26 October, 2017 by Robert Larter
Marine ice-cliff instability (MICI) processes could accelerate future retreat of the Antarctic Ice Sheet if ice shelves that buttress grounding lines more than 800 metres below sea level are lost1,…16 October, 2017 by Satoshi Kimura
Ice shelves play a vital role in regulating loss of grounded ice and in supplying freshwater to coastal seas. However, melt variability within ice shelves is poorly constrained and may…Read more on Channelized melting drives thinning under a rapidly melting Antarctic ice shelf
13 October, 2017 by Mark Clilverd
Geomagnetically Induced Current (GIC) observations made in New Zealand over 14 years show induction effects associated with a rapidly varying horizontal magnetic field (dBH/dt) during geomagnetic storms. This study analyses…1 October, 2017 by Richard Phillips
With increasing pressure on the oceans from environmental change, there has been a global call for improved protection of marine ecosystems through the implementation of marine protected areas (MPAs). Here,…1 October, 2017 by Anna Belcher, Clara Manno, Geraint Tarling, Peter Ward, Sophie Fielding
Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) play a central role in the food web of the Southern Ocean, forming a link between primary production and large predators. Krill produce large, faecal pellets…1 October, 2017 by Huw Griffiths
In polar areas, where benthic sampling is constrained by a series of limitations imposed by climate and logistic challenges, knowledge about the key elements required to plan a successful survey…1 October, 2017 by Michael Thorne
Fish skin and their appendages, the mineralized scales, are important organs for protection and homeostasis, but little is known about their specific transcript or protein repertoire. This study used RNA-seq…Read more on European sea bass ( Dicentrarchus labrax ) skin and scale transcriptomes
1 October, 2017 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Kelly Hogan
New information is presented on the configuration of the northern Barents Sea Ice Sheet (BSIS) during the last glacial and deglaciation (21–11.5 ka). The glacial dynamics of the BSIS that…1 October, 2017 by Kevin Newsham
A previous study of 76 plant species on Spitsbergen in the High Arctic concluded that structures resembling arbuscular mycorrhizas were absent from roots. Here, we report a survey examining the…Read more on Arbuscular mycorrhizas are present on Spitsbergen
1 October, 2017 by Richard Horne
In collisionless space plasmas, the energy cascade from larger to smaller scales requires effective interactions between ions and electrons. These interactions are organized by sub-ion scale plasma structures in which…Read more on Kinetics of sub-ion scale magnetic holes in the near-Earth plasma sheet
1 October, 2017 by Hilmar Gudmundsson, Sebastian Rosier
Tidal flexure in ice shelf grounding zones has been used extensively in the past to determine grounding line position and ice properties. Although the rheology of ice is viscoelastic at…Read more on On the interpretation of ice-shelf flexure measurements
1 October, 2017 by Jennifer Brown, Philip Trathan, Peter Fretwell
The identification and quantification of Antarctic Pygoscelis penguin colonies depends increasingly on recognition of the characteristic optical properties of guano deposits, but almost all knowledge of these properties until now…1 October, 2017 by Katrin Linse
The evolutionary history of Antarctic organisms is becoming increasingly important to understand and manage population trajectories under rapid environmental change. The Antarctic sea spider Nymphon australe, with an apparently large…1 October, 2017 by Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey
Invasive species present a risk to Antarctic ecosystems by altering community structure and function. Reports of non-native invertebrates are increasing at Antarctic sites subject to tourism industry and national operator…1 October, 2017 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
Previous reconstructions of ice-sheet changes in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea sector since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) at 19–23 cal. (calibrated) kyr B.P. suffered from large uncertainties and were partly contradictory.…1 October, 2017 by Hilmar Gudmundsson
The seasonal response to surface melting of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream outlets, Zachariae and 79N, is investigated using new highly temporally resolved surface velocity maps for 2016 combined with…1 October, 2017 by Kevin Hughes
The Polar Prediction Project (PPP) was conceived and initiated in 2012 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), through its World Weather Research Programme (WWRP), in response to rapid environmental change…Read more on Navigating weather, water, ice and climate change information for safe polar mobilities
26 September, 2017 by Claire Waluda, Eugene Murphy, Iain Staniland, Jennifer Jackson, John Turner, Nadine Johnston, Rachel Cavanagh, Thomas Bracegirdle
Increasing concern about the impacts of climate change on ecosystems is prompting ecologists and ecosystem managers to seek reliable projections of physical drivers of change. The use of global climate…Read more on A synergistic approach for evaluating climate model output for ecological applications
21 September, 2017 by Jeremy Wilkinson
The interplay between sea ice concentration, sea ice roughness, ocean stratification, and momentum transfer to the ice and ocean is subject to seasonal and decadal variations that are crucial to…20 September, 2017 by Lloyd Peck, Simon Morley
The proportion of body mass devoted to skeleton in marine invertebrates decreases along latitudinal gradients from large proportions in the tropics to small proportions in polar regions. A historical hypothesis—that…Read more on Latitudinal trends in shell production cost from the tropics to the poles
19 September, 2017 by Robert Mulvaney
Glacial-state greenhouse gas concentrations and Southern Hemisphere climate conditions persisted until ∼17.7 ka, when a nearly synchronous acceleration in deglaciation was recorded in paleoclimate proxies in large parts of the…18 September, 2017 by Christian Buckingham
A high-resolution satellite image that reveals a train of coherent, submesoscale (6 km) vortices along the edge of an ocean front is examined in concert with hydrographic measurements in an…16 September, 2017 by Steve Colwell, Tracy Moffat-Griffin
Daily radiosonde observations between 2003 and 2013 from Halley research station, Antarctica (75°S, 26°W) are used to determine climatologies of gravity wave properties in the lower stratosphere (between 15 km…16 September, 2017 by Tracy Moffat-Griffin
We have obtained horizontal phase velocity distributions of the gravity waves around 90 km from four Antarctic airglow imagers, which belong to an international airglow imager/instrument network known as ANGWIN…16 September, 2017 by Scott Hosking, Liz Thomas, Tony Phillips
Cyclones are an important component of Antarctic climate variability, yet quantifying their impact on the polar environment is challenging. We assess how cyclones which pass through the Bellingshausen Sea affect…16 September, 2017 by Alex Brisbourne, Thomas Hudson, Thomas Hudson
Understanding magmatic plumbing within the Earth's crust is important for understanding volcanic systems and improving eruption forecasting. We discuss magma plumbing under Bárðarbunga volcano, Iceland, over a 4 year period…Read more on Deep crustal melt plumbing of Bárðarbunga volcano, Iceland
14 September, 2017 by Catharine Horswill, Norman Ratcliffe, Philip Trathan
Understanding the mechanisms that link prey availability to predator behaviour and population change is central to projecting how a species may respond to future environmental pressures. We documented the behavioural…14 September, 2017 by Richard Phillips, Thomas Clay, Thomas Clay
The South Pacific Gyre is the world’s largest expanse of oligotrophic ocean and supports communities of endemic gadfly petrels Pterodroma spp., yet little is known about their foraging ecology in…7 September, 2017 by Andrew Meijers
The processes regulating ocean ventilation at high latitudes are re-examined based on a range of observations spanning all scales of ocean circulation, from the centimetre scales of turbulence to the…Read more on High-latitude ocean ventilation and its role in Earth’s climate transitions
4 September, 2017 by Andrew Meijers, Huw Griffiths, Thomas Bracegirdle
The waters of the Southern Ocean are projected to warm over the coming century, with potential adverse consequences for native cold-adapted organisms. Warming waters have caused temperate marine species to…Read more on More losers than winners in a century of future Southern Ocean seafloor warming
1 September, 2017
This paper describes the first attempt to infer ocean currents from the shapes of seismic streamers using real data. It demonstrates that it is feasible to infer the ocean currents,…Read more on Inferences of ocean currents from seismic streamer position data
1 September, 2017 by Hua Lu, Ian White, Thomas Bracegirdle
Breaking planetary waves (BPWs) affect stratospheric dynamics by reshaping the waveguides, causing internal wave reflection and preconditioning sudden stratospheric warmings. This study examines observed changes in BPWs during the northern…1 September, 2017 by Andrew Wood, Richard Phillips
1. Age-related variation in reproductive performance is ubiquitous in wild vertebrate populations and has important consequences for population and evolutionary dynamics. 2. The ageing trajectory is shaped by both within-individual…Read more on Contrasting drivers of reproductive ageing in albatrosses
1 September, 2017 by Robert Larter
A detailed morphologic and seismic stratigraphic analysis of the continental margin offshore of Adelaide Island on the Pacific Margin of the Antarctic Peninsula (PMAP) is described based on the study…1 September, 2017
Collagen is the most abundant protein found in mammals and it exhibits a low immunogenicity, high biocompatibility and biodegradability when compared with others natural polymers. For this reason, it has…1 September, 2017 by Richard Phillips
Gelatinous zooplankton are a large component of the animal biomass in all marine environments, but are considered to be uncommon in the diet of most marine top predators. However, the…1 September, 2017 by Daniel Bannister, Scott Hosking
The Sichuan basin is one of the most densely populated regions of China, making the area particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts associated with future climate change. As such, climate…1 September, 2017 by David Barnes, Gail Ashton, Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark, Simon Morley
Forecasting assemblage-level responses to climate change remains one of the greatest challenges in global ecology [1 , 2 ]. Data from the marine realm are limited because they largely come…1 September, 2017 by David Pearce, Peter Convey
Arthrobacter alpinus R3.8 is a psychrotolerant bacterial strain isolated from a soil sample obtained at Rothera Point, Adelaide Island, close to the Antarctic Peninsula. Strain R3.8 was sequenced in order…1 September, 2017
The colossal squid Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni (Robson 1925) is the largest (heaviest) living invertebrate and although it is preyed upon by many top predators, its basic biology and ecology remain one…1 September, 2017 by Adrian Jenkins, David Vaughan
Pine Island Glacier Ice Shelf (PIGIS) has been thinning rapidly over recent decades, resulting in a progressive drawdown of the inland ice and an upstream migration of the grounding line.…1 September, 2017 by Woosok Moon
Motivated by a problem in climate dynamics, we investigate the solution of a Bessel-like process with a negative constant drift, described by a Fokker-Planck equation with a potential V(x) =…31 August, 2017 by Constantino Listowski, Thomas Lachlan-Cope
The first intercomparisons of cloud microphysics schemes implemented in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) mesoscale atmospheric model (version 3.5.1) are performed in the Antarctic Peninsula using the polar version…31 August, 2017 by Richard Phillips
Carry-over effects, whereby events in one season have consequences in subsequent seasons, have important demographic implications. Although most studies examine carry-over effects across 2 seasons in single populations, the effects…31 August, 2017 by Iain Staniland, Richard Phillips
There is increasing realisation that individuals in many animal populations differ substantially in resource, space or habitat use. Differences that cannot be attributed to any a priori way of classifying…31 August, 2017 by Richard Phillips
Almost all of the world's fisheries overlap spatially and temporally with foraging seabirds, with impacts that range from food supplementation (through scavenging behind vessels), to resource competition and incidental mortality.…21 August, 2017 by Andrew Tait, Jeremy Robst, Jeremy Wilkinson, Mark Preston
An array of novel directional wavebuoys was designed and deployed into the Beaufort Sea ice cover in March 2014, as part of the Office of Naval Research Marginal Ice Zone…14 August, 2017 by Hugh Corr
A high resolution (1 km line spacing) aerogeophysical survey was conducted over a region near the East Antarctic Ice Sheet's Dome C that may hold a 1.5 million year old climate…Read more on High resolution boundary conditions of an old ice target near Dome C, Antarctica
7 August, 2017 by Markus Frey, Xin Yang
Growing evidence suggests that the sea ice surface is an important source of sea salt aerosol and this has significant implications for polar climate and atmospheric chemistry. It also offers…Read more on Sea ice as a source of sea salt aerosol to Greenland ice cores: a model-based study
1 August, 2017 by Lloyd Peck, Simon Morley
Thermal acclimation capacity was investigated in adults of three tropical marine invertebrates, the subtidal barnacle Striatobalanus amaryllis, the intertidal gastropod Volegalea cochlidium and the intertidal barnacle Amphibalanus amphitrite. To test…1 August, 2017 by Ashleigh Massam, Robert Mulvaney
A model to estimate the annual layer thickness of deposited snowfall at a deep ice core site, compacted by vertical strain with respect to depth, is assessed using ultra-high-resolution laboratory…1 August, 2017 by Richard Phillips
Seabirds show remarkable variability in migration strategies among individuals and populations. In this study, we analysed 47 migrations of 28 brown skuas Catharacta antarctica lonnbergi breeding on King George Island…Read more on Consistent variation in individual migration strategies of brown skuas
1 August, 2017 by Emilie Capron
Chemical and physical proxy data from a precisely dated early last glacial (∼113–110 ka, MIS5d) Sardinian stalagmite reveal a sub-millennial-scale, cool-dry climate event centered at 112.0 +0.52/-0.59 ka, followed by…1 August, 2017 by Claire Allen, Gabriele Stowasser
We report the identification of a range of C25 highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) alkenes and certain sterols in filtered phytoplankton samples obtained from western Svalbard (Arctic) and near South Georgia…1 August, 2017 by Kelly Hogan
Fast-flowing outlet glaciers currently drain the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS), delivering ice, meltwater and debris to the fjords around Greenland. Although such glaciers strongly affect the ice sheet's mass balance,…1 August, 2017 by Dominic Hodgson, Stephen Roberts
The East Antarctic Ice Sheet has relatively few field data to constrain its past volume and contribution to global sea-level change since the Last Glacial Maximum. We provide new data…Read more on Ice sheet retreat and glacio-isostatic adjustment in Lützow Holm Bay, East Antarctica
1 August, 2017 by Jean-Baptiste Sallee
Investigating ecological relationships between predators and their environment is essential to understand the response of marine ecosystems to climate variability and change. This is particularly true in polar regions, where…1 August, 2017 by Paul Holland
Idealised modelling studies have shown that the melting of ice shelves varies as a quadratic function of ocean temperature. However, this result is the equilibrium response, derived from steady ice—…Read more on The transient response of ice-shelf melting to ocean change
1 August, 2017 by Kevin Hughes
In order to evaluate trace element bioavailability and potential transfer into marine food chains in human impacted areas of the Fildes Peninsula (King George Island, South Shetland Islands Archipelago), element…1 August, 2017 by Roger Worland, Peter Convey
Mosses are dominant components of high-latitude environments, and Signy Island (maritime Antarctic) provides a representative example of polar cryptogam-dominated terrestrial ecosystems. In 2011, we mapped all moss banks, their characteristics…Read more on Ecology of moss banks on Signy Island (maritime Antarctic)
1 August, 2017 by Deborah Pardo
Individual heterogeneity in foraging behavior has been widely documented within predator populations. In highly social apex predators such as killer whales (Orcinus orca), specialization may occur at the matriline level.…1 August, 2017 by Richard Phillips
Although fisheries discards are recognized as a key food source for many seabirds, there have been few thorough assessments of their importance relative to natural prey, and of their influence…1 August, 2017 by Mark Clilverd
VLF radio amplitude and phase measurements are used to find the height and sharpness of the D region of the ionosphere at a mid- to high geomagnetic dip latitude of…Read more on Midlatitude ionospheric D region: height, sharpness and solar zenith angle
1 August, 2017 by Richard Phillips
Technological advances in recent years have seen an explosion of tracking and stable isotope studies of seabirds, often involving repeated measures from the same individuals. This wealth of new information…1 August, 2017 by Hayley Allison, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
Using 14 years of electron flux data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Polar Operational Environmental Satellites, a statistical study of the magnetic local time (MLT) distribution of the…1 August, 2017
We tracked eight adult northern lapwings Vanellus vanellus (six females and two males) from a Dutch breeding colony by light-level geolocation year-round, three of them for multiple years. We show…Read more on Individuality in northern lapwing migration and its link to timing of breeding
1 August, 2017 by Geraint Tarling
Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is a crucial component of the Southern Ocean ecosystem, acting as the major link between primary production and higher trophic levels with an annual predator demand…1 August, 2017 by Mark Clilverd
Transpower New Zealand Limited has measured DC currents in transformer neutrals in the New Zealand electrical network at multiple South Island locations. Near-continuous archived DC current data exist since 2001,…1 August, 2017 by Mark Clilverd
We study the occurrence of relativistic microbursts observed by the Solar Anomalous Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX) satellite. An algorithm is used to identify 193,694 relativistic microbursts in the > 1.05…1 August, 2017 by Steve Colwell
Understanding the climate response of the Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet is vital for accurate predictions of sea-level rise. However, since climate models are typically too coarse to capture spatial variability…Read more on Regional climate of the Larsen B embayment 1980–2014
1 August, 2017 by Geraint Tarling
Rising oil and gas activities in northern high latitudes have led to an increased risk of petroleum pollution in these ecosystems. Further, seasonal high UV radiation at high latitudes may…31 July, 2017 by Eugene Murphy, Geraint Tarling, Jonathan Watkins, Sally Thorpe, Sophie Fielding
Food webs in high-latitude oceans are dominated by relatively few species. Future ocean and sea-ice changes affecting the distribution of such species will impact the structure and functioning of whole…27 July, 2017 by Andrew Orr
Large vertical velocities were observed throughout the troposphere at Davis, East Antarctica, on 18 February 2014 by a VHF wind-profiling radar. Simulations using the Met Office Unified Model at 2.2,…27 July, 2017 by James France
Airborne measurements of a methane (CH4) plume over the North Sea from August 2013 are analyzed. The plume was only observed downwind of circumnavigated gas fields, and three methods are…Read more on A cautionary tale: A study of a methane enhancement over the North Sea
26 July, 2017 by Adrian Jenkins, Pierre Mathiot
Ice shelf/ocean interactions are a major source of fresh water on the Antarctic continental shelf and have a strong impact on ocean properties, ocean circulation and sea ice. However, climate…26 July, 2017 by Jeremy Wilkinson
Breakup of the near-continuous winter sea ice into discrete summer ice floes is an important transition that dictates the evolution and fate of the marginal ice zone (MIZ) of the…25 July, 2017 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith
Precise knowledge about the extent of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; c. 26.5–19 cal. ka BP) is important in order to 1) improve…24 July, 2017 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Victoria Peck
The oceanic gateways of the Drake Passage and the Agulhas Current are critical locations for the inflow of intermediate-depth water masses to the Atlantic, which contribute to the shallow return…Read more on Deglacial changes in flow and frontal structure through the Drake Passage
21 July, 2017 by Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark
An increasing number of studies are showing that Antarctic mega- and macrofauna are highly diverse, however, little is known about meiofaunal biodiversity in sediment communities, which are a vital part…17 July, 2017 by Dave Munday, Michael Meredith
During the collection of ship-based observations, heaving of the vessel may lead to variation in the descent rate of a CTD package. This can result in the package being pulled…17 July, 2017 by Hamish Pritchard
Estimation of the surface elevation change of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is essential for understanding its response to recent and future climate change. Laser measurements from the NASA's Ice,…16 July, 2017 by Gareth Marshall, James Pope, Scott Hosking, John Turner, Pranab Deb, Thomas Bracegirdle, Tony Phillips
During Austral spring 2016 Antarctic sea ice extent (SIE) decreased at a record rate of 75 × 103 km2 day-1, which was 46% faster than the mean rate and 18% faster than in any…Read more on Unprecedented springtime retreat of Antarctic sea ice in 2016
16 July, 2017 by Robert Mulvaney
Black carbon (BC) and other biomass-burning (BB) aerosols are critical components of climate forcing but quantification, predictive climate modeling, and policy decisions have been hampered by limited understanding of the…Read more on Holocene black carbon in Antarctica paralleled Southern Hemisphere climate
15 July, 2017 by Dave Munday
The influence of changing the mean wind stress felt by the ocean through alteration of the variability of the atmospheric wind, as opposed to the mean atmospheric wind, on Southern…10 July, 2017 by Jonathan Kingslake
Supraglacial lakes can drain to the bed of ice sheets, affecting ice dynamics, or over their surface, relocating surface water. Focusing on surface drainage, we first discuss observations of lake…Read more on Modelling channelized surface drainage of supraglacial lakes
6 July, 2017 by Thomas Bracegirdle
Antarctic terrestrial biodiversity occurs almost exclusively in ice-free areas that cover less than 1% of the continent. Climate change will alter the extent and configuration of ice-free areas, yet the…Read more on Climate change drives expansion of Antarctic ice-free habitat
1 July, 2017 by Richard Phillips
South Georgia supports globally important populations of seabirds, including the wandering albatross Diomedea exulans, black-browed albatross Thalassarche melanophris and grey-headed albatross T. chrysostoma, currently classified by the world Conservation Union…1 July, 2017 by David Barnes
Climate-forced ice losses are increasing potential for iceberg-seabed collisions, termed ice scour. At Ryder Bay, West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) sea ice, oceanography, phytoplankton and encrusting zoobenthos have been monitored since…1 July, 2017 by Emma Boland, Emily Shuckburgh, Thomas Bracegirdle
The Arctic is currently undergoing drastic changes in climate, largely thought to be due to so-called ‘Arctic amplification’, whereby local feedbacks enhance global warming. Recently, a number of observational and…Read more on Assessment of sea ice-atmosphere links in CMIP5 models
1 July, 2017 by Richard Phillips
The Convention on Biological Diversity aspires to designate 10% of the global oceans as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), but so far, few MPAs protect pelagic species in the high seas.…1 July, 2017 by Peter Fretwell, Richard Phillips
This study is the first to utilize 30-cm resolution imagery from the WorldView-3 (WV-3) satellite to count wildlife directly. We test the accuracy of the satellite method for directly counting…Read more on Using super-high resolution satellite imagery to census threatened albatrosses
1 July, 2017 by Emilie Capron
The Last Interglacial (LIG, ∼129-116 thousand years ago, ka) represents an excellent case study to investigate the response of sensitive components of the Earth System and mechanisms of high-latitude amplification…1 July, 2017 by Woosok Moon
The noise forcing underlying the variability in the Arctic ice cover has a wide range of principally unknown origins. For this reason, the analytical and numerical solutions of a stochastic…