25 February, 2015 by Kevin Hughes
Recent advances in molecular biology techniques have shown the presence of diverse microbial communities and endemic species in Antarctica. Endemic microbes may be a potential source of novel biotechnologically important…Read more on Protection of Antarctic microbial communities – ‘out of sight, out of mind’
25 February, 2015 by Sandra McInnes, Sandra McInnes
This paper is the second monograph of nine that describes the global records of limno-terrestrial water bears (Tardigrada). Here, we provide a comprehensive list of non-marine tardigrades recorded from South…Read more on Annotated zoogeography of non-marine Tardigrada. Part II: South America
17 February, 2015
An accurate forecast of flare and coronal mass ejection (CME) initiation requires precise measurements of the magnetic energy buildup and release in the active regions of the solar atmosphere. We…Read more on The PAC2MAN mission: a new tool to understand and predict solar energetic events
17 February, 2015 by Richard Phillips
Following breeding, sooty shearwaters Puffinus griseus leave New Zealand waters and migrate to 1 of 3 distinct areas in the North Pacific Ocean, effectively exploiting environmental resources across a large…16 February, 2015 by Geraint Tarling, Peter Ward
The Southern Ocean (SO) is an important CO2 reservoir, some of which enters via the production, sinking and remineralization of organic matter. Recent work suggests the fraction of production that…16 February, 2015 by Fausto Ferraccioli, Hugh Corr, Tom Jordan
We present ice-penetrating radar evidence for ancient (pre-glacial) and extensive erosion surfaces preserved beneath the upstream Institute and Möller ice streams, West Antarctica. Radar data reveal a smooth, laterally continuous,…Read more on Ancient pre-glacial erosion surfaces preserved beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
2 February, 2015 by Melody Clark
The SALMFamides are a family of neuropeptides that act as muscle relaxants in echinoderms. Analysis of genome/transcriptome sequence data from the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus (Echinoidea), the sea cucumber Apostichopus…1 February, 2015 by Dominic Hodgson, Stephen Roberts
Sub-Antarctic South Georgia is a key region for studying climate variability in the Southern Hemisphere, because of its position at the core of the Southern Hemisphere Westerly Wind belt and…1 February, 2015 by Elisabeth Biersma
Recent molecular phylogenetic analyses have revealed that some apparently oligoxenous feather mite species are in fact monoxenous cryptic species with little morphological differentiation. In this study we analyzed two species,…1 February, 2015 by David Vaughan, Jane Francis, Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark, Peter Convey
Antarctic and Southern Ocean science is vital to understanding natural variability, the processes that govern global change and the role of humans in the Earth and climate system. The potential…Read more on A roadmap for Antarctic and Southern Ocean science for the next two decades and beyond
1 February, 2015 by Peter Fretwell
Site fidelity is an important evolutionary trait to understand, as misinterpretation of philopatric behavior could lead to confusion over the key drivers of population dynamics and the environmental or anthropogenic…Read more on Emigration in emperor penguins: implications for interpretation of long-term studies
1 February, 2015 by Philip Leat
The Scotia Arc, situated between South America and Antarctica, is one of the Earth’s most important ocean gateways and former land bridges. Understanding its structure and development is critical for…Read more on The global relevance of the Scotia Arc: An introduction
1 February, 2015 by Richard Hindmarsh, Richard Hindmarsh
This study investigates the microclimate and hydrology of debris-laden ice surfaces in the Taylor Valley, Antarctica, in early summer, focusing on the onset of melt. Measurements of energy and mass…1 February, 2015 by Richard Phillips
Aim Species that breed sympatrically often occupy different foraging niches to mitigate competition for prey. When resource availability declines at the end of the breeding season, some animals migrate to…1 February, 2015 by David Barnes
The Scotia Arc and Amundsen Sea are contrasting regions within West Antarctica. The Scotia Sea shelf is well studied and central to the origin and diversity of the Southern Ocean…Read more on Tanaidacea of the Amundsen and Scotia Seas: an unexplored diversity
1 February, 2015 by Philip Trathan
Cumulative human impacts across the world's oceans are considerable. We therefore examined a single model taxonomic group, the penguins (Spheniscidae), to explore how marine species and communities might be at…Read more on Pollution, habitat loss, fishing and climate change as critical threats to penguins
1 February, 2015 by Richard Phillips
The marine ecosystems of the Bering Sea and adjacent southern Chukchi Sea are experiencing rapid changes due to recent reductions in sea ice. Short-tailed shearwaters Puffinus tenuirostris visit this region…1 February, 2015 by David Pearce, Katrin Linse
We analyzed the diversity of bacterial epibionts and trophic ecology of a new species of Kiwa yeti crab discovered at two hydrothermal vent fields (E2 and E9) on the East…30 January, 2015 by Joakim Kjellsson
Incoming and outgoing solar radiation couple with heat exchange at Earth’s surface to drive weather patterns that redistribute heat and moisture around the globe, creating an atmospheric heat engine. Here,…Read more on Constrained work output of the moist atmospheric heat engine in a warming climate
30 January, 2015 by Andrew Orr, Howard Roscoe, Scott Hosking
An important source of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs), which play a crucial role in controlling polar stratospheric ozone depletion, is from the temperature fluctuations induced by mountain waves. However, this…21 January, 2015
Background: The Kenyan Ministry of Health and partners implemented a community-based integrated prevention campaign (IPC) in Western Kenya in 2008. The aim of this study was to determine whether the…16 January, 2015 by Howard Roscoe
Equivalent effective stratospheric chlorine (EESC) construct of ozone regression models attributes ozone changes to EESC changes using a single value of the sensitivity of ozone to EESC over the whole…Read more on A cautionary note on the use of EESC-based regression analysis for ozone trend studies
15 January, 2015 by Alistair Crame, Jane Francis
Fossil hydrocarbon seeps are present in latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) volcaniclastic shallow shelf sediments exposed on Snow Hill and Seymour Islands, James Ross Basin, Antarctica. The seeps occur in the Snow…15 January, 2015 by Alistair Crame, Jane Francis, Vanessa Bowman
One of the most expanded records to contain the final fortunes of ammonoid cephalopods is within the López de Bertodano Formation of Seymour Island, James Ross Basin, Antarctica. Located at…13 January, 2015 by Andrew Meijers, Povl Abrahamsen, Hugh Venables, Michael Meredith
The waters of the Weddell-Scotia Confluence (WSC) lie above the rugged topography of the South Scotia Ridge in the Southern Ocean. Meridional exchanges across the WSC transfer water and tracers…9 January, 2015 by Richard Phillips
Age-related variation in demographic rates is now widely documented in wild vertebrate systems, and has significant consequences for population and evolutionary dynamics. However, the mechanisms underpinning such variation, particularly in…1 January, 2015 by Iain Staniland, Norman Ratcliffe
Foraging site fidelity has profound consequences for individual fitness, population processes and the effectiveness of species conservation measures. Accordingly, quantifying site fidelity has become increasingly important in animal movement and…Read more on Winter foraging site fidelity of king penguins breeding at the Falkland Islands
1 January, 2015 by Emma Cross, Lloyd Peck
Marine calcifiers are amongst the most vulnerable organisms to ocean acidification due to reduction in the availability of carbonate ions for skeletal/shell deposition. However, there are limited long-term studies on…1 January, 2015 by Jeremy Wilkinson
Traditional measures for detecting oil spills in the open-ocean are both difficult to apply and less effective in ice-covered seas. In view of the increasing levels of commercial activity in…Read more on Detection and quantification of oil under sea ice: the view from below
1 January, 2015 by Jeremy Wilkinson
Recent decreases in summer sea ice cover are spurring interest in hydrocarbon extraction and shipping in Arctic waters, increasing the risk of an oil spill in ice covered waters. With…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…