1 April, 2020 by David Vaughan, David Barnes, Jonathan Shanklin, Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey, Simon Morley
The Antarctic is considered to be a pristine environment relative to other regions of the Earth, but it is increasingly vulnerable to invasions by marine, freshwater and terrestrial non‐native species.…
1 April, 2020 by Lara Perez Miguel
Ona Basin, the westernmost oceanic basin in the southern Scotia Sea, is affected by the opposite flows of Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) and Weddell Sea Deep Water (WSDW); thus, it…1 April, 2020 by Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
Abstract The englacial stratigraphic architecture of internal reflection horizons (IRHs) as imaged by ice‐penetrating radar (IPR) across ice sheets reflects the cumulative effects of surface mass balance, basal melt,andice flow.IRHs,consideredisochrones,havetypicallybeentracedininterior,slow‐flowingregions.…
1 April, 2020 by Jennifer Freer
Marine environments have increased in temperature by an average of 1°C since preindustrial (1850) times [1]. Given that species ranges are closely allied to physiological thermal tolerances in marine organisms…Read more on Climate change drives poleward increases and equatorward declines in marine species
1 April, 2020 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith, Jane Francis, Robert Larter
The mid-Cretaceous period was one of the warmest intervals of the past 140 million years1,2,3,4,5, driven by atmospheric carbon dioxide levels of around 1,000 parts per million by volume6. In…Read more on Temperate rainforests near the South Pole during peak Cretaceous warmth
1 April, 2020 by Ed King
Recent advances in the measurement of bedforms beneath active ice streams have been made using ground-based grid profiling using impulse radar systems operating with centre frequencies in the 3–5 MHz…1 April, 2020 by Peter Convey
Heavy metals occur naturally within the earth crust; however, anthropogenic activities can artificially introduce these elements into the environment. Despite being the foremost isolated continent, Antarctica is not free from…Read more on Effects of zinc (Zn) and chromium (Cr) on the phenol-degrading bacteria growth kinetics
1 April, 2020 by David Goodger, Ed King, Michael McCarthy, Hamish Pritchard, Michael McCarthy
The thickness of glaciers in High-Mountain Asia (HMA) is critical in determining when the ice reserve will be lost as these glaciers thin but is remarkably poorly known because very…1 April, 2020 by Simon Morley
Whole-organism function is underpinned by physiological and biological processes, which respond to temperature over a range of time scales. Given that environmental temperature controls biological rates within ectotherms, different experimental…
28 March, 2020 by Tom Jordan
he englacial stratigraphic architecture of internal reflection horizons (IRHs) as imaged by ice‐penetrating radar (IPR) across ice sheets reflects the cumulative effects of surface mass balance, basal melt, and ice…Read more on Englacial architecture and age‐depth constraints across the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
27 March, 2020 by Anna Belcher, Holly Winton
Acquiring not only field-specific knowledge but also a set of transferable professional skills becomes increasingly important for Early Career Scientists (ECS) in Geosciences and other academic disciplines. Although the need…Read more on Successful practice in early career networks: insights from the polar sciences
23 March, 2020 by Chester Sands, David Barnes, Floyd Howard, Nadescha Zwerschke
Rising atmospheric CO2 is intensifying climate change but it is also driving global and particularly polar greening. However, most blue carbon sinks (that held by marine organisms) are shrinking, which…Read more on Blue carbon gains from glacial retreat along Antarctic fjords: what should we expect?
23 March, 2020 by Tony Phillips
A coordinated regional climate model (RCM) evaluation and intercomparison project based on observations from a July–October 2014 trans‐Arctic Ocean field experiment (ACSE‐Arctic Clouds during Summer Experiment) is presented. Six state‐of‐the‐art…
20 March, 2020 by Keith Nicholls
The Southern Ocean exerts a major influence on the mass balance of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, either indirectly, by its influence on air temperatures and winds, or directly, mostly through…Read more on The Southern Ocean and its interaction with the Antarctic Ice Sheet
20 March, 2020 by Jaume Forcada
Understanding the effects of human exploitation on the genetic composition of wild populations is important for predicting species persistence and adaptive potential. We therefore investigated the genetic legacy of large-scale…Read more on The genetic legacy of extreme exploitation in a polar vertebrate
18 March, 2020 by Hannah Cubaynes
By the mid-twentieth century, the majority of great whale species were threatened with extinction, following centuries of commercial whaling. Since the implementation of a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1985…
18 March, 2020 by Iain Staniland, Keith Nicholls, Norman Ratcliffe, Philip Trathan, Richard Phillips
Southern Ocean ecosystems are under pressure from resource exploitation and climate change. Mitigation requires the identification and protection of Areas of Ecological Significance (AESs), which have so far not been…Read more on Tracking of marine predators to protect Southern Ocean ecosystems
18 March, 2020 by Iain Staniland, Keith Nicholls, Norman Ratcliffe, Philip Trathan, Richard Phillips
The Retrospective Analysis of Antarctic Tracking Data (RAATD) is a Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research project led jointly by the Expert Groups on Birds and Marine Mammals and Antarctic Biodiversity…Read more on The retrospective analysis of Antarctic tracking data project
16 March, 2020 by Richard Phillips
Although there is a consensus about the evolutionary drivers of animal migration, considerable work is necessary to identify the mechanisms that underlie the great variety of strategies observed in nature.…
16 March, 2020 by Sandra McInnes, Sandra McInnes
The 14th International Symposium on Tardigrada took place in Copenhagen, Denmark from 30 July to 3 August 2018. Approximately 140 participants, representing 28 countries from five continents attended the meeting,…15 March, 2020 by James France
Baseline mobile surveys of methane sources using vehicle-mounted instruments have been performed in the Fylde and Ryedale regions of Northern England over the 2016–19 period around proposed unconventional (shale) gas…12 March, 2020 by Andrew Meijers
A dynamically passive inert tracer was released in the interior South Pacific Ocean at latitudes of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Observational cross sections of the tracer were taken over 4…Read more on Tracking the spread of a passive tracer through Southern Ocean water masses
11 March, 2020 by Luca Telesca
The soft-shell clam Mya arenaria is one of the most ancient invaders of European coasts and is present in many coastal ecosystems, yet little is known about its genetic structure…
10 March, 2020 by Hannah Cubaynes, Jennifer Jackson, Jaume Forcada, Philip Trathan, Peter Fretwell
Great whales have been detected using very‐high‐resolution satellite imagery, suggesting this technology could be used to monitor whales in remote areas. However, the application of this method to whale studies…10 March, 2020 by Ingrid Cnossen
The strength and structure of the Earth's magnetic field is gradually changing. During the next 50 years the dipole moment is predicted to decrease by ∼3.5%, with the South Atlantic…9 March, 2020 by Andrew Meijers, Dani Jones, Emma Boland
The Southern Ocean features regionally varying ventilation pathways that transport heat and carbon from the surface ocean to the interior thermocline on timescales of decades to centuries, but the factors…9 March, 2020 by Dieter Tetzner, Emily Ludlow, Liz Thomas, Rebecca Tuckwell
ntarctica is well known to be highly susceptible to atmospheric and oceanic warming. However, due to the lack of long-term and in situ meteorological observations, little is known about the…6 March, 2020 by Thomas Bracegirdle
The ice sheet model intercomparison project for CMIP6 (ISMIP6) effort brings together the ice sheet and climate modeling communities to gain understanding of the ice sheet contribution to sea level…Read more on CMIP5 model selection for ISMIP6 ice sheet model forcing: Greenland and Antarctica
3 March, 2020 by Rebecca Vignols
In this project, a combination of field measurements, remote sensing data and regional climate model outputs were used to study recent and projected future changes in Northern Fennoscandian snow cover.…Read more on Understanding past and future changes in northern Fennoscandian snow cover
3 March, 2020 by George Foot
Symbioses between plants and fungi are ubiquitous in terrestrial ecosystems, in which they play key roles in plant nutrient acquisition and the cycling of elements. The plant host provides carbon…Read more on Liverwort-Fungal Associations: Novel Symbioses In Polar Regions?
3 March, 2020 by Richard Phillips
Prions Pachyptila are the most abundant seabirds in the Southern Ocean and comprise two main groups: those with and without bill lamellae to filter zooplankton. With few exceptions, each breeding…
3 March, 2020 by Richard Phillips
Prions Pachyptila are the most abundant seabirds in the Southern Ocean and comprise two main groups: those with and without bill lamellae to filter zooplankton. With few exceptions, each breeding…
2 March, 2020 by Anna Jones, David Jones, Markus Frey, Xin Yang
Two consecutive cruises in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica, in winter 2013 provided the first direct observations of sea salt aerosol (SSA) production from blowing snow above sea ice, thereby validating…Read more on First direct observation of sea salt aerosol production from blowing snow above sea ice
1 March, 2020 by Peter Convey
The Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Programme (CBMP) provides an opportunity to improve our knowledge of Arctic arthropod diversity, but initial baseline studies are required to summarise the status and trends of…1 March, 2020 by Peter Convey
The terrestrial chapter of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Programme (CBMP) has the potential to bring international multi-taxon, long-term monitoring together, but detailed fundamental species information for Arctic arthropods lags far…1 March, 2020 by Melody Clark, Victoria Sleight
Motivation The molecular processes regulating molluscan shell production remain relatively uncharacterised, despite the clear evolutionary and societal importance of biomineralisation. Results Here we built the first computationally predicted gene regulatory…
1 March, 2020 by Philip Leat, Tom Jordan, Teal Riley
Thick (∼800 m) basaltic successions from the eastern Antarctic Peninsula have been dated in the interval 180 – 177 Ma and preserve a transition from a continental margin arc to…
1 March, 2020 by Richard Phillips
Information on the status of giant petrels breeding at South Georgia was previously based on studies at a small number of the archipelago's breeding sites. Here, we report the results…1 March, 2020 by Peter Convey
The projected increase in freeze-thaw frequency associated with warmer temperatures in the High Arctic could affect the dynamics of soil bacterial communities. We report here the effects of freeze-thaw (FT)…Read more on Effects of freeze-thaw cycles on High Arctic soil bacterial communities
1 March, 2020 by Robert Blackwell, Sophie Fielding
Echograms are used to visualize fisheries acoustic data, but choice of colour map has a significant effect on appearance. Quantitative echograms should use colour maps, which are colourful (have a…1 March, 2020 by Peter Convey
Petroleum pollution is a major concern in Antarctica due to the persistent nature of its hydrocarbon components coupled with the region’s extreme environmental conditions, which means that bioremediation approaches are…
1 March, 2020 by Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey
Aim Correlative species distribution models (SDMs) are subject to substantial spatio‐temporal limitations when historical occurrence records of data‐poor species provide incomplete and outdated information for niche modelling. Complementary mechanistic modelling…
1 March, 2020 by Claire Waluda, Richard Phillips
Increasing amounts of anthropogenic debris enter the ocean because of mismanagement in coastal communities and, despite a global ban on deliberate dumping, also from vessels, endangering wildlife. Assessing marine plastic…
1 March, 2020 by Norman Ratcliffe, Simeon Hill
Ecosystem‐based management of fisheries aims to allow sustainable use of fished stocks while keeping impacts upon ecosystems within safe ecological limits. Both the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries…Read more on Reference points for predators will progress ecosystem-based management of fisheries
1 March, 2020 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
The decline in dissolved oxygen in global oceans (ocean deoxygenation) is a potential consequence of global warming which may have important impacts on ocean biogeochemistry and marine ecosystems. Current climate…
1 March, 2020 by Claire Waluda, Iain Staniland, Kevin Hughes, Mari Whitelaw, Michael Dunn, Sally Thorpe
We report on three decades of repeat surveys of beached marine debris at two locations in the Scotia Sea, in the Southwest Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. Between October…
1 March, 2020 by Alistair Crame
We are beginning to appreciate that the huge radiations of both marine and terrestrial taxa in the aftermath of the K/Pg mass extinction event were concentrated largely, but not exclusively,…Read more on Early Cenozoic evolution of the latitudinal diversity gradient
1 March, 2020
Most glaciers in South America and on the Antarctic Peninsula are retreating and thinning. They are considered strong contributors to global sea level rise. However, there is a lack of…Read more on Detailed quantification of glacier elevation and mass changes in South Georgia
1 March, 2020 by Dominic Hodgson
Southern Hemisphere glacial chronologies can provide valuable insights into interactions between glaciation and past climate changes, but are not well constrained on most sub-Antarctic islands. We present the first cosmogenic…1 March, 2020 by Philip Hollyman
In response to increased demand in Asian markets, the commercial fishery for the common whelk (Buccinum undatum, L) has expanded in north-eastern Europe. In the Irish Sea region (ICES Area…
1 March, 2020 by Mark Clilverd
Large geomagnetic storms are a known space weather hazard to power transmission networks due to the effects of Geomagnetically Induced Currents (GICs). However, research in this area has been hampered…1 March, 2020 by Peter Convey
Microcystins (MCs) are secondary metabolites produced by cyanobacteria and have been well-documented in temperate and tropical regions. However, knowledge of the production of MCs in extremely cold environments is still…
26 February, 2020 by Anna Belcher, Geraint Tarling
Copepods are amongst the most abundant animals on our planet. Who knew?! These small (typically 1–10 mm) crustaceans are found in all of the world’s oceans and play an important…
26 February, 2020 by Adrian Jenkins
Mass loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet to the ocean has increased in recent decades, largely because the thinning of its floating ice shelves has allowed the outflow of grounded…Read more on Ice front blocking of ocean heat transport to an Antarctic ice shelf
26 February, 2020 by Claire Allen, Dieter Tetzner, Emily Ludlow, Hilary Blagbrough, Liz Thomas, Richard Warren, Thomas Bracegirdle
Winds in the Southern Ocean drive exchanges of heat and carbon dioxide between the ocean and atmosphere. Wind dynamics also explain the dominant patterns of both basal and surface melting…26 February, 2020 by Peter Convey
An insect’s ability to tolerate winter conditions is a critical determinant of its success. This is true for both native and invasive species, and especially so in harsh polar environments.…
25 February, 2020 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
The future response of the Antarctic ice sheet to rising temperatures remains highly uncertain. A useful period for assessing the sensitivity of Antarctica to warming is the Last Interglacial (LIG)…Read more on Early Last Interglacial ocean warming drove substantial ice mass loss from Antarctica
25 February, 2020 by Peter Convey
The invertebrate terrestrial fauna of Antarctica is being investigated with increasing interest to discover how life interacts with the extreme polar environment and how millions of years of evolution have…
24 February, 2020 by Povl Abrahamsen
The Weddell Sea Bottom Water (WSBW) export from 1999 to 2019 displays distinct seasonal and interannual variability. From 2014 into 2017 a marked salinity decrease was recorded, with the lowest…Read more on Interannual variability of the outflow of Weddell Sea bottom water
24 February, 2020 by Gabriele Stowasser, Iain Staniland, Jaume Forcada, John Dickens, Kayleigh Jones, Norman Ratcliffe, John Dickens
Competition for resources within a population can lead to niche partitioning between sexes, throughout ontogeny and among individuals, allowing con-specifics to co-exist. We aimed to quantify such partitioning in Antarctic…Read more on Intra-specific niche partitioning in Antarctic fur seals, Arctocephalus gazella
21 February, 2020 by Paul Holland
We describe a versatile apparatus for measuring the permeability of porous materials using oscillatory flows. The permeabilities are measured by an original spectral analysis of the pressure and fluid-displacement signals.…Read more on Permeability measurements using oscillatory flows
21 February, 2020 by Thomas Bauska
Permafrost and methane hydrates are large, climate-sensitive old carbon reservoirs that have the potential to emit large quantities of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, as the Earth continues to warm.…Read more on Old carbon reservoirs were not important in the deglacial methane budget
20 February, 2020 by Mark Clilverd
Recently, a model for medium energy (30–1000 keV) radiation belt‐driven electron precipitation (ApEEP) has been put forward for use in decadal to century‐long climate model runs as part of the…17 February, 2020 by Markus Frey
Uncertainty in snow properties impacts the accuracy of Arctic sea ice thickness estimates from radar altimetry. On first-year sea ice (FYI), spatiotemporal variations in snow properties can cause the Ku-band…
16 February, 2020 by Richard Horne
Geomagnetic indices are routinely used to characterize space weather event intensity. The DST index is well resolved, but is only available over 5 solar cycles. The aa index extends over…
7 February, 2020 by Caitlin Frankish, Richard Phillips
Foraging performance is widely hypothesized to play a key role in shaping age-specific demographic rates in wild populations, yet the underlying behavioral changes are poorly understood. Seabirds are among the…Read more on Effects of age on foraging behavior in two closely related albatross species
6 February, 2020 by Jeremy Wilkinson
Accurate measurements of sea ice thickness are critical to better understand climate change, to provide situational awareness in ice-covered waters, and to reduce risks for communities that rely on sea…
6 February, 2020 by Claire Waluda, Richard Phillips, William Mills
Diet analyses can reveal important changes in seabird foraging ecology and, by inference, resource availability and predator–prey dynamics within the wider marine ecosystem. Here, we analysed stomach contents of 1544…
5 February, 2020 by Jade Reidy, Jade Reidy
This paper reviews our current understanding of auroral features that appear poleward of the main auroral oval within the polar cap, especially those that are known as Sun-aligned arcs, transpolar…
4 February, 2020 by David Barnes
The Earth’s warming climate is reducing snow and ice. The warming of the polar seas causes the sea surface to freeze less in winter and glaciers to retreat, generating more…
4 February, 2020 by Philip Trathan, Richard Phillips
1. The identification of geographic areas where the densities of animals are highest across their annual cycles is a crucial step in conservation planning. In marine environments, however, it can…
4 February, 2020 by Peter Convey
Physiological thermal limits of organisms are linked to their geographic distribution. The assessment of such limits can provide valuable insights when monitoring for environmental thermal alterations. Using the dynamic critical…4 February, 2020 by Thomas Lachlan-Cope
In situ measurements of Arctic clouds frequently show that ice crystal number concentrations (ICNCs) are much higher than the number of available ice-nucleating particles (INPs), suggesting that secondary ice production…Read more on The impact of secondary ice production on Arctic stratocumulus
3 February, 2020 by James France
Gravity drainage is the dominant process redistributing solutes in growing sea ice. Modelling gravity drainage is therefore necessary to predict physical and biogeochemical variables in sea ice. We evaluate seven…1 February, 2020 by Philip Trathan
More than half of the world's 18 penguin species are declining. We, the Steering Committee of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission Penguin Specialist Group, determined…Read more on Applying science to pressing conservation needs for penguins
1 February, 2020 by Dave Munday
The Southern Ocean (SO) surface wind stress is a major atmospheric forcing for driving the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the global overturning circulation. Here the effects of wind fluctuations at…Read more on Southern Ocean wind stress in CMIP5 models: Role of wind fluctuations
1 February, 2020 by Martin Collins, Ryan Saunders
This study examines age and growth of Brauer's lanternfish Gymnoscopelus braueri and rhombic lanternfish Krefftichthys anderssoni from the Scotia Sea in the Southern Ocean, through the analysis of annual growth…1 February, 2020 by Kevin Newsham
We report a space-for-time substitution study predicting the impacts of climate change on vegetated maritime Antarctic soils. Analyses of soils from under Deschampsia antarctica sampled from three islands along a…1 February, 2020 by Chester Sands, David Barnes
As marine-ice around Antarctica retracts, a vast 'blue carbon' sink, in the form of living biomass, is emerging. Properly protected and promoted Antarctic blue carbon will form the world's largest…Read more on Protecting Antarctic blue carbon: As marine ice retreats can the law fill the gap?
1 February, 2020 by Andrew Orr, James Pope
This paper delineates the process of activation of soot or black carbon particles into cloud droplets over Chennai, India (an Asian megacity). Archaic wood-fired cooking stove emissions from crowded shantytown…1 February, 2020 by Martin Collins
Diet of bluenose warehou, Hyperoglyphe antarctica, was investigated from samples collected during commercial fishing (trawling and longlining) on seamounts in the Tristan da Cunha EEZ in the South Atlantic Ocean.…1 February, 2020 by Michael Rose
Iron-rich meteorites are significantly underrepresented in collection statistics from Antarctica. This has led to a hypothesis that there is a sparse layer of iron-rich meteorites hidden below the surface of…1 February, 2020 by Sophie Fielding
Today, we can celebrate a strong representation of women in sea-going science in the United Kingdom, providing positive role models for early-career female marine scientists. However, women continue to face…Read more on Equity at sea: Gender and inclusivity in UK sea-going science
31 January, 2020 by Huw Griffiths
Antarctic shallow coastal marine communities were long thought to be isolated from their nearest neighbours by hundreds of kilometres of deep ocean and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The discovery of…
28 January, 2020 by Kelly Hogan
Petermann Fjord is a deep (>1000 m) fjord that incises the coastline of north-west Greenland and was carved by an expanded Petermann Glacier, one of the six largest outlet glaciers draining…
27 January, 2020 by Peter Convey
Climatic changes can induce geographic expansion and altitudinal shifts in the distribution of invasive species by offering more thermally suitable habitats. At the remote sub-Antarctic Kerguelen Islands, the predatory insect…27 January, 2020 by Tom Jordan, Teal Riley
West Antarctica has formed the tectonically active margin between East Antarctica and the Pacific Ocean for almost half a billion years, where it has recorded a dynamic history of magmatism,…Read more on The geological history and evolution of West Antarctica
24 January, 2020 by Hugh Corr, Irena Vankova, Keith Makinson, Keith Nicholls
The Filchner‐Ronne Ice Shelf experiences strong tidal forcing known to displace portions of the ice shelf by several meters over a tidal cycle. These large periodic displacements may cause significant…
23 January, 2020 by Amelie Kirchgaessner, John King
Föhn winds are warm, strong, downslope winds on the lee side of mountains, which can last from several hours to a few days. 1995 and 2002 saw the dramatic break‐up…20 January, 2020 by Alexander Brearley
A Kongsberg Seaglider with a microstructure package was deployed in the Faroe-Shetland Channel in 2017 as part of the 4th Marine Autonomous Systems in Support of Marine Observations (MASSMO4). Using…
17 January, 2020 by Lloyd Peck, Simon Morley
The levels of pollutants in polar regions is gaining progressively more attention from the science community. This is especially so for pollutants that persist in the environment and can reach…17 January, 2020 by Tracy Moffat-Griffin
Atmospheric 8‐ and 6‐hr tides are observed for the first time in the zonal and meridional winds at ~82–97 km altitudes simultaneously at Tierra del Fuego (TDF; 53.7°S, 67.7°W), King…
16 January, 2020 by Louise Sime, Maria Vittoria Guarino
When the same weather or climate simulation is run on different high-performance computing (HPC) platforms, model outputs may not be identical for a given initial condition. While the role of…
15 January, 2020 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith
The Amundsen Sea drainage sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is widely regarded as a candidate for triggering potential WAIS collapse. The grounded ice sheet drains into the…
15 January, 2020 by Jacob Opher
What is already happening • Salinity of eastern North Atlantic waters west of the UK has dramatically decreased over the last five years, probably in response to changes in the…Read more on Climate change and salinity of the coastal and marine environment around the UK.
15 January, 2020 by Jeremy Wilkinson
Satellite measurements continue to reveal reductions in the extent and thickness of Arctic sea ice. Research suggests that at least half of the observed decline of ice extent can be…
8 January, 2020 by Richard Phillips
Pelagic seabirds are amongst the most threatened of all avian groups. They face a range of immunological challenges which seem destined to increase due to environmental changes in their breeding…Read more on Protein deimination and extracellular vesicle profiles in Antarctic seabirds
6 January, 2020 by Thomas Bauska
The Last Interglacial (129–116 thousand years ago (ka)) represents one of the warmest climate intervals of the past 800,000 years and the most recent time when sea level was metres higher…Read more on Global ocean heat content in the Last Interglacial