predictions and are trainable via a simple maximum likelihood procedure. Although CNPs have many advantages,…28 February, 2023 by Peter Convey
Free-living terrestrial mites (Acari) have persisted through numerous glacial cycles in Antarctica. Very little is known, however, of their genetic diversity and distribution, particularly within the Ross Sea region. To…27 February, 2023 by Chester Sands, David Barnes, Nadescha Zwerschke, Simon Morley, Theresa Gossmann
Meaningful protection of global oceans lags far behind that of land and has taken little consideration of climate mitigation potential to date (such as through assessment of blue carbon stocks…27 February, 2023 by Jennifer Jackson
Assessing environmental changes in Southern Ocean ecosystems is difficult due to its remoteness and data sparsity. Monitoring marine predators that respond rapidly to environmental variation may enable us to track…24 February, 2023 by David Barnes, Jonathan Shanklin, Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey
Invasive non-native species (INNS) are recognized as a major threat to island biodiversity, ecosystems, and economies globally. Preventing high-risk INNS from being introduced is the most cost-effective way to avoid…23 February, 2023 by Richard Horne
In this study, we use approximately 3 years of observations from the Exploration of energization and Radiation in Geospace (ERG/Arase) satellite to statistically study the meridional distribution of wave power…Read more on Latitudinal dependence of ground VLF transmitter wave power in the inner magnetosphere
20 February, 2023 by Clara Manno
Planktonic calcifying organisms play a key role in regulating ocean carbonate chemistry and atmospheric CO2. Surprisingly, references to the absolute and relative contribution of these organisms to calcium carbonate production…Read more on Pelagic calcium carbonate production and shallow dissolution in the North Pacific Ocean
17 February, 2023 by Jeremy Wilkinson
We present a comprehensive review of the current status of remotely sensed and in situ sea ice, ocean, and land parameters acquired over the Arctic and Antarctic and identify current…16 February, 2023 by Irena Vankova, James Smith, Keith Makinson, Keith Nicholls, Paul Anker, Peter Davis, Robert Arthern
Thwaites Glacier is one of the fastest-changing ice–ocean systems in Antarctica1,2,3. Much of the ice sheet within the catchment of Thwaites Glacier is grounded below sea level on bedrock that…Read more on Suppressed basal melting in the eastern Thwaites Glacier grounding zone
16 February, 2023 by Catrin Thomas, David Vaughan, James Smith, James Wake, Keith Makinson, Keith Nicholls, Paul Anker, Peter Davis, Catrin Thomas
Thwaites Glacier represents 15% of the ice discharge from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and influences a wider catchment. Because it is grounded below sea level, Thwaites Glacier is thought…Read more on Heterogeneous melting near the Thwaites Glacier grounding line
15 February, 2023 by Teal Riley
Understanding subduction processes is critical in assessing the long-term evolution of the upper mantle and continental crust. We present new geochemical data on glassy submarine lavas from the Bransfield Strait,…13 February, 2023 by Ingrid Cnossen
Climate change is characterized by global surface warming associated with the increase of greenhouse gas population since the start of the industrial era. Growing evidence shows that the upper atmosphere…11 February, 2023 by Alex Burton-Johnson, Teal Riley
The LeMay Group accretionary complex of Alexander Island (Antarctic Peninsula) comprises a 4 km thick succession of variably deformed turbidites associated with thrust slices of ocean floor basalts. The depositional…8 February, 2023 by Peter Convey
We studied the fungal diversity present in soils sampled along a deglaciated chronosequence from para- to periglacial conditions on James Ross Island, north-east Antarctic Peninsula, using DNA metabarcoding. A total…7 February, 2023 by Ryan Saunders
Mesopelagic fishes play a central role in the transfer of energy through open-ocean food webs, particularly in the Southern Ocean where they are both important predators of zooplankton and a…2 February, 2023 by Paul Holland, Ryan Patmore
The ice shelf-ocean boundary current has an important control on heat delivery to the base of an ice shelf. Climate and regional models that include a representation of ice shelf…2 February, 2023 by Victoria Peck
Planktic foraminifera test iodine to calcium ratios represent an emerging proxy method to assess subsurface seawater oxygenation states. Several core-top studies show lower planktic foraminifera I/Ca ratios in locations with…Read more on Planktic foraminifera iodine/calcium ratios from plankton tows
2 February, 2023 by Qinggang Gao
Atmospheric vortex streets are a widely studied dynamical effect of isolated mountainous islands. Observational evidence comes from case studies and satellite imagery, but the climatology and annual cycle of vortex…Read more on Vortex streets to the lee of Madeira in a kilometre-resolution regional climate model
2 February, 2023 by Connor Bamford, Jennifer Jackson
- Baleen whales are predominately summer visitors to Antarctic waters, where they feed on large swarms of zooplankton, primarily Antarctic Krill (Euphausia superba). - Over 2 million whales were killed…Read more on The recovery of Antarctica’s giants – baleen whales
1 February, 2023 by Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey
Intensive human exploitation of the Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella) in its primary population centre on sub-Antarctic South Georgia, as well as on other sub-Antarctic islands and parts of the…1 February, 2023 by Norman Ratcliffe
Anthropogenic climate change is resulting in spatial redistributions of many species. We assessed the potential effects of climate change on an abundant and widely distributed group of diving birds, Eudyptes…1 February, 2023 by Emma Young, Michael Meredith
A high-resolution ocean model is used to characterize the variability of the shelf circulation and cross-shelf transport around the South Georgia island (SG). The time-mean shelf circulation consists of a…Read more on Variability of the shelf circulation around South Georgia, Southern Ocean
1 February, 2023 by Shenjie Zhou
The ocean is forced by the atmosphere on a range of spatial and temporal scales. In numerical models the atmospheric resolution sets a limit on these scales and for typical…Read more on The Impact of Stochastic Mesoscale Weather Systems on the Atlantic Ocean
1 February, 2023 by Peter Convey, Peter Fretwell
Mapping spatiotemporal changes in the distribution of blue ice regions (BIRs) in Antarctica requires repeated, precise, and high-resolution baseline maps of the blue ice extent. This study demonstrated the design…30 January, 2023 by Hannah Cubaynes, Penny Clarke, Peter Fretwell
The use of very high-resolution (VHR) optical satellites is gaining momentum in the field of wildlife monitoring, particularly for whales, as this technology is showing potential for monitoring the less…Read more on Annotating very high-resolution satellite imagery: A whale case study
30 January, 2023 by Mark Clilverd
The lower thermosphere-ionosphere (LTI) is a key transition region between Earth’s atmosphere and space. Interactions between ions and neutrals maximize within the LTI and in particular at altitudes from 100…25 January, 2023 by Neil Cobbett, Tracy Moffat-Griffin
The mesosphere/lower thermosphere (MLT, 80–100 km) region is an important boundary between Earth's atmosphere below and space above and may act as a sensitive indicator for anthropogenic climate change. Existing…25 January, 2023 by Alexander Bradley
We study the bendocapillary instability of a liquid droplet that part fills a flexible walled channel. Inspired by experiments in which a periodic pattern emerges as droplets of liquid are…Read more on Bendocapillary Instability of Liquid in a Flexible-Walled Channel
24 January, 2023 by Liz Thomas
A new meteorological dataset derived from records of Antarctic automatic weather stations (here called the AntAWS dataset) at 3 h, daily and monthly resolutions including quality control information is presented here.…Read more on The AntAWS dataset: a compilation of Antarctic automatic weather station observations
23 January, 2023 by Nadine Johnston
Sea ice is a key habitat in the high latitude Southern Ocean and is predicted to change in its extent, thickness and duration in coming decades. The sea-ice cover is…Read more on Biological responses to change in Antarctic sea ice habitats
19 January, 2023 by Chester Sands, David Barnes
The removal of carbon from the atmosphere for a long period (sequestration) is an increasingly pressing societal need in order to mitigate the negative effects of climate change. Investment and…16 January, 2023 by Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey, Rachel Cavanagh
Climate change is increasingly affecting Antarctica and the rest of the world. Urgent policy responses are needed to mitigate its associated impacts. Engagement of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM),…15 January, 2023 by Mervyn Freeman
Auroral zones are regions where, in an average sense, aurorae due to solar activity are most likely spotted. Their shape and, similarly, the geographical locations most vulnerable to extreme space…12 January, 2023 by Geraint Tarling, Kate Hendry, Petra ten Hoopen, Sally Thorpe
We present a database from substantial collections of macronutrient data made on 20 oceanographic cruises, primarily from around the island of South Georgia and the Scotia Sea. This sector of…12 January, 2023 by Dieter Tetzner, Teal Riley
Over the last few decades, numerous geological studies have been carried out in the South Shetland Islands, which have greatly contributed to a better understanding of its geological evolution. However,…Read more on The South Shetland Islands, Antarctica: unified lithostratigraphy and geological map
12 January, 2023 by Patrick Keith, Philip Hollyman, Simeon Hill
Food web interactions govern how ecosystems respond to climate change and biodiversity loss. Modularity, where subgroups of species interact more often with each other than with species outside their subgroup,…Read more on Trophic structuring of modularity alters energy flow through marine food webs
12 January, 2023 by Mark Clilverd
Daedalus MASE (Mission Assessment through Simulation Exercise) is an open-source package of scientific analysis tools aimed at research in the Lower Thermosphere-Ionosphere (LTI). It was created with the purpose to…6 January, 2023 by Alex Burton-Johnson, Teal Riley
Periods of cessation, resumption and enhanced arc activity are recorded in the Cretaceous igneous rocks of the Antarctic Peninsula. We present new geochronological (LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb) analyses of 36 intrusive…Read more on Cretaceous magmatism in the Antarctic Peninsula and its tectonic implications
4 January, 2023 by Bianca Perren, Stephen Roberts
The timing and impact of deglaciation and Holocene readvances on the terrestrial continental margins of the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) have been well-studied but are still debated. Potter Peninsula on King…4 January, 2023 by Fausto Ferraccioli
The Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains (GSMs) in interior East Antarctic Craton are entirely buried under the massive ice sheet, with a ~50–60 km thick crust and ~200 km thick lithosphere, but…4 January, 2023 by Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey
Antarctic terrestrial biodiversity is simple compared with other regions of the Earth, with many higher taxonomic groups not represented owing to the continent’s isolation, the severe climatic conditions and the…3 January, 2023 by Maximilian Lowe, Robert Larter, Tom Jordan
The Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) separate the warmer lithosphere of the Cretaceous-Tertiary West Antarctic rift system and the colder and older provinces of East Antarctica. Low velocity zones beneath the TAM…1 January, 2023 by Tracy Moffat-Griffin
Tidal variability in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) during September 2019 Southern hemisphere minor sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) is investigated utilizing ground-based meteor radar wind observations from the equatorial,…1 January, 2023 by Lloyd Peck
Antarctic marine species live in one of the most thermally stable environments on Earth. They have evolved in these cold stable conditions for many millions of years. The long period…Read more on Responding to warming in polar oceans: A commentary on Molina et al. (2022)
1 January, 2023 by Huw Griffiths, Rowan Whittle
The timing of the first appearance of animals is of crucial importance for understanding the evolution of life on Earth. Although the fossil record places the earliest metazoans at 572–602 Ma,…Read more on Animal survival strategies in Neoproterozoic ice worlds
1 January, 2023 by Hugh Venables, Mairi Fenton, Michael Meredith
Seasonal cycling in carbon, alkalinity, and nutrients in landfast sea ice in Hangar Cove, Adelaide Island, West Antarctic Peninsula, were investigated during winter, spring, and summer 2014–2015. Temporal dynamics were…Read more on Carbon and nutrient cycling in Antarctic landfast sea ice from winter to summer
1 January, 2023 by Huw Griffiths
The Southern Ocean is showing one of the most rapid responses to human-induced global change, thus acting as a sentinel of the effects on marine species and ecosystems. Ocean warming…1 January, 2023 by Alex Burton-Johnson, Philip Leat, Teal Riley
The Antarctic Peninsula preserves geological evidence of a long-lived continental margin with intrusive, volcaniclastic and accretionary complexes indicating a convergent margin setting from at least the Cambrian to the Cenozoic.…1 January, 2023 by Kate Hendry
Riverine dissolved silicon (DSi) and biogenic silica (BSi) are modulated along the estuarine gradient by several biotic and abiotic processes governed by physical forcings. An important area controlling silicon transport…1 January, 2023 by Clara Manno
Thecosome pteropods are a dominant group of calcifying pelagic molluscs and an important component of the food web. In this study, we characterise spring pteropod distribution throughout the Mediterranean Sea,…Read more on Shelled pteropod abundance and distribution across the Mediterranean Sea during spring
1 January, 2023 by Jeremy Wilkinson
Properties of the surface mixed layer (ML) are critical for understanding and predicting atmosphere-sea ice-ocean interactions in the changing Arctic Ocean. Mooring measurements are typically unable to resolve the ML…Read more on Acoustic sensing of ocean mixed layer depth and temperature from uplooking ADCPs
1 January, 2023 by Clara Manno
The reproductive strategy of planktonic foraminifera, key pelagic calcifiers, has long remained elusive, hampering efforts to understand and model their population dynamics. This is particularly critical in polar oceans where…1 January, 2023 by Louise Sime
This paper presents an overview of emerging research at the Manifest Data Lab a collective of artists and climate scientists who employ climate data experimentally in public settings. We discuss…Read more on Political atmospherics: climate visualisations at the Manifest Data Lab