1 January, 2014
Improvements in our ability to model runoff from glaciers remain an important scientific goal. This paper describes a new temperature-radiation-index glacier melt model specifically enhanced for use in High-Arctic environments,…1 January, 2014 by Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark, Simon Morley
Antarctic marine species have evolved in one of the coldest and most temperature-stable marine environments on Earth. They have long been classified as being stenothermal, or having a poor capacity…Read more on Acclimation and thermal tolerance in Antarctic marine ectotherms
1 January, 2014 by Philip Trathan
Technical progress in animal-borne tracking and movement data analysis has facilitated the understanding of the interplay between successive periods in the life cycle of migratory animals. We investigated how sex…1 January, 2014 by Elisabeth Biersma, Peter Convey
Arctic terrestrial ecosystems are generally considered to be species poor, fragile and often isolated. Nonetheless, their intricate complexity, especially that of the invertebrate component, is beginning to emerge. Attention has…1 January, 2014 by Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
The flux of relativistic electrons in the Earth's radiation belts is highly variable and can change by orders of magnitude on timescales of a few hours. Understanding the drivers for…1 January, 2014 by David Vaughan
Since the 1970s, the sudden, rapid collapse of 20% of ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula has led to large-scale thinning and acceleration of its tributary glaciers. The leading hypothesis…Read more on Firn air depletion as a precursor of Antarctic ice-shelf collapse
1 January, 2014 by Clara Manno
The timing of vertical migration in planktonic foraminifera (ex. ontogenetic, diel) is still an open debate. This work aims to investigate the diel vertical migration (DVM) of Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (N.…1 January, 2014 by Carlos Martin Garcia, Ed King, Hilmar Gudmundsson
Flow at ice divides, their shape, size and internal structure depend not only on local conditions, but also on the flow regimes and past histories of the surrounding ice masses.…1 January, 2014 by Fausto Ferraccioli, Hugh Corr, Tom Jordan
Antarctic subglacial highlands are where the Antarctic ice sheets first developed and the “pinning points” where retreat phases of the marine-based sectors of the ice sheet are impeded. Due to…1 January, 2014 by Louise Ireland
Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) were sampled in contrasting habitats: a seasonally ice-covered deep ocean (Lazarev Sea), ice-free shelves at their northern range (South Georgia) and the Antarctic Peninsula (Bransfield Strait),…1 January, 2014 by Lloyd Peck
This paper presents the output of our fifth annual horizon-scanning exercise, which aims to identify topics that increasingly may affect conservation of biological diversity, but have yet to be widely…Read more on A horizon scan of global conservation issues for 2014
1 January, 2014 by Geraint Tarling, Peter Ward, Sally Thorpe
Mesozooplankton samples taken during the Discovery Investigations in the Southern Ocean in the 1930’s were analysed from a series of 5 transects along 80oW. The samples provide a unique level…1 January, 2014 by Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark, Simon Morley
Metabolic rate is a key component of energy budgets that scales with body size and varies with large-scale environmental geographical patterns. Here we conduct an analysis of standard metabolic rates…1 January, 2014 by Huw Griffiths, Alistair Crame, Katrin Linse, Rowan Whittle
The fossil community from the Early Miocene Cape Melville Formation (King George Island, Antarctica) does not show the archaic retrograde nature of modern Antarctic marine communities, despite evidence, such as…1 January, 2014
The Polar Regions play an important role in the global processes of our planet, from climate change to sea level rise, protection from UV (ultraviolet) radiation to uptake of carbon…Read more on Education and polar research: bringing polar science into the classroom
1 January, 2014 by Kevin Newsham
Antarctica is not a single ecological model. Substantial differences in the temperature, precipitation (which combine to affect the available water) and radiation determine the distribution and the habit of primary…Read more on Primary production and links to carbon cycling in Antarctic soils
1 January, 2014
Deep-sea” cephalopods are here defined as cephalopods that spend a significant part of their life cycles outside the euphotic zone. In this chapter, the state of knowledge in several aspects…1 January, 2014 by Kevin Hughes
Antarctic terrestrial habitats are vulnerable to impacts resulting from global and local human activities. Global activities have resulted in climate change affecting parts of Antarctica, stratospheric ozone depletion over the…1 January, 2014 by Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey
Globally, many thousands of species have been redistributed beyond their natural dispersal ranges as a result of human activities. The introduction of non-native species can have severe consequences for indigenous…1 January, 2014 by Thomas Millgate
Ice shelves play an important role in the mass balance of an ice sheet, by providing a link between the ocean and ice. Melting at the base of an ice…1 January, 2014 by Michael Dunn, Norman Ratcliffe, Philip Trathan, Stacey Adlard
We present a design for a simple, inexpensive leg band for mounting GLS tags on penguins. It causes a low level of injury and can be made from materials and…Read more on A leg-band for mounting geolocator tags on penguins
1 January, 2014 by Paul Rodhouse
Cephalopods are a relatively small class of molluscs (~ 800 species), but they support some large industrial scale fisheries and numerous small-scale, local, artisanal fisheries. For several decades, landings of…Read more on Environmental effects on cephalopod population dynamics
1 January, 2014 by Dominic Hodgson, Peter Convey
The Antarctic Peninsula is one of the most rapidly warming regions on Earth, with air temperature increases of as much as 3°C recorded since the 1950s. However, the longer-term context…1 January, 2014 by Kevin Hughes
The scope and intensity of human activity in the Antarctic region has changed considerably over the past 100 years, resulting in significant modifications to the Antarctic environment and its ecosystems,…1 January, 2014 by David Barnes, Iain Staniland, Mark Belchier, Philip Trathan, Susie Grant
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) are surrounded by oceans that are species-rich, have high levels of biodiversity, important endemism and which also support large aggregations of charismatic…1 January, 2014 by Jonathan Shanklin
We review the 2012 Antarctic ozone hole, making use of various meteorological reanalyses, remotely sensed ozone measurements and ground-based measurements of ultra-violet radiation. Based on analysis of 33 years of…1 January, 2014 by Jonathan Shanklin
The Antarctic ozone hole of 2011 is reviewed from a variety of perspectives, making use of various data and analyses. The ozone hole of 2011 was relatively large in terms…1 January, 2014
Little is known of the endangered and declining western North Atlantic population of the Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii outside the breeding season, when most mortality probably occurs. We used geolocators…17 December, 2013 by Chester Sands
Phylogeographic studies provide a framework for understanding the importance of intrinsic versus extrinsic factors in shaping patterns of biodiversity through identifying past and present microevolutionary processes that contributed to lineage…17 December, 2013
During the heroic age of Antarctic exploration, general anaesthesia was given on at least 11 occasions. This paper describes some of the surgery procedures performed, including on the doctors themselvesRead more on Surgery and anaesthesia during the heroic age of Antarctic exploration (1895-1922)
16 December, 2013 by Eric Wolff
Earth system models are increasing in complexity and incorporating more processes than their predecessors, making them important tools for studying the global carbon cycle. However, their coupled behaviour has only…16 December, 2013 by Keith Nicholls
Over the last decade, several hundred seals have been equipped with conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sensors in the Southern Ocean for both biological and physical oceanographic studies. A calibrated collection of seal-derived…16 December, 2013 by Anna Jones
HCHO was monitored throughout the year 2009 at the coastal East Antarctic site of Dumont d'Urville (DDU) using Aerolaser AL-4021 analyzers. The accurate determination of less than 100 pptv required…9 December, 2013 by Jennifer Jackson, Katrin Linse
A new deep-sea stalked barnacle, Vulcanolepas scotiaensis sp. nov. is described from hydrothermal vents at depths of 2400–2600 metres along segments of the East Scotia Ridge and from 1400 metres…9 December, 2013 by Mark Clilverd
The energy spectra of energetic electron precipitation from the radiation belts are studied in order to improve our understanding of the influence of radiation belt processes. The Detection of Electromagnetic…7 December, 2013 by Simon Morley
Species with broader geographical ranges are expected to be ecological generalists, while species with higher heat tolerances may be relatively competitive at more extreme and increasing temperatures. Thus, both traits…Read more on Geographical range, heat tolerance and invasion success in aquatic species
6 December, 2013 by Pierre Mathiot
The mid-Holocene (6 kyr BP; thousand years before present) is a key period to study the consistency between model results and proxy-based reconstruction data as it corresponds to a standard…1 December, 2013 by Peter Convey
This paper presents the results of a biodiversity study of microfungi in ornithogenic soils from Beaufort Island (Ross Sea, continental Antarctic). During the 2004/05 austral summer, we sampled a wide…1 December, 2013 by Adrian Jenkins, Deb Shoosmith, Keith Nicholls
The presence of warm Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) intrusions on the Amundsen continental shelf has been linked to recent thinning of the outlet glaciers draining the West Antarctic ice sheet…1 December, 2013 by Jane Francis, Vanessa Bowman
The Late Cretaceous is considered to have been a time of greenhouse climates, although evidence from Maastrichtian sediments for rapid and significant sea-level changes suggests that ice sheets were growing…1 December, 2013 by Huw Griffiths
The geographical coverage of a comprehensive dataset on Antarctic macrobenthic communities is provided for the first time. Since the sampling methods applied since the 1950s vary considerably, a robust analysis…Read more on Circumpolar overview and spatial heterogeneity of Antarctic macrobenthic communities
1 December, 2013 by Keith Nicholls
Marine ice is an important factor in ice shelf stability. An extensive marine ice layer is present under the Amery Ice Shelf (AIS), East Antarctica. This paper documents observations on…1 December, 2013 by Simeon Hill
The goals of ecosystem based management (EBM) are strategically ambiguous, meaning that they require interpretation to identify objectives for ecosystem state. Ecosystem states that are useful for achieving such objectives…1 December, 2013 by Adrian Jenkins, Paul Holland, Thomas Millgate
The presence of ice shelf basal channels has been noted in a number of Antarctic and Greenland ice shelves, but their impact on basal melting is not fully understood. Here…Read more on The effect of basal channels on oceanic ice-shelf melting
1 December, 2013 by David Newnham, David Maxfield, Mark Clilverd, Richard Horne
We report ground-based measurements of the polar middle atmosphere made using a 230-250 GHz passive microwave radiometer deployed at Troll station (72°01’S 02°32’E, L-shell of L = 4.8), Antarctica. Our observations show enhanced…1 December, 2013 by Deborah Pardo
Sex differences in lifespan and aging are widespread among animals. Since investment in current reproduction can have consequences on other life-history traits, the sex with the highest cost of breeding…Read more on Females better face senescence in the wandering albatross
1 December, 2013 by Povl Abrahamsen
This synthesis study assesses recent changes of Arctic Ocean physical parameters using a unique collection of observations from the 2000s and places them in the context of long-term climate trends…Read more on Recent oceanic changes in the Arctic in the context of long-term observations
1 December, 2013 by Andrew Kavanagh, Mark Clilverd
Energetic Electron Precipitation (EEP) impacts the chemistry of the middle atmosphere with growing evidence of coupling to surface temperatures at high latitudes. To better understand this link it is essential…1 December, 2013 by Dominic Hodgson
Bathurst Harbour in World Heritage southwest Tasmania, Australia, is one of the world’s most pristine estuarine systems. At present there is a lack of data on pollution impacts or long-term…1 December, 2013 by Eric Wolff, Jane Francis, Robert Larter
The Geological Society published a Statement on 'Climate Change: Evidence from the Geological Record' in November 2010. In light of further research that has been published since then, the Geological…1 December, 2013 by Dominic Hodgson, Stephen Roberts
To fully understand the Holocene climatic variability in the sub-polar latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere and its driving mechanisms, like the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds, we undertook a multi-proxy analysis…Read more on A paleolimnological reconstruction of Holocene climate change in southern Patagonia
1 December, 2013 by David Pearce, Peter Convey
The Antarctic represents a largely untapped source for isolation of new microorganisms with potential to produce bioactive natural products. Actinomycetes are of special interest among such microorganisms as they are…29 November, 2013 by Richard Hindmarsh, Richard Hindmarsh
Fast-flowing glaciers and ice streams are pathways for ice discharge from the interior of the Antarctic Ice Sheet to ice shelves, at rates controlled by conditions at the ice-bed interface.…26 November, 2013 by Martin Miller
Lin et al. (1) claim to have discovered a positive 17O anomaly in water vapor from Alert, Canada, indicative of a component of stratospheric origin. However, their data (Tables S1−S5)…Read more on Oxygen isotope anomaly not present in water vapor from Alert, Canada
20 November, 2013 by Richard Phillips
Croxall et al. (2013; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 493:297-300) assert that fine-scale analysis of seabird-fisheries overlap, such as that presented in Torres et al. (2013; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 473:275-289),…20 November, 2013 by Gareth Marshall, Scott Hosking, John Turner, Tony Phillips
On 24 September 2012 the Antarctic sea ice extent (SIE) reached a new annual daily maximum (ADM) for the satellite era of 19.72 × 106 km2. The largest positive SIE anomalies compared to…11 November, 2013 by Jonathan Kingslake
We use the Shreve hydraulic potential equation as a simplified approach to investigate potential subglacial lake locations and meltwater drainage pathways beneath the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. We validate…8 November, 2013
For over the past 50 years the tag line for Antarctica has been "A continent for peace and science," leaving the rest of human activities rather adrift. Yes, there have…Read more on Review of Exploring Antarctic values, by Daniela Liggett & Alan D. Hemmings (2013)
5 November, 2013 by Mark Clilverd, Neil Cobbett
Data from two autonomous VLF radio receiver systems installed in a remote region of the Antarctic in 2012 is used to take advantage of the juxtaposition of the L = 4.6 contour,…5 November, 2013 by Eric Wolff, Michael Dinn, Robert Arthern, Richard Hindmarsh, Robert Mulvaney, Richard Hindmarsh
The recovery of a 1.5 million yr long ice core from Antarctica represents a keystone of our understanding of Quaternary climate, the progression of glaciation over this time period and…Read more on Where to find 1.5 million yr old ice for the IPICS “Oldest-Ice” ice core
1 November, 2013 by Eric Wolff
Sea ice plays an important role in Earth's climate system. The lack of direct indications of past sea ice coverage, however, means that there is limited knowledge of the sensitivity…Read more on A review of sea ice proxy information from polar ice cores
1 November, 2013 by Claire Allen, Dominic Hodgson
Antarctic sea-ice plays a primary role in the climate system, potentially modulating interhemispheric millennial-scale climate change and deglacial warming. Recently, microfossil proxy data have provided important insights into this potential…1 November, 2013 by Richard Phillips
Life-history theory predicts that costs are associated with reproduction. One possible mediator of costs involves the secretion of glucocorticoid hormones, which in birds can be measured in feathers grown during…Read more on Corticosterone mediated costs of reproduction link current to future breeding
1 November, 2013 by Eric Wolff
We argue that, while Milanković variations in solar radiation undoubtedly have a major influence on the timing of the Quaternary ice ages, they are partly incidental to their underlying causes.…1 November, 2013
Here we demonstrate the ability of stochastic reduced order models to predict the statistics of non-stationary systems undergoing critical transitions. First, we show that the reduced order models are able…Read more on Predictions of critical transitions with non-stationary reduced order models
1 November, 2013 by Keith Nicholls, Paul Holland
The exchange between the open ocean and sub-ice shelf cavities is important to both water mass transformations and ice shelf melting. Here we use a high-resolution (500 m) numerical model…Read more on Eddy-driven exchange between the open ocean and a sub-ice shelf cavity
1 November, 2013 by Richard Phillips
Miniature geolocator loggers (Global Location Sensing, GLS) that provide daily locations of birds have revolutionised the study of winter ecology and migration patterns of seabirds. A long-term study of ringing…1 November, 2013 by Jeremy Wilkinson
The understanding of sea ice mass balance processes requires continuous monitoring of the seasonal evolution of the ice thickness. While autonomous ice mass balance buoys (IMB buoys) deployed over the…1 November, 2013 by Philip Trathan
Long-lived animals sometimes skip one or more breeding seasons; however, little is known about their movements and activities during such ‘sabbatical’ periods. Here we present novel data on year-round movements…Read more on Movements and activities of male black-tailed gulls in breeding and sabbatical years
1 November, 2013 by Mark Clilverd
BARREL is a multiple-balloon investigation designed to study electron losses from Earth’s Radiation Belts. Selected as a NASA Living with a Star Mission of Opportunity, BARREL augments the Radiation Belt…Read more on The Balloon Array for RBSP Relativistic Electron Losses (BARREL)
1 November, 2013 by Katrin Linse
The ecology of Antarctic deep-sea fauna is poorly understood and few studies have gone beyond assessing biodiversity when comparing deep regions of the Southern Ocean. Protobranch bivalves are ubiquitous in…1 November, 2013 by Richard Phillips
The Tristan albatross Diomedea dabbanena is Critically Endangered: >99% of adults breed at Gough Island, central South Atlantic Ocean, where chicks are threatened by introduced predators. At sea they mostly…1 November, 2013 by Dominic Hodgson
The introduction and establishment of non-indigenous species through human activities often poses a major threat to natural biodiversity. In many parts of the world management efforts are therefore focused on…1 November, 2013 by Geraint Tarling, Ryan Saunders, Sally Thorpe, Sophie Fielding
In this paper, we describe the variation in myctophid schools characteristics at South Georgia using multi-frequency acoustic data collected annually between November 2007 and January 2012. We studied the relationship…Read more on School characteristics of mesopelagic fish at South Georgia
1 November, 2013
This paper presents new 500 year interval palaeogeographic models for Britain, Ireland and the North West French coast from 11000 cal. BP to present. These models are used to calculate…Read more on New models of North West European Holocene palaeogeography and inundation
1 November, 2013 by Dominic Hodgson
Biological responses to climate and environmental changes in remote polar regions are of increasing interest in global change research. Terrestrial and marine polar ecosystems have suffered from impacts of both…30 October, 2013 by Richard Phillips
Carryover effects have been documented in many migratory bird species, but we know little about the physiological mechanisms that mediate those effects. Here we show that the energetic, endocrine, and…28 October, 2013 by Andrew Meijers
1] Ocean observations around the Australian-Antarctic basin show the importance of coastal latent heat polynyas near the Mertz Glacier Tongue (MGT) to the formation of Dense Shelf Water (DSW) and…28 October, 2013 by Eric Wolff, John Turner, Liz Thomas, Thomas Bracegirdle
We present a new stable isotope record from Ellsworth Land which provides a valuable 308-year record (1702-2009) of climate variability from coastal West Antarctica. Climate variability at this site is…Read more on A 308-year record of climate variability in West Antarctica
22 October, 2013 by Pierre Mathiot
An assessment of the performance of a state-of-the-art large-scale coupled sea ice - ocean model, including a new snow multilayer thermodynamic scheme, is performed. Four 29-years-long simulations are compared against…Read more on On the formulation of snow thermal conductivity in large-scale sea ice models
21 October, 2013 by Norman Ratcliffe, Philip Trathan, Stacey Adlard
Intra-specific foraging niche partitioning can arise due to gender differences or individual specialisation in behaviour or prey selection. These may in turn be related to sexual size dimorphism or individual…20 October, 2013 by Emilie Capron
The end of the Last Glacial Maximum (Termination I), roughly 20 thousand years ago (ka), was marked by cooling in the Northern Hemisphere, a weakening of the Asian monsoon, a…Read more on Two-phase change in CO2, Antarctic temperature and global climate during Termination II
18 October, 2013 by Richard Horne
The Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP)-Energetic Particle, Composition, and Thermal Plasma (ECT) suite contains an innovative complement of particle instruments to ensure the highest quality measurements ever made in the…16 October, 2013 by Andrew Kavanagh, Steve Colwell, Tracy Moffat-Griffin
The gravity wave field in the lower stratosphere (between 15 km and 22 km altitude) above Mount Pleasant Airport (51°49’S, 58°26’W), on the Falkland Islands is studied using over 2100 high-resolution radiosonde…16 October, 2013 by Mark Clilverd
Observations have shown that mesospheric hydroxyl (OH) is affected by energetic electron precipitation (EEP) at magnetic latitudes connected to the outer radiation belt. It is not clear, however, if the…15 October, 2013 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith
Dynamical changes in contemporary ice sheets account for significant proportions of their current rates of mass loss, but assessing whether or not these processes are a natural part of ice-sheet…Read more on Glaciology and geological signature of the Last Glacial Maximum Antarctic ice sheet
15 October, 2013 by Michael Meredith, Paul Holland
Recent decadal changes in Southern Hemisphere climate have driven strong responses from the cryosphere. Concurrently, there has been a marked freshening of the shelf and bottom waters across a wide…Read more on Decadal freshening of the Antarctic Bottom Water exported from the Weddell Sea
15 October, 2013 by Paul Rodhouse
Southern Ocean squid are important predators and prey and are a potential fishery resource. Their future under climate change is analysed from predictions of change by 2100 and assessments of…15 October, 2013 by Hugh Corr, Jonathan Kingslake, Richard Hindmarsh, Richard Hindmarsh
Here we report Late Holocene ice sheet and grounding-line changes to the Weddell Sea sector of West Antarctica. Internal radio-echo layering within the Bungenstock Ice Rise, which comprises very slow-flowing…Read more on Late Holocene ice-flow reconfiguration in the Weddell sector of West Antarctica
7 October, 2013 by Huw Griffiths, Katrin Linse
Information regarding the molluscs in this dataset is based on the Rauschert dredge samples collected during the Latitudinal Gradient Program (LGP) on board the R/V “Italica” in the Ross Sea…6 October, 2013 by Adrian Jenkins, Fausto Ferraccioli, Hugh Corr, Tom Jordan
Meltwater generated beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet exerts a strong influence on the speed of ice flow, in particular for major ice streams1, 2. The subglacial meltwater also influences ocean…4 October, 2013 by Gareth Chisham, Mai Mai Lam, Mervyn Freeman
The existence of a meteorological response in the polar regions to fluctuations in the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) component By is well established. More controversially, there is evidence to suggest…Read more on The interplanetary magnetic field influences mid-latitude surface atmospheric pressure
2 October, 2013 by Eugene Murphy
Human societies, and their well-being, depend to a significant extent on the state of the ecosystems that surround them. These ecosystems are changing rapidly usually in response to anthropogenic changes…2 October, 2013 by Richard Phillips
As apex marine predators, seabirds are often sampled to monitor bioaccumulative persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the marine environment. Despite the restrictions on use and production of many POPs, concern…