1 January, 2015 by Iain Staniland
The need to manage otariid populations has necessitated the development of a wide range of capture methods. Chemical restraint by remote drug delivery (i.e., darting) is a highly selective method…1 January, 2015 by Adrian Jenkins
Icebergs affect local biological production around Antarctica. We used an ocean glider to observe the effects of a large iceberg that was advected by the Antarctic Slope Current along the…1 January, 2015 by Andrew Fleming, Peter Fretwell, Richard Phillips
Despite the threats faced by seabirds in both terrestrial and marine habitats, even basic knowledge of the locations of colonies, population sizes and trends is lacking for many remote areas…Read more on Using the unique spectral signature of guano to identify unknown seabird colonies
1 January, 2015
The importance of cavities as roost sites in migratory species is often unknown because it is challenging to monitor cavity use during the non-breeding period. We documented cavity use throughout…1 January, 2015 by Povl Abrahamsen, Michael Meredith
Eddies in the Southern Ocean act to moderate the response of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) to changes in forcing. An updated analysis of the Southern Ocean satellite altimetry record…1 January, 2015 by Andrew Orr, Daniel Bannister, Emma Young, Scott Hosking, John King, Tony Phillips
This study seeks to quantify the influence of South Georgia's orography on regional surface winds. A typical case study characterized by large-scale westerly winds is analysed using a high-resolution setup…1 January, 2015 by Emily Venables, Keith Nicholls, Satoshi Kimura
Diffusive convection–favorable thermohaline staircases are observed directly beneath George VI Ice Shelf, Antarctica. A thermohaline staircase is one of the most pronounced manifestations of double-diffusive convection. Cooling and freshening of…Read more on Estimation of ice shelf melt rate in the presence of a thermohaline staircase
1 January, 2015 by Sophie Fielding
High densities of ice krill Euphausia crystallorophias were observed along six acoustic transects within the Amundsen Sea Coastal Polynya, Antarctica. Two-frequency acoustic backscatter data was examined in the austral summers…1 January, 2015 by Lloyd Peck
This paper presents the results of our sixth annual horizon scan, which aims to identify phenomena that may have substantial effects on the global environment, but are not widely known…Read more on A horizon scan of global conservation issues for 2015
1 January, 2015 by Philip Trathan
Various seabird foraging strategies during the non-breeding season have recently been revealed by combining the use of bio-logging devices and the study of stable isotopic signatures (δ15N and δ13C) from…1 January, 2015 by Jeremy Wilkinson
Satellites have documented trends in Antarctic sea-ice extent and its variability for decades, but estimating sea-ice thickness in the Antarctic from remote sensing data remains challenging. In situ observations needed…Read more on Thick and deformed Antarctic sea ice mapped with autonomous underwater vehicles
1 January, 2015
The early national expeditions to Antarctica were short-term, with science usually driven by the interests and opportunities of those scientists who were taken along. Some expeditions made important collections of…Read more on Antarctic scientific collaboration. The role of the SCAR
1 January, 2015 by Jonathan Shanklin
We review the 2013 Antarctic ozone hole, making use of various ground-based, in-situ and remotely-sensed ozone measurements, ground-based measurements of ultraviolet radiation and meteorological reanalyses. Based on analysis of 34…1 January, 2015 by Vanessa Bowman
The first exciting clues that Antarctica had not always been ice-covered were the leaf fossils of Glossopteris plants that Scott’s party brought back from the Beardmore Glacier region in 1912.…Read more on Antarctic palynology and palaeoclimate – a review
1 January, 2015 by Keith Nicholls
A low-power, autonomous phase-sensitive radioecho sounder (ApRES) radar system has been developed at University College London, in collaboration with the British Antarctic Survey, for monitoring and imaging Antarctic ice shelves.…1 January, 2015 by Emilie Capron
We compiled ice and marine records of high-latitude temperature changes and placed them on a common timescale. We also produced climatic time slices for 115, 120, 125, and 130 ka.…1 January, 2015 by Emilie Capron
Past4Future was a Collaborative Project in the European Union’s Framework Programme 7; it aimed to generate knowledge about climate changes during the last two interglacials. The approach was to combine…Read more on Past4Future: European interdisciplinary research on past warm climate periods.
28 December, 2014 by Mervyn Freeman
During substorm growth phases, magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause extracts ~1015 J from the solar wind which is then stored in the magnetotail lobes. Plasma sheet pressure increases to balance magnetic…22 December, 2014 by Howard Roscoe
The impact of polar stratospheric ozone loss resulting from chlorine activation on polar stratospheric clouds is examined using a pair of model integrations run with the fully coupled chemistry climate…16 December, 2014 by Michael Meredith
The warmest water reaching the east and west coast of Greenland is found between 200 m and 600 m. Whilst important for melting Greenland's outlet glaciers, limited winter observations of this layer…10 December, 2014 by Alistair Crame, Jane Francis, Rowan Whittle, Vanessa Bowman
The extensive Late Cretaceous – Early Paleogene sedimentary succession of Seymour Island, N.E. Antarctic Peninsula offers an unparalleled opportunity to examine the evolutionary origins of a modern polar marine fauna.…Read more on The early origin of the Antarctic Marine Fauna and its evolutionary implications
1 December, 2014 by David Vaughan
Glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula have recently shown changes in extent, velocity and thickness, yet there is little quantification of change in the mass balance of individual glaciers or the…1 December, 2014 by Fausto Ferraccioli, Tom Jordan
Thwaites Glacier has one of the largest glacial catchments in West Antarctica. The future stability of Thwaites Glacier's catchment is of great concern, as this part of the West Antarctic…1 December, 2014 by David Barnes
Physical disturbance, particularly from iceberg scour, is a major structuring force in polar benthic communities at shelf depths. Scouring kills and damages benthic organisms providing food for the abundant scavenging…1 December, 2014 by Roger Worland, Peter Convey
1. Early-season flooding and ice entrapment at sub-zero temperatures pose significant challenges to any polar terrestrial invertebrate. 2. The chironomid midge, Eretmoptera murphyi, is native to the sub-Antarctic island of…Read more on Can the Antarctic terrestrial midge, Eretmoptera murphyi, tolerate life in water?
1 December, 2014 by Claire Waluda, Eugene Murphy, Geraint Tarling, Gabriele Stowasser, Jonathan Watkins, Peter Enderlein, Philip Trathan, Sophie Fielding
Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) are a key species in Southern Ocean ecosystems, maintaining very large numbers of predators, and fluctuations in their abundance can affect the overall structure and functioning…1 December, 2014
Stange Ice Shelf is the most south-westerly ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula, a region where positive trends in atmospheric and oceanic temperatures have been recently documented. In this paper,…Read more on The structural and dynamic responses of Stange Ice Shelf to recent environmental change
1 December, 2014 by John King
A common precursor to ice shelf disintegration, most notably that of Larsen B Ice Shelf, is unusually intense or prolonged surface melt and the presence of surface standing water. However,…Read more on Surface melt and ponding on Larsen C Ice shelf and the impact of foehn winds
1 December, 2014 by Hamish Pritchard
The recently published Bedmap2 datasets mark the culmination of several decades of subice and subocean Antarctic topographic surveying by many nations, but maps of the topographic data distribution show that…Read more on Bedgap – where next for Antarctic subglacial mapping?
1 December, 2014 by Peter Convey
Sea ice algae are significant primary producers of the ice-covered marine environment, growing under typically cold, dim conditions. During ice break-up they are released to the water column, where temperatures…Read more on Can bottom ice algae tolerate radiative and temperature changes?
1 December, 2014 by Michael Thorne, Melody Clark
Although the Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) is an important commercial species, there is still a deficit with regard to the number of transcripts in the databases, which can be accessed…Read more on Transcriptome of the Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus)
1 December, 2014 by Emily Shuckburgh
When conducting marine seismic surveys, ocean currents noticeably perturb seismic streamers from their desired location. To accurately monitor a reservoir, the receivers in the streamers must be as close as…Read more on Estimating ocean currents from the shapes of laterally steered streamer arrays
1 December, 2014 by Adrian Jenkins, Paul Holland, Satoshi Kimura
Freshwater produced by the surface melting of ice sheets is commonly discharged into ocean fjords from the bottom of deep fjord-terminating glaciers. The discharge of the freshwater forms upwelling plumes…Read more on The effect of meltwater plumes on the melting of a vertical glacier face
1 December, 2014 by Carlos Martin Garcia, Ed King, Hugh Corr, Hamish Pritchard, Jonathan Kingslake, Richard Hindmarsh, Robert Mulvaney, Richard Hindmarsh
We describe a geophysical technique to measure englacial vertical velocities through to the beds of ice sheets without the need for borehole drilling. Using a ground-based phase-sensitive radio-echo sounder (pRES)…Read more on Full-depth englacial vertical ice-sheet velocities measured using phase-sensitive radar
1 December, 2014 by Gareth Chisham, Mervyn Freeman
The balance of dayside and nightside reconnection processes within the Earth's magnetosphere, and its effect on the amount of open magnetic flux threading the ionosphere is well understood in terms…Read more on Magnetic local time variation and scaling of poleward auroral boundary dynamics
1 December, 2014 by Philip Trathan
An important scientific question in ecology is how to differentiate males from females that have similar morphology. In penguins, due to their monomorphic plumage, it is difficult to determine gender.…1 December, 2014 by Robert Mulvaney
Following on from the successful project to recover an ice core to bedrock on Berkner Island, similar drilling equipment and logistics were used on two further projects to recover ice…Read more on The James Ross Island and the Fletcher Promontory ice-core drilling projects
1 December, 2014 by Alexander Tate, Philip Leat
Endurance Basin is an elongate broadly WNW-ESE trending basin located on the northern margin of the Scotia Sea, adjacent to the southern margin of the South Georgia micro-continent. Bathymetric and…1 December, 2014 by Philip Leat
The Ancestral South Sandwich Arc (ASSA) has a short life-span of c.20 m.y. (Early Oligocene to Middle-Upper Miocene) before slab retreat and subsequent ‘resurrection’ as the active South Sandwich Island…1 December, 2014 by Povl Abrahamsen, Michael Meredith
One of the most remarkable features of contemporary oceanic climate change is the warming and contraction of Antarctic Bottom Water over much of global ocean abyss. These signatures represent changes…1 December, 2014 by Robert Mulvaney
The British Antarctic Survey, in collaboration with Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l’Environnement, has in recent years successfully drilled to bedrock on three remote sites around the Antarctic Peninsula.…Read more on Technical innovations and optimizations for intermediate ice-core drilling operations
1 December, 2014 by Claire Waluda, Michael Dunn, Peter Fretwell
Changes in penguin abundance and distribution can be used to understand the response of species to climate change and fisheries pressures, and as a gauge of ecosystem health. Traditionally, population…28 November, 2014 by Fausto Ferraccioli, Hugh Corr, Tom Jordan
Once an ice sheet grows beyond a critical thickness, the basal thermal regime favors melting and development of subglacial water networks. Subglacial water is necessary for bedrock erosion, but the…26 November, 2014 by Markus Frey
Concentrations of OH radicals and the sum of peroxy radicals, RO2, were measured in the boundary layer for the first time on the East Antarctic Plateau at the Concordia Station…Read more on Measurements of OH and RO2 radicals at Dome C, East Antarctica
25 November, 2014 by Katrin Linse
Using molecular data (CO1, 16S and H3 genes), we provide evidence for a long-held view that Southern Ocean scaleworms (Polynoidae) morphologically agreeing with Herdmanella gracilis sensu Augener, 1929 Ehlers sensu…24 November, 2014 by Fausto Ferraccioli, Hugh Corr, Tom Jordan
A recent ocean modelling study indicates that possible changes in circulation may bring warm deep-ocean water into direct contact with the grounding lines of the Filchner–Ronne ice streams, suggesting the…18 November, 2014 by Mark Clilverd
The plasmapause is a highly dynamic boundary between different magnetospheric particle populations and convection regimes. Some of the most important space weather processes involve wave-particle interactions in this region, but…15 November, 2014 by Roger Worland, Peter Convey
In February 2009 a new permafrost borehole was installed close to the British Antarctic Survey Station at Rothera Point, Adelaide Island (67.57195°S 68.12068°W). The borehole is situated at 31 m…12 November, 2014 by Anna Jones, Eric Wolff, Neil Brough
Observations of peroxynitric acid (HO2NO2) and nitric acid (HNO3) were made during a 4 month period of Antarctic winter darkness at the coastal Antarctic research station, Halley. Mixing ratios of…Read more on HO2NO2 and HNO3 in the coastal Antarctic winter night: A “lab-in-the-field” experiment
10 November, 2014 by Sally Thorpe
This report gives a physical oceanographic context to the sampling carried out during RRS James Clark Ross cruise JR274, 09 Jan—12 Feb 2013, part of the UK Sea Surface Consortium…3 November, 2014 by Richard Phillips
This study describes and compares the pelagic distribution and migratory patterns of the two subspecies of Gould’s Petrel (Pterodroma leucoptera), and contrasts data obtained from tracking birds at sea using…1 November, 2014 by Amelie Kirchgaessner
The regional model REMO, which is the atmospheric component of the coupled atmosphere–ice–ocean–land climate model system BALTIMOS, is tested with respect to its ability to simulate the atmospheric boundary layer…1 November, 2014 by Emilie Capron, Eric Wolff, Louise Sime
The Last Interglacial (LIG, 129–116 thousand of years BP, ka) represents a test bed for climate model feedbacks in warmer-than-present high latitude regions. However, mainly because aligning different palaeoclimatic archives…1 November, 2014 by Keith Makinson, Paul Anker
The 2011/12 Antarctic field season saw the first use of a new British Antarctic Survey (BAS) ice-shelf hot-water drill system on the Larsen C and George VI ice shelves. Delivering…Read more on The BAS ice shelf hot water drill: design, methods and tools
1 November, 2014 by Peter Convey
The diversity of seaweed species of the south-western Antarctic Peninsula region is poorly studied, contrasting with the substantial knowledge available for the northern parts of the Peninsula. However, this is…1 November, 2014 by Fausto Ferraccioli, Hugh Corr, Tom Jordan
Several recent studies predict that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet will become increasingly unstable under warmer conditions. Insights on such change can be assisted through investigations of the subglacial landscape,…1 November, 2014 by Ed King
Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is becoming a commonly applied technique in geomorphology. However, its use in the study of subglacial bedforms has yet to be fully explored and exploited. This paper…Read more on Looking through drumlins: testing the application of ground-penetrating radar
1 November, 2014 by Dani Jones
The exchange of carbon dioxide between the ocean and the atmosphere tends to bring waters within the mixed layer toward equilibrium by reducing the partial pressure gradient across the air-water…1 November, 2014 by Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert, Tobias Kersten
Electromagnetic Ion Cyclotron (EMIC) waves cause electron loss in the radiation belts by resonating with high energy electrons at energies greater than about 500 keV. However, their effectiveness has not…Read more on Electron losses from the radiation belts caused by EMIC waves
1 November, 2014 by Emma Woodfield, Richard Horne
Space weather has become a mature discipline for the Earth space environment. With increasing efforts in space exploration, it is becoming more and more necessary to understand the space environments…1 November, 2014 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith, Robert Larter
Glaciers flowing into the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) account for > 35% of the total discharge of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) and have thinned and retreated dramatically over…1 November, 2014 by Zhaomin Wang
Afforestation has been deployed as a mitigation strategy for global warming due to its substantial carbon sequestration, which is partly counterbalanced with its biogeophysical effects through modifying the fluxes of…Read more on The biogeophysical effects of extreme afforestation in modeling future climate
1 November, 2014 by Mark Clilverd
In this study we investigate the link between precipitating electrons from the Van Allen radiation belts and the dynamical plasmapause. We consider electron precipitation observations from the Polar Orbiting Environmental…31 October, 2014 by Michael Meredith, Paul Holland
The Antarctic shelf seas are a climatically and ecologically important region, and are at present receiving increasing amounts of freshwater from the melting of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and its…22 October, 2014
Cephalopods play an important ecological role in the Southern Ocean, being the main prey group of numerous top predators. However, their basic ecology and biogeography is still poorly known, particularly…16 October, 2014 by Ingrid Cnossen
We applied Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD) for the first time to ionosonde data to study trends in the critical frequency of the F2 peak, foF2, and its height, hmF2,…15 October, 2014 by Emma Woodfield, Richard Horne
In order to conduct theoretical studies or modeling of pitch angle scattering of electrons by whistler mode chorus emission at Saturn, a knowledge of chorus occurrence and magnetic intensity levels,…14 October, 2014 by Mark Clilverd
Energetic electron precipitation (EEP) from the Earth’s outer radiation belt continuously affects the chemical composition of the polar mesosphere. EEP can contribute to catalytic ozone loss in the mesosphere through…6 October, 2014 by Geraint Tarling, Sophie Fielding
Thecosome pteropods are abundant upper-ocean zooplankton that build aragonite shells. Ocean acidification results in the lowering of aragonite saturation levels in the surface layers, and several incubation studies have shown…1 October, 2014 by Elisabeth Biersma, Peter Convey
Since the onset of glaciation following the Oligocene (30–28 Ma), the prevalence of increasingly cold conditions has shaped the evolution of the Antarctic biota. Two hypotheses, postglacial recruitment from extra-regional…1 October, 2014 by Howard Roscoe
Short-lived halocarbons were measured in Arctic sea-ice brine, seawater and air above the Greenland and Norwegian seas (∼81°N, 2 to 5°E) in mid-summer, from a melting ice floe at the…1 October, 2014 by Kevin Newsham
We have investigated how the microbially-driven processes of carbon (C) mineralization (respiration) and nitrogen (N) mineralization/immobilization in a soil from the northern Maritime Antarctic respond to differences in water availability…1 October, 2014 by David Pearce, Peter Convey
Despite their pivotal role as primary producers, there is little information as to the diversity and physiology of cyanobacteria in the meltwater ecosystems of polar regions. Thirty cyanobacterial mats from…1 October, 2014 by Andrew Orr, Scott Hosking, John Turner, Tony Phillips
During winter much of the Antarctic coast is susceptible to severe and hazardous strong wind events (SWEs) associated with the enhancement of katabatic winds by synoptic weather systems. In this…1 October, 2014 by Peter Convey
The meiobenthic community of Potter Cove (King George Island, west Antarctic Peninsula) was investigated, focusing on responses to summer/winter conditions in two study sites contrasting in terms of organic matter…Read more on Potter Cove, west Antarctic Peninsula, shallow water meiofauna: a seasonal snapshot
1 October, 2014 by Katrin Linse
The protobranch bivalves of the Southern Ocean are poorly understood ecologically, despite their high abundances in soft sediments from the shelf to the deep sea. The subclass has a long…1 October, 2014 by Katrin Linse
An extensive submarine cold-seep area was discovered on the northern shelf of South Georgia during R/V Polarstern cruise ANT-XXIX/4 in spring 2013. Hydroacoustic surveys documented the presence of 133 gas…1 October, 2014 by Scott Hosking, John Turner, Thomas Bracegirdle, Tony Phillips
The influence of changes in winds over the Amundsen Sea has been shown to be a potentially key mechanism in explaining rapid loss of ice from major glaciers in West…1 October, 2014 by Cheryl Knowland, Rachel Cavanagh, Simeon Hill, Susie Grant
In June 2014, the ICED programme, the British Antarctic Survey and WWF co-hosted a two day workshop entitled “Understanding the objectives for krill fishing and conservation in the Scotia Sea…1 October, 2014 by Richard Phillips
Recently-developed capabilities for tracking the movements of individual birds over the course of a year or longer has provided increasing evidence for consistent individual differences in migration schedules and destinations.…1 October, 2014 by Kevin Newsham, Will Goodall-Copestake
Forty-four herbarium specimens of the hepatic Barbilophozia hatcheri, collected from across the entire range of the species in Antarctica (54–68 °S), were examined for fungal colonisation. Mycothalli, consisting of hyaline…1 October, 2014 by Geraint Tarling
Marine planktonic copepods of the order Calanoida are central to the ecology and productivity of high latitude ecosystems, representing the interface between primary producers and fish. These animals typically undertake…