1 July, 2018 by Hugh Corr
The catchments of Pine Island Glacier and Thwaites Glacier in the Amundsen Sea Embayment are two of the largest, most rapidly changing, and potentially unstable sectors of the West Antarctic…Read more on Ocean access beneath the southwest tributary of Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica
1 July, 2018 by Robert Mulvaney
Ice core records from Antarctica show mostly synchronous temperature variations during the last deglacial transition, an indication that the climate of the entire continent reacted as one unit to the…1 July, 2018 by Andrew Meijers, Eugene Murphy, Geraint Tarling, Jamie Oliver, Jeremy Wilkinson, John Turner, Layla Batchellier, Linda Capper, Mark Belchier, Michael Meredith, Paul Holland, Philip Trathan, Simeon Hill
The vast frozen worlds of the Polar Regions are a major component of the Earth’s global climate system. The polar oceans are amongst the least understood environments on our planet.…Read more on The state of the polar oceans 2018: making sense of our changing world
1 July, 2018 by Richard Horne
Signals of powerful ground transmitters at various places have been detected by satellites in near‐Earth space. The study on propagation mode, ducted or nonducted, has attracted much attentions for several…Read more on Observed propagation route of VLF transmitter signals in the magnetosphere
28 June, 2018 by Emma Cross, Lloyd Peck
The inability of organisms to cope in changing environments poses a major threat to their survival. Rising carbon dioxide concentrations, recently exceeding 400 μatm, are rapidly warming and acidifying our…Read more on A 120-year record of resilience to environmental change in brachiopods
25 June, 2018 by Anna Belcher, Clara Manno, Geraint Tarling, Sally Thorpe
The abundance and flux of acantharian cysts were recorded for a period of 12 months from December 2012 to 2013 in a sediment trap deployed at 1500 m in the…25 June, 2018 by Emilie Capron, Max Holloway
Over the past 3.5 million years, there have been several intervals when climate conditions were warmer than during the preindustrial Holocene. Although past intervals of warming were forced differently than…Read more on Palaeoclimate constraints on the impact of 2 °C anthropogenic warming and beyond
20 June, 2018 by Alexander Tate, Hilary Blagbrough, Huw Griffiths, Katrin Linse, Oliver Hogg, Peter Enderlein, Philip Trathan, Susie Grant
The South Orkney Islands Southern Shelf (SOISS) Marine Protected Area (MPA) was the first MPA to be designated entirely within the high seas and is managed under the Commission for…Read more on Benthic biodiversity in the South Orkney Islands Southern Shelf Marine Protected Area
18 June, 2018 by Peter Convey
The South Sandwich Islands are a relatively pristine volcanic archipelago in the Southern Ocean that experience high levels of natural disturbance. The archipelago spans the biological transition between the sub-Antarctic…Read more on The South Sandwich Islands – a community of meta-populations across all trophic levels
16 June, 2018 by Xin Yang
The sea ice surface is thought to be a major source of sea salt aerosol, suggesting that sodium records of polar ice cores may trace past sea ice extent. Here…Read more on Sea ice versus storms: what controls sea salt in Arctic ice cores?
15 June, 2018 by Robert Larter
Pine Island Glacier is the largest current Antarctic contributor to sea level rise. Its ice loss has substantially increased over the last 25 years through thinning, acceleration and grounding line…Read more on Bathymetric controls on calving processes at Pine Island Glacier
14 June, 2018 by Peter Convey
In the present paper, we compare how the kelp gull, Larus dominicanus, utilizes various nest building materials, particularly vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens and other components, in the Fildes Peninsula area…13 June, 2018 by Hua Lu
Teleconnections between the Quasi Biennial Oscillation (QBO) and the Northern Hemisphere zonally averaged zonal winds, mean sea level pressure (mslp) and tropical precipitation are explored. The standard approach that defines…Read more on Surface impacts of the Quasi Biennial Oscillation
8 June, 2018 by Alex Brisbourne, Andy Smith, Hugh Corr, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Keith Nicholls, Paul Anker, Peter Davis, Sebastian Rosier
The Filchner‐Ronne Ice Shelf, the ocean cavity beneath it and the Weddell Sea that bounds it, form an important part of the global climate system by modulating ice discharge from…5 June, 2018 by Elisabeth Biersma, Jennifer Jackson, Katrin Linse, Peter Convey
From glacial reconstructions it is clear that Antarctic terrestrial life must have been extremely limited throughout Quaternary glacial periods. In contrast, recent biological studies provide clear evidence for long-term in…5 June, 2018 by Iain Staniland, Jaume Forcada, Norman Ratcliffe, Philip Trathan
Leopard seals are an important Antarctic apex predator that can affect marine ecosystems through local predation. Here we report on the successful use of micro geolocation logging sensor tags to…1 June, 2018 by Huw Griffiths, Katrin Linse, Oliver Hogg
In recent years very large marine protected areas (VLMPAs) have become the dominant form of spatial protection in the marine environment. Whilst seen as a holistic and geopolitically achievable approach…1 June, 2018 by Joanne Johnson, Liz Thomas
Measurements of snow accumulation are critical for reliable prediction of future ice mass loss and hence projections of sea level change. However, there are currently very few published in situ…Read more on In situ measurements of snow accumulation in the Amundsen Sea Embayment during 2016
1 June, 2018 by Iain Staniland, Philip Trathan, Richard Phillips
Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is becoming a key management approach throughout the world. The process includes the mapping of how humans and wildlife use the marine environment to inform the…1 June, 2018 by Alistair Crame
A survey of 759 predatory drill holes in Late Cretaceous and Paleogene molluscan and serpulid worm prey from Seymour Island (Antarctica) has allowed exploration of the effects of the K-Pg…1 June, 2018 by Hugh Venables, Alexander Brearley, Michael Meredith
The spatial distribution, biogeochemical cycling and external sources of dissolved iron and dissolved manganese (DFe and DMn) were investigated in Ryder Bay, a small coastal embayment of the West Antarctic…Read more on Evidences of strong sources of DFe and DMn in Ryder Bay, Western Antarctic Peninsula
1 June, 2018 by Mark Clilverd
Using data covering the years 2005‐2009, we study the linear and nonlinear responses of log10 relativistic electron flux measured at geosynchronous orbit to ULF Pc5, VLF lower band chorus, and…1 June, 2018 by Andrew Fleming, Chester Sands, David Barnes
Sea ice, including icebergs, has a complex relationship with the carbon held within animals (blue carbon) in the polar regions. Sea-ice losses around West Antarctica's continental shelf generate longer phytoplankton…Read more on Icebergs, sea ice, blue carbon and Antarctic climate feedbacks
1 June, 2018 by Michael Meredith
The West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP; figure 1) is one of the most climatically sensitive regions on Earth and one of the most variable. The strong climatic variability gives us the…Read more on The marine system of the West Antarctic Peninsula: status and strategy for progress
1 June, 2018 by Hugh Venables, Michael Meredith, Sabrina Heiser
The West Antarctic Peninsula shelf is a region of high seasonal primary production which supports a large and productive food web, where macronutrients and inorganic carbon are sourced primarily from…1 June, 2018 by Hugh Venables, Michael Meredith
The West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is a climatically sensitive region where periods of strong warming have caused significant changes in the marine ecosystem and food-web processes. Tight coupling between phytoplankton…1 June, 2018 by Michael Meredith
Glacial meltwater discharge from Antarctica is a key influence on the marine environment, impacting ocean circulation, sea level and productivity of the pelagic and benthic ecosystems. The responses elicited depend…Read more on Anatomy of a glacial meltwater discharge event in an Antarctic Cove
1 June, 2018 by Michael Meredith
The West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is a highly productive marine ecosystem where extended periods of change have been observed in the form of glacier retreat, reduction of sea-ice cover and…Read more on Shelf-ocean exchange and hydrography west of the Antarctic Peninsula: A review
1 June, 2018 by Michael Meredith
Palmer Deep (PD) is one of several regional hotspots of biological productivity along the inner shelf of the West Antarctic Peninsula. The proximity of hotspots to shelf-crossing deep troughs has…1 June, 2018 by Hugh Venables, Michael Meredith
The Southern Ocean is a hotspot of the climate-relevant organic sulfur compound dimethyl sulfide (DMS). Spatial and temporal variability in DMS concentration is higher than in any other oceanic region,…1 June, 2018 by Mark Clilverd
Several periods of Geomagnetically Induced Currents (GIC) were detected in the Halfway Bush substation in Dunedin, South Island, New Zealand, as a result of intense geomagnetic storm activity during 06…1 June, 2018 by Michael Meredith, Paul Holland
Year‐round variability in the Ross Gyre (RG), Antarctica, during 2011‐2015, is derived using radar altimetry. The RG is characterized by a bounded recirculating component, and a westward ‘throughflow’ to the…1 June, 2018 by Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne, Tobias Kersten
We present a global model of plasmaspheric hiss, using data from eight satellites, extending the coverage and improving the statistics of existing models. We use geomagnetic activity dependent templates to…Read more on Global model of plasmaspheric hiss from multiple satellite observations
1 June, 2018 by Gareth Chisham
Accurate geolocation of ionospheric backscatter measured by the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) high‐frequency radars is critical for the integrity of polar ionospheric convection maps, which involve combining SuperDARN…Read more on Calibrating SuperDARN interferometers using meteor backscatter
1 June, 2018 by David Vaughan
Tectonic landforms reveal that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) lies atop a major volcanic rift system. However, identifying subglacial volcanism is challenging. Here we show geochemical evidence of a…Read more on Evidence of an active volcanic heat source beneath the Pine Island Glacier
1 June, 2018 by Philip Hollyman
In recent years, technical and analytical developments in sclerochronology, based on the analysis of accretionary hard tissues, have improved our ability to assess the life histories of a wide range…Read more on Innovative use of sclerochronology in marine resource management
1 June, 2018 by Mervyn Freeman
During geomagnetic substorms, around 1015 J of energy is extracted from the solar wind and processed by the Earth's magnetosphere. Prior to the onset of substorm expansion phases, this energy…31 May, 2018 by Robert Mulvaney
Results from ground-penetrating radar (GPR) measurements and shallow ice cores carried out during a scientific traverse between Dome Concordia (DC) and Vostok stations are presented in order to infer both…30 May, 2018 by Andrew Orr, Scott Hosking, John Turner, Pranab Deb
Satellite data and a 35‐year hindcast of the Amundsen Sea Embayment summer climate using the WRF model are used to understand how regional and large‐scale atmospheric variability affects thinning of…29 May, 2018 by Kelly Hogan
Submarine glacial landforms in fjords are imprints of the dynamic behaviour of marine-terminating glaciers and are informative about their most recent retreat phase. Here we use detailed multibeam bathymetry to…Read more on The Holocene retreat dynamics and stability of Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland
18 May, 2018 by Kevin Newsham
Different organic compounds have distinct residence times in soil and are degraded by specific taxa of saprotrophic fungi. It hence follows that specific fungal taxa should respire carbon of different…18 May, 2018 by Clara Manno, Geraint Tarling
Natural iron fertilization downstream of Southern Ocean island plateaus supports large phytoplankton blooms and promotes carbon export from the mixed layer. In addition to sequestering atmospheric CO2, the biological carbon…Read more on The role of diatom resting spores in pelagic–benthic coupling in the Southern Ocean
18 May, 2018 by Robert Mulvaney
Major ions were analysed in firn and ice cores located at Fimbul Ice Shelf (FIS), Dronning Maud Land – DML, Antarctica. FIS is the largest ice shelf in the Haakon…18 May, 2018 by Katrin Linse
Life stages of some animals, including amphibians and insects, are so different that they have historically been seen as different species. ‘Metamorphosis’ broadly encompasses major changes in organism bodies and,…Read more on Cryptic niche switching in a chemosymbiotic gastropod
17 May, 2018 by Rowan Whittle
The Marine Mesozoic Revolution (MMR, starting ~200 million years ago) changed the ecological structure of sea floor communities due to increased predation pressure. It was thought to have caused the…16 May, 2018 by Fausto Ferraccioli
East Antarctica hosts large subglacial basins into which the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) likely retreated during past warmer climates. However, the extent of retreat remains poorly constrained, making quantifying…Read more on Bedrock erosion surfaces record former East Antarctic Ice Sheet extent
16 May, 2018 by Claire Waluda, Huw Griffiths, Kevin Hughes, Sally Thorpe
The Southern Ocean has the lowest densities of floating macroplastic litter in the world. It was thought that the region was relatively free of microplastic contamination. However, recent studies and…15 May, 2018 by James Pope
We examine the response of the Indian and East Asian summer monsoons to separate precession and obliquity forcing, using a set of fully coupled high-resolution models for the first time:…12 May, 2018 by Peter Convey
Antarctica is considered among the world’s last great wildernesses, but its current network of Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs) is inadequate, unrepresentative and at risk, needing urgent expansion due to…4 May, 2018 by Alex Brisbourne, Andy Smith, David Vaughan, Ed King
Projections of sea-level rise contributions from West Antarctica's dynamically thinning ice streams contain high uncertainty because some of the key processes involved are extremely challenging to observe. An especially poorly…1 May, 2018 by John King, Tracy Moffat-Griffin
New observations at South Georgia (an extremely intense source of gravity waves) are used to evaluate model simulations of gravity waves and wakes, paving the way for improved understanding of…1 May, 2018 by Terri Souster, Lloyd Peck, Simon Morley, Terri Souster
The waters of the Southern Ocean exhibit extreme seasonality in primary production, with marine life living below 0 °C for much of the year. The metabolic cold adaptation (MCA) hypothesis…Read more on Seasonality of oxygen consumption in five common Antarctic benthic marine invertebrates
1 May, 2018 by Alistair Crame
Aim The aim was to investigate those factors that influenced the differentiation of high-latitude and polar marine faunas on both ecological and evolutionary time-scales. Can a focus on a greenhouse…Read more on Differentiation of high-latitude and polar marine faunas in a greenhouse world
1 May, 2018 by Kevin Hughes
The Antarctic has significant environmental, scientific, historic, and intrinsic values, all of which are worth protecting into the future. Nevertheless, the area is subject to an increasing level and diversity…1 May, 2018 by Alistair Crame
We are beginning to appreciate that the origin of the modern Antarctic marine fauna is related to a series of key events throughout the Cenozoic era. In the first of…Read more on Key stages in the evolution of the Antarctic marine fauna
1 May, 2018 by Adrian Jenkins, James Jordan, Paul Holland, Robert Arthern
Synchronous coupling is developed between an ice sheet model and a z-coordinate ocean model (the MITgcm). A previously-developed scheme to allow continuous vertical movement of the ice-ocean interface of a…1 May, 2018 by Caroline Holmes, Emily Shuckburgh, Scott Hosking, Tony Phillips
Global climate model simulations from the "Half a degree Additional warming, Prognosis and Projected Impacts" (HAPPI) project were used to assess how wind power generation over Europe would change in…Read more on Changes in European wind energy generation potential within a 1.5°C warmer world
1 May, 2018 by Mark Clilverd
Relativistic electron flux at geosynchronous orbit depends on enhancement and loss processes driven by ULF Pc5, chorus, and EMIC waves, seed electron flux, magnetosphere compression, the "Dst effect", and substorms,…1 May, 2018 by Simon Morley
Microplastic contamination was investigated in the gut contents of an economically important estuarine top predator, Cynoscion acoupa, according to spatiotemporal and ontogenetic use of a tropical estuary. Microplastic contamination was…1 May, 2018 by Gabriele Stowasser, Norman Ratcliffe, Stacey Adlard
Optimal foraging theory predicts that when food is plentiful all individuals should take a small range of preferred prey types, but as competition increases less preferred prey will be included…1 May, 2018 by Dave Munday
The Southern Ocean (SO) surface westerly wind stress plays a fundamental role in driving the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the global meridional overturning circulation. Here, the authors investigate the contributions…Read more on Mean, variability, and trend of Southern Ocean wind stress: role of wind fluctuations
1 May, 2018
Cephalopods play an important role in polar marine ecosystems. In this review, we compare the biodiversity, distribution and trophic role of cephalopods in the Arctic and in the Antarctic. Thirty-two…1 May, 2018 by Fausto Ferraccioli, Hugh Corr, Tom Jordan
Hypothesized drawdown of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) through the ‘bottleneck’ zone between East and West Antarctica would have significant impacts for a large proportion of the Antarctic Ice…1 May, 2018
El Niño Southern Oscillation events have global implications both climatologically and socio-economically. One such climatological teleconnection is manifested in the Amundsen Sea region (ASR). The Amundsen sea low (ASL) is…1 May, 2018 by Iain Staniland
The implicit assumption of many ecological studies is that animal behaviour and resource use are geographically uniform. However, central place foraging species often have geographically isolated breeding colonies that are…Read more on Geographic variation in the foraging behaviour of South American fur seals
1 May, 2018 by Michael McCarthy, Michael McCarthy
Debris‐covered glaciers are ubiquitous in the Himalaya, and supraglacial debris significantly alters how glaciers respond to climate forcing. Estimating debris thickness at the glacier scale, however, remains a challenge. This…29 April, 2018 by Elisabeth Biersma, Jennifer Jackson, Katrin Linse, Peter Convey, Thomas Bracegirdle
The Antarctic–South American bank-forming moss Chorisodontium aciphyllum is known for having the oldest sub-fossils of any extant plant in Antarctica as well as extreme survival abilities, making it a candidate…18 April, 2018 by Neil Brough
Optical trapping combined with Mie spectroscopy is a new technique used to record the refractive index of insoluble organic material extracted from atmospheric aerosol samples over a wide wavelength range.…16 April, 2018 by Thomas Bracegirdle
This study investigates the global response of the midlatitude atmospheric circulation to 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C of warming using the HAPPI "Half a degree Additional warming, Projections, Prognosis and Impacts" ensemble,…16 April, 2018 by Andrew Orr
The Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) instrument aboard the European Space Agency (ESA) Envisat satellite operated from July 2002 to April 2012. The infrared limb emission measurements provide…16 April, 2018 by Liz Thomas, Markus Frey, Robert Mulvaney
The Northern Hemisphere experienced dramatic changes during the last glacial, featuring vast ice sheets and abrupt climate events, while high northern latitudes during the last interglacial (Eemian) were warmer than…11 April, 2018 by Hilmar Gudmundsson, Teresa Kyrke-Smith
Given high-resolution satellite-derived surface elevation and velocity data, ice-sheet models generally estimate mechanical basal boundary conditions using surface-to-bed inversion methods. In this work, we address the sensitivity of results from…9 April, 2018 by Hugh Corr
We present a new bed elevation digital elevation model (DEM), with a 1 km spatial resolution, for the Weddell Sea sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The DEM has a…Read more on A new bed elevation model for the Weddell Sea sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
6 April, 2018 by Andrew Meijers, Dani Jones, Emma Boland, Emily Shuckburgh
The Labrador Sea is one of the few regions on the planet where the interior ocean can exchange heat directly with the atmosphere via strong, localized, wintertime convection, with possible…4 April, 2018 by Louise Ireland, Peter Ward, Sally Thorpe
Sea ice affects primary production in polar regions in multiple ways. It can dampen water column productivity by reducing light or nutrient supply, provide a habitat for ice algae and…1 April, 2018 by Keith Nicholls
The population of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in the southern Weddell Sea is in a unique position on the continental shelf edge, with vast shelf waters to the south, and…1 April, 2018 by Peter Convey
Mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data from two Antarctic ameronothroid mites, Halozetes belgicae and Alaskozetes antarcticus, were used to address three key questions important for understanding both the evolution of biodiversity…1 April, 2018 by Philip Trathan
Penguins are a monophyletic group in which many species are found breeding sympatrically, raising questions regarding how these species coexist successfully. Here, the isotopic niche of three sympatric pygoscelid penguin…1 April, 2018 by Amelie Kirchgaessner, John King, Jenny Turton
The eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) mountain range and the adjacent ice shelves are frequently affected by fohn winds originating from upwind of the mountains. Six automatic weather…1 April, 2018 by Andrew Meijers, Dani Jones, Alexander Brearley
In this work, we use realistic isopycnal velocities with a 3D eddy diffusivity to advect and diffuse a tracer in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, beginning in the Southeast Pacific and…1 April, 2018 by Richard Horne
Participants of the 2017 European Space Weather Week in Ostend, Belgium, discussed the stakeholder requirements for space weather related models. It was emphasized that stakeholders show an increased interest in…Read more on Discussions on stakeholder requirements for space weather related models
1 April, 2018 by Brent Minchew, Hilmar Gudmundsson
Satellite observations of gravity anomalies, ice-surface elevation and glacier velocity show significant increases in net grounded-ice-mass loss over the past decade along the Bellingshausen Sea sector (BSS), West Antarctica, in…1 April, 2018 by Andrew Wood, Michael Dunn, Richard Phillips
Reproductive timing in many taxa plays a key role in determining breeding productivity and is often sensitive to climatic conditions. Current climate change may alter the timing of breeding at…Read more on Global phenological insensitivity to shifting ocean temperatures among seabirds
1 April, 2018 by David Pearce
Cyanobacteria synthesize a large variety of secondary metabolites including toxins. Microcystins (MCs) with hepato- and neurotoxic potential are well studied in bloom-forming planktonic species of temperate and tropical regions. Cyanobacterial…1 April, 2018 by Chester Sands, David Barnes, Huw Griffiths, Katrin Linse
The present dataset is a compilation of georeferenced occurrences of asteroids (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) in the Southern Ocean. Occurrence data south of 45°S latitude were mined from various sources together with…Read more on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic Asteroidea database
1 April, 2018 by Mervyn Freeman
Field‐aligned currents (FACs), also known as Birkeland currents, are the agents by which energy and momentum are transferred to the ionosphere from the magnetosphere and solar wind. This coupling is…1 April, 2018 by Richard Horne
Van Allen Probes observations are used to statistically investigate plasmaspheric hiss wave properties. This analysis shows that the wave normal direction of plasmaspheric hiss is predominantly field aligned at larger…Read more on Statistical properties of plasmaspheric hiss from Van Allen Probes observations
1 April, 2018
The genomic revolution has provided researchers with the opportunity to address broadreaching questions in ecology, evolution and conservation with greater power and precision than ever before. It is nowpossible to…1 April, 2018 by Robert Larter
Seismic reflection images of thermohaline circulation from the Bellingshausen Sea, adjacent to the West Antarctica Peninsula, were acquired during February 2015. This survey shows that bright reflectivity occurs throughout the…1 April, 2018 by Simon Morley
Aim We assess biogeographical patterns, population structure and the range of species in the pulmonate genus Siphonaria across the sub‐Antarctic. We hypothesized that locally endemic cryptic species will be found…28 March, 2018 by Fausto Ferraccioli, Hugh Corr, Tom Jordan
The region of Recovery Glacier, Slessor Glacier and Bailey Ice Stream, East Antarctica, has remained poorly explored, despite representing the largest potential contributor to future global sea level rise on…28 March, 2018 by Fabian Haumann
In contrast to the Arctic, where total sea ice extent (SIE) has been decreasing for the last three decades, Antarctic SIE has shown a small, but significant, increase during the…Read more on Atmospheric influences on the anomalous 2016 Antarctic sea ice decay
13 March, 2018 by Kevin Hughes
Antarctica's biodiversity and its intrinsic values are potentially at risk from the introduction of non-native species, derived from a range of sources including human activities. Whilst controls on introducing plants…Read more on Non-native microbial introductions: what risk to Antarctic ecosystems?
7 March, 2018 by Richard Phillips
Background Albatrosses and other large seabirds use dynamic soaring to gain sufficient energy from the wind to travel large distances rapidly and with little apparent effort. The recent development of…Read more on Flight speed and performance of the wandering albatross with respect to wind
2 March, 2018 by Andrew Fleming
With the polar regions opening up to more marine activities but iceberg numbers more likely to increase than decline as a result of global warming, the risk from icebergs to…