1 March, 2018 by Bianca Perren
Well-dated and highly resolved paleoclimate records from high latitudes allow for a better understanding of past climate change. Lake sediments are excellent archives of environmental change, and can record processes…1 March, 2018 by Geraint Tarling
Chronic oil pollution related to gas and oil drilling activities is increasing in the sea due to the rising offshore petroleum industry activity. Among marine organisms, zooplankton play a crucial…1 March, 2018 by Peter Convey
Soil microbes play important roles in global carbon and nutrient cycling. Soil microfungi are generally amongst the most important contributors. They produce various extracellular hydrolase enzymes that break down the…Read more on Effects of temperature on extracellular hydrolase enzymes from soil microfungi
1 March, 2018 by Peter Convey
Phenol is an important pollutant widely discharged as a component of hydrocarbon fuels, but its degradation in cold regions is a great challenge due to the harsh environmental conditions. To…Read more on Biodegradation of phenol by cold-adapted bacteria from Antarctic soils
1 March, 2018 by Hilmar Gudmundsson
Mertz Glacier (MG) calved in February 2010 and a 70-years' calving cycle of MG was reported recently because of the shallow Mertz Bank. To better investigate the calving process, a…1 March, 2018 by Geraint Tarling, Ryan Saunders
The applicability of macroecological rules to patterns in body size varies between taxa. One of the most examined is Bergmann’s rule, which states that body size increases with decreasing temperature…Read more on Southern Ocean mesopelagic fish comply with Bergmann’s Rule
1 March, 2018
Acute shoulder dislocation is a common injury in the outdoor environment. The objective of this systematic review of the literature was to determine if intra-articular local anesthetic (IAL) is an…1 March, 2018 by James France
Ambient carbon monoxide (CO) and meteorological parameters measured at the Egham (EGH) semi-rural site in SW London during 2000–2015 have permitted wind sector analysis of diurnal and seasonal cycles, and…1 March, 2018 by Heather Regan, Michael Meredith, Paul Holland
During the second half of the twentieth century, the Antarctic Peninsula was subjected to a rapid increase in air temperatures. This was accompanied by a reduction in sea ice extent,…1 March, 2018 by Amy King, Liz Thomas
Polar ice cores provide information about past climate and environmental changes over periods ranging from a few years up to 800,000 years. The majority of chemical studies have focused on…1 March, 2018 by Alistair Crame, Jane Francis
The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) mass extinction event 66 million years ago led to large changes to the global carbon cycle, primarily via a decrease in primary or export productivity of the…1 March, 2018 by Richard Phillips
Sexual segregation in foraging habitat occurs in many marine predators and is usually attributed to competitive exclusion, different parental roles of each sex or niche specialisation associated with sexual size…1 March, 2018 by Peter Convey
The growing interest in Antarctic collembolan species has led us to re-evaluate both the morphological and molecular aspects of different species adapted to the extreme Antarctic environment. The genus Folsomotoma…1 March, 2018 by Steve Colwell
The sparse nature of observational records across the mid- to high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere limits the ability to place late-twentieth-century environmental changes in the context of long-term (multidecadal…1 March, 2018 by Katrin Linse
The paradigm of large geographic ranges in the deep sea has been challenged by genetic studies, which often reveal putatively widespread species to be several taxa with more restricted ranges.…1 March, 2018 by Gary Llewellyn
The AisaOWL thermal hyperspectral instrument, manufactured by Specim, is a relatively new push-broom sensor well suited to airborne environmental surveys. The sensor covers the 7.6-12.6 μm part of the long-wave…1 March, 2018 by Gillian Young
Desert dust is one of the most important atmospheric ice‐nucleating aerosol species around the globe. However, there have been very few measurements of ice‐nucleating particle (INP) concentrations in dusty air…Read more on Atmospheric ice-nucleating particles in the dusty tropical Atlantic
1 March, 2018 by Katrin Linse
Based on a dataset of 16,991 and 307 morphospecies of polychaete worms collected from 58 epibenthic sledge deployments across the Scotia and Amundsen Seas, we show that the structures of…1 March, 2018 by Mark Clilverd
Typically, ultra‐low frequency (ULF) waves have historically been invoked for radial diffusive transport leading to acceleration and loss of outer radiation belt electrons. At higher frequencies, very low frequency waves…28 February, 2018 by Mark Clilverd
Ozonesonde data from four sites are analyzed in relation to 191 solar protons events (SPEs) from 1989-2016. Analysis shows ozone depletion (~10-35 km altitude) commencing following the SPEs. Seasonally-corrected ozone…23 February, 2018 by Richard Phillips
Given the major ongoing influence of environmental change on the oceans, there is a need to understand and predict the future distributions of marine species in order to plan appropriate…23 February, 2018 by Philip Trathan
Seabirds breeding on the Antarctic continent must cope with extreme changes in sea ice cover and day length throughout the year. Adélie penguins are expected to adjust their migratory movements…Read more on Migratory movements and winter diving activity of Adélie penguins in East Antarctica
21 February, 2018 by Richard Hindmarsh, Richard Hindmarsh
High-resolution, well-dated climate archives provide an opportunity to investigate the dynamic interactions of climate patterns relevant for future projections. Here, we present data from a new, annually-dated ice core record…15 February, 2018 by James Pope
The eruption of Mt. Tambora in 1815 was the largest volcanic eruption of the past 500 years. The eruption had significant climatic impacts, leading to the 1816 “year without a…14 February, 2018 by Eugene Murphy, Emma Young, Mark Belchier, Michael Meredith
In the marine environment, understanding the biophysical mechanisms that drive variability in larval dispersal and population connectivity is essential for estimating the potential impacts of climate change on the resilience…12 February, 2018 by Lloyd Peck, Luca Telesca
Shape variability represents an important direct response of organisms to selective environments. Here, we use a combination of geometric morphometrics and generalised additive mixed models (GAMMs) to identify spatial patterns…Read more on Blue mussel shell shape plasticity and natural environments: a quantitative approach
10 February, 2018 by Huw Griffiths, Susie Grant
9 February, 2018 by Hilmar Gudmundsson, Jan De Rydt
We report on the recent reactivation of a large rift in the Brunt Ice Shelf, East Antarctica, in December 2012 and the formation of a 50 km long new rift in…6 February, 2018 by Paul Holland
The Arctic sea ice cover of 2016 was highly noteworthy, as it featured record low monthly sea ice extents at the start of the year but a summer (September) extent…6 February, 2018 by Peter Convey
Geothermal environments in Antarctica have profound ecological and scientific value. They are single points of heat and moisture in an icy and dry landscape, and provide habitats for diverse living…2 February, 2018 by Hoi Ga Chan, Markus Frey
Emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx = NO + NO2) from the photolysis of nitrate (NO3−) in snow affect the oxidising capacity of the lower troposphere especially in remote regions of high latitudes with little…1 February, 2018
Archibald McLean qualified in Sydney in 1910 and in the following year joined Douglas Mawson’s Australasian Antarctic Expedition (1911–1914). He took a full part in the expedition and was forced…Read more on Archibald Lang McLean (1885-1922) – Explorer, writer and soldier
1 February, 2018 by Katrin Linse
While biodiversity patterns of Atlantic deep-sea bivalves and gastropods have served as model taxa for setting global latitudinal and bathymetric hypotheses, less is known on abyssal, amphi-Atlantic molluscan assemblage compositions.…1 February, 2018 by Bianca Perren
High resolution proxy records of past climate are sparse in the Arctic due to low organic production that restricts the use of radiocarbon dating and challenging logistics that make data…1 February, 2018
Sleep disturbances are the main health complaints from personnel deployed in Antarctica. The current paper presents a systematic review of research findings on sleep disturbances in Antarctica. The available sources…Read more on From the midnight sun to the longest night: sleep in Antarctica
1 February, 2018 by Katrin Linse
We analyzed composition and variations in benthic macrofaunal communities along a transect of the entire length of the Vema-Fracture Zone on board of RV Sonne (SO-237) between December 2014 and…1 February, 2018 by Michael Dunn, Peter Convey, Stacey Adlard
Penguins are an important indicator of marine ecosystem health and a major contributor of nutrients to terrestrial ecosystems in Antarctica. Their stomach microbiota is influenced by both the prey consumed…1 February, 2018 by Huw Griffiths, Peter Convey, Rachel Cavanagh, Thomas Bracegirdle
The biodiversity, ecosystem services and climate variability of the Antarctic continent and the Southern Ocean are major components of the whole Earth system. Antarctic ecosystems are driven more strongly by…Read more on Cross-disciplinarity in the advance of Antarctic ecosystem research
1 February, 2018 by Adrian Jenkins, James Jordan, Paul Holland, Robert Arthern
The first fully synchronous, coupled ice shelf-ocean model with a fixed grounding line and imposed upstream ice velocity has been developed using the MITgcm (Massachusetts Institute of Technology general circulation…Read more on Ocean-forced ice-shelf thinning in a synchronously coupled ice-ocean model
1 February, 2018 by Will Goodall-Copestake
Colonies of neotropical army ants of the genus Eciton Latreille offer some of the most captivating examples of intricate interactions between species, with hundreds of associated species already described in…Read more on Army imposters: diversification of army ant-mimicking beetles with their Eciton hosts
1 February, 2018 by Adrian Fox, Louise Ireland
This paper presents detailed elevation and volume analysis of 16 individual glaciers, grouped at four locations, spread across the Antarctic Peninsula (AP). The study makes use of newly available WorldView-2…1 February, 2018 by Sarah Jackson
Highly resolved temporal and spatial distributions of trace elements in ocean water can provide insight into ocean processes but carry a significant analytical demand which requires methods that combine accuracy…1 February, 2018 by Alistair Crame
The large, burrowing bivalve Laternula elliptica is an abundant component of shallow-water soft-substrate communities around Antarctica but its congeners are temperate and tropical in distribution and their phylogenetic relationships are…1 February, 2018 by Kira Rehfeld
Changes in climate variability are as important for society to address as are changes in mean climate1. Contrasting temperature variability during the Last Glacial Maximum and the Holocene can provide…1 February, 2018 by Jean-Baptiste Sallee
Antarctic coastal polynyas are regions of persistent open water and are thought to be key bio-physical features within the sea-ice zone. However, their use by the upper trophic levels of…Read more on Coastal polynyas: Winter oases for subadult southern elephant seals in East Antarctica
1 February, 2018 by Tun Jan Young
Marine‐terminating outlet glaciers of the Greenland Ice Sheet make significant contributions to global sea level rise, yet the conditions that facilitate their fast flow remain poorly constrained owing to a…1 February, 2018 by Tun Jan Young
Outlet glaciers of the Greenland Ice Sheet transport ice from the interior to the ocean and contribute directly to sea level rise because discharge and ablation often exceed the accumulation.…1 February, 2018 by Mark Clilverd
Relativistic electron microbursts are a known radiation belt particle precipitation phenomenon; however, experimental evidence of their drivers in space have just begun to be observed. Recent modeling efforts have shown…1 February, 2018 by Ingrid Cnossen
The prevalence of GPS total electron content (TEC) observations has provided an opportunity for extensive global ionosphere‐thermosphere model validation efforts. This study presents a year‐long data‐model comparison using the Global…Read more on A year long comparison of GPS TEC and global ionosphere-thermosphere models
31 January, 2018 by Simeon Hill, Tony Phillips
Climate change is a threat to marine ecosystems and the services they provide, and reducing fishing pressure is one option for mitigating the overall consequences for marine biota. We used…28 January, 2018 by Jeremy Wilkinson
The fastest and most efficient process of gaining sea ice volume is through the mechanical redistribution of mass as a consequence of deformation events. During the ice growth season divergent…28 January, 2018 by Christine McKenna, Emily Shuckburgh, Thomas Bracegirdle
To explore the mechanisms linking Arctic sea ice loss to changes in midlatitude surface temperatures, we conduct idealized modeling experiments using an intermediate general circulation model and with sea ice…28 January, 2018 by Mark Clilverd
Relativistic electron microbursts are short-duration, high-energy precipitation events that are an important loss mechanism for radiation belt particles. Previous work to estimate their atmospheric impacts found no significant changes in…Read more on Relativistic electron microburst events: Modeling the atmospheric impact
17 January, 2018 by Clara Manno, Geraint Tarling, Victoria Peck
The dissolution of the delicate shells of sea butterflies, or pteropods, has epitomised discussions regarding ecosystem vulnerability to ocean acidification over the last decade. However, a recent demonstration that the…Read more on Pteropods counter mechanical damage and dissolution through extensive shell repair
12 January, 2018 by Jane Francis
Fossil-bearing deposits in the Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica indicate that, despite the cold nature of the continent’s climate, a tundra ecosystem grew during periods of ice sheet retreat in the mid…9 January, 2018 by Adrian Jenkins, Hilmar Gudmundsson
Basal melting below ice shelves is a major factor in mass loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet, which can contribute significantly to possible future sea-level rise. Therefore, it is important…
5 January, 2018 by Claire Allen, Victoria Peck
It is widely held that benthic foraminifera exhibit species-specific calcification depth preferences, with their tests recording sediment pore water chemistry at that depth (i.e. stable isotope and trace metal compositions).…2 January, 2018 by Fausto Ferraccioli, Philip Leat, Tom Jordan, Teal Riley
The distribution of heat flow in Antarctic continental crust is critical to understanding continental tectonics, ice sheet growth and subglacial hydrology. We identify a group of High Heat Production granites,…1 January, 2018 by Carlos Martin Garcia, Fausto Ferraccioli
Ice cores in Antarctica and Greenland reveal ice-crystal fabrics that can be softer under simple shear compared with isotropic ice. Owing to the sparseness of ice cores in regions away…1 January, 2018 by Roger Worland
Larvae of the European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis Hubn.) were cold acclimated during different phases of diapause to determine if changes in the fatty acid composition lipids occur as part…1 January, 2018 by Fausto Ferraccioli, Hugh Corr, Tom Jordan
Although the flow of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is well constrained from surface measurements and altimetry, our knowledge of the dynamic processes within the ice sheet remains limited. Recent…Read more on Position and variability of complex structures in the central East Antarctic Ice Sheet
1 January, 2018 by Geraint Tarling, Peter Ward, Sally Thorpe
The biogeographic response of oceanic planktonic communities to climatic change has a large influence on the future stability of marine food webs and the functioning of global biogeochemical cycles. Temperature…1 January, 2018 by Fausto Ferraccioli, Tom Jordan
Long-range airborne geophysical measurements were carried out in the ICEGRAV campaigns, covering hitherto unexplored parts of interior East Antarctica and part of the Antarctic Peninsula. The airborne surveys provided a…1 January, 2018 by Kevin Hughes
The Antarctic Treaty recognizes the outstanding scientific values of the Antarctic environment through the designation of Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs) that have rigorous management plans specific to each site.…Read more on Conflicting science requirements impact on rare moss conservation measures
1 January, 2018 by Caroline Holmes, Thomas Bracegirdle
A major feature of projected changes in Southern Hemisphere climate under future scenarios of increased greenhouse gas concentrations is the poleward shift and strengthening of the main eddy-driven belt of…1 January, 2018 by Geraint Tarling
Predicting how species will respond to climate change is a growing field in marine ecology, yet knowledge of how to incorporate the uncertainty from future climate data into these predictions…1 January, 2018 by Clara Manno, Geraint Tarling, Jessie Gardner, Victoria Peck
Early life stages of marine calcifiers are particularly vulnerable to climate change. In the Southern Ocean aragonite undersaturation events and areas of rapid warming already occur and are predicted to…Read more on Southern Ocean pteropods at risk from ocean warming and acidification
1 January, 2018 by Martin Miller
The relative abundance of 17O in meteoric precipitation is usually reported in terms of the 17O-excess parameter. Variations of 17O-excess in Antarctic precipitation and ice cores have hitherto been attributed…1 January, 2018 by Joakim Kjellsson
Lagrangian analysis is a powerful way to analyse the output of ocean circulation models and other ocean velocity data such as from altimetry. In the Lagrangian approach, large sets of…Read more on Lagrangian ocean analysis: fundamentals and practices
1 January, 2018 by Mervyn Freeman, Rob Shore
We apply the method of data-interpolating Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOFs) to ground-based magnetic vector data from the SuperMAG archive to produce a series of month-length reanalyses of the surface external…1 January, 2018 by Nigel Meredith
Every national spacecraft charging related design guideline or design standard includes prohibitions against floating, or ungrounded, connector pins. The rationale is obvious. A floating connector pin represents ungrounded metal with…Read more on Spacecraft charging related risk of floating connector pins
1 January, 2018 by Joanne Johnson
The remains of a small volcanic centre are preserved on a thin bedrock ridge at Harrow Peaks, northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. The outcrop is interpreted as a monogenetic tuff cone…1 January, 2018 by Peter Convey
We documented relative growth rates (RGRs) and activities of extracellular hydrolytic enzymes (EHEs) of one marine-derived tropical strain of Fusarium equiseti originally isolated from Malaysia and two polar strains of…1 January, 2018 by Max Holloway
In treatment planning we depend upon accurate knowledge of geometric and range uncertainties. If the uncertainty model is inaccurate then the plan will produce under-dosing of the target and/or overdosing…1 January, 2018 by Hilmar Gudmundsson
Floating ice shelves, which fringe most of Antarctica’s coastline, regulate ice flow into the Southern Ocean1,2,3. Their thinning4,5,6,7 or disintegration8,9 can cause upstream acceleration of grounded ice and raise global…Read more on The far reach of ice-shelf thinning in Antarctica
1 January, 2018 by Lloyd Peck
This is our ninth annual horizon scan to identify emerging issues that we believe could affect global biological diversity, natural capital and ecosystem services, and conservation efforts. Our diverse and…Read more on A 2018 Horizon Scan of Emerging Issues for Global Conservation and Biological Diversity
1 January, 2018 by Michael Meredith
The Southern Ocean is the expanse of ocean encircling the Antarctic continent. Often it is defined as all ocean areas south of 35°S (e.g., Chelton et al. 1990) or 40°S…1 January, 2018 by Mark Clilverd
One of the key challenges in polar middle atmosphere research is to quantify the total forcing by energetic particle precipitation (EPP) and assess the related response over solar cycle time…1 January, 2018 by Andrew Gray, Kevin Hughes
Portugal has developed an active Antarctic programme over the past decade. Here, we examine Portuguese Antarctic activity using a variety of bibliometric measures, showing that Portuguese scientific output has grown…1 January, 2018 by Nigel Meredith
Severe and extreme surface charging on geosynchronous spacecraft is examined through the analysis of 16 years of data from particles detectors on-board the Los Alamos National Laboratory spacecraft. Analysis shows…Read more on Spacecraft surface charging induced by severe environments at geosynchronous orbit
1 January, 2018 by Dave Wattam, Michael Pinnock
The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research and the British Antarctic Survey have built a transportable laboratory facility, named the Dirck Gerritsz Laboratory, to accommodate new scientific research on and from…Read more on Innovative transportable laboratories for Polar science
1 January, 2018
We present two narratives on the future of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, from the perspective of an observer looking back from 2070. In the first scenario, greenhouse gas emissions…1 January, 2018
Gonatus fabricii is the most abundant cephalopod species in Arctic waters, and the only squid that completes its entire life cycle there. In order to understand its ecological role in…1 January, 2018 by Richard Phillips
Knowledge of thermal traits is essential for understanding and modelling physiological responses to environmental change. Egg temperatures are poorly studied in most tubenose species. We employed a contactless infrared thermometer…Read more on Surface temperatures of albatross eggs and nests
1 January, 2018
Insufficient reference database coverage is a widely recognized limitation of molecular ecology approaches which are reliant on database matches for assignment of function or identity. Here, we use data from…1 January, 2018 by Brent Minchew
Remote sensing technology is an essential link in the global monitoring of the ocean surface and radars are efficient sensors for detecting marine pollution. When used operationally, a tradeoff must…1 January, 2018 by Hugh Corr
We propose an algorithm to calculate the refraction path travelled by a signal from a source to a remote scatterer, through a horizontally parallel multilayer medium with vertical-varying refractive index.…Read more on Refraction angle calculation in multi-layered ice for wide-beam airborne radar
1 January, 2018 by Hugh Corr
Space-based radio echo sounding of the continental ice sheets can potentially provide full coverage with uniform sampling and data quality as well as detection of change in environmentally sensitive areas.…