1 July, 2013 by Lloyd Peck, Michael Thorne, Melody Clark
Future oceans are predicted to contain less oxygen than at present. This is because oxygen is less soluble in warmer water and predicted stratification will reduce mixing. Hypoxia in marine…Read more on Hypoxia impacts large adults first: consequences in a warming world
1 July, 2013 by Markus Frey
Here we report the measurement of the comprehensive isotopic composition (δ15N, Δ17O and δ18O) of nitrate at the air–snow interface at Dome C, Antarctica (DC, 75°06' S, 123°19' E), and…1 July, 2013 by Huw Griffiths, Katrin Linse, Mark Belchier, Rowan Whittle, Stephen Roberts
Recent scientific interest following the “discovery” of lithodid crabs around Antarctica has centred on a hypothesis that these crabs might be poised to invade the Antarctic shelf if the recent…1 July, 2013 by Adrian Jenkins, Paul Holland, Satoshi Kimura
Several different classes of ocean model are capable of representing floating glacial ice shelves. We describe the incorporation of ice shelves into Fluidity-ICOM, a nonhydrostatic finite-element ocean model with the…1 July, 2013 by Jonathan Kingslake
We explore a mathematical model that couples together a thermomechanically evolving subglacial channel, distributed cavity drainage, and basal sliding along a subglacial flood path fed by a jökulhlaup lake. It…Read more on Modelling the coupling of flood discharge with glacier flow during jökulhlaups
1 July, 2013 by Andrew Orr, Gareth Marshall, John Turner
The scientific literature portrays a temporally invariant spatial relationship between the phase of the southern annular mode (SAM) and the sign of surface air temperature (SAT) anomalies across Antarctica. However,…1 July, 2013 by Hilmar Gudmundsson, Richard Hindmarsh, Richard Hindmarsh
Predictions of marine ice-sheet behaviour require models able to simulate grounding-line migration. We present results of an intercomparison experiment for plan-view marine ice-sheet models. Verification is effected by comparison with…1 July, 2013 by Peter Convey
During the austral summer of 2006–07, abundant Diptera were found in the sewage system of the Base Científica Antártica Artigas on King George Island. These are here identified as Trichocera…Read more on First record of Trichoceridae (Diptera) in the maritime Antarctic
1 July, 2013 by Peter Ward, Richard Phillips, Sally Thorpe
Shifts in the diet of top predators can be linked to changes in environmental conditions. In this study, we tested relationships between environmental variation and seasonal changes in diet of…28 June, 2013
The International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean (IBCSO) Version 1.0 is a new digital bathymetric model (DBM) portraying the seafloor of the circum-Antarctic waters south of 60° S. IBCSO…28 June, 2013 by Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne
The origin of plasmaspheric hiss, the electromagnetic emission responsible for the gap between the inner and outer radiation belts, has been debated for over four decades. Recently, a new theory…Read more on Global statistical evidence for chorus as the embryonic source of plasmaspheric hiss
26 June, 2013 by Mark Clilverd
The results of the first 18 months of the PLASMON project are presented. We have extended our three, existing ground-based measuring networks, AWDANet (VLF/whistlers), EMMA/SANSA (ULF/FLRs), and AARDDVARK (VLF/perturbations on…Read more on The plasmasphere during a space weather event: first results from the PLASMON project
26 June, 2013 by Terri Souster, Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark, Terri Souster
Juvenile stages are often thought to be less resistant to thermal challenges than adults, yet few studies make direct comparisons using the same methods between different life history stages. We…19 June, 2013 by Andrew Clarke
There is no generally accepted value for the lower temperature limit for life on Earth. We present empirical evidence that free-living microbial cells cooling in the presence of external ice…19 June, 2013 by Eric Wolff
Although the Arctic occupies less than 5% of the Earth's surface, it includes some of the strongest positive feedbacks in the climate system. Reconstructing the climate history of the Quaternary…Read more on Paleoclimate, Paleoclimate history of the Arctic
19 June, 2013 by Robert Mulvaney
Electrical measurements of ice cores are used to obtain high time resolution records of past climate. The electrical conductivity method is sensitive to the acidity of the ice. The dielectric…17 June, 2013 by Fausto Ferraccioli, Hugh Corr, Peter Fretwell, Tom Jordan
The Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains are regarded as a key nucleation site for the Antarctic Ice Sheet and they retain a unique long-term record of pre-glacial and early glacial landscape evolution.…15 June, 2013 by Andrew Orr, Gareth Marshall, Scott Hosking, John Turner, Tony Phillips
We develop a climatology of the Amundsen Sea low (ASL) covering the period 1979–2008 using ECMWF operational and reanalysis fields. The depth of the ASL is strongly influenced by the…13 June, 2013 by Adrian Jenkins, Deb Shoosmith
The glaciers draining into the Amundsen Sea Embayment are rapidly losing mass, making a significant contribution to current sea level rise. Studies of Pine Island Glacier (PIG) in this region…Read more on Oceanographic observations at the shelf break of the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica
12 June, 2013 by Michael Thorne, Melody Clark
An articulated endoskeleton that is calcified is a unifying innovation of the vertebrates, however the molecular basis of the structural divergence between terrestrial and aquatic vertebrates, such as teleost fish,…10 June, 2013 by David Newnham
This paper presents mesospheric carbon monoxide (CO) data acquired by the ground-based microwave radiometer of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS radiometer) stationed at Troll station in Antarctica (72° S, 2.5°…1 June, 2013 by Dominic Hodgson, Stephen Roberts
Despite the dominance of cyanobacteria in polar freshwater aquatic ecosystems, little is known about their past biodiversity and response to climate and environmental changes. We explored the use of light…Read more on Late Holocene changes in cyanobacterial community structure in maritime Antarctic lakes
1 June, 2013 by Hugh Venables, Michael Meredith
In the western Antarctic Peninsula region, micronutrient injection facilitates strong plankton blooms that support productive food webs, unlike large areas of the low-productivity Southern Ocean.We use naturally occurring radioisotopes of…1 June, 2013 by Alistair Crame
Small chorate dinoflagellate cysts are common in Upper Cretaceous to Quaternary sedimentary successions around the Antarctic margin. Taxonomic confusion surrounding dinoflagellate cysts and acritarchs of similar morphology throughout the southern…1 June, 2013 by Peter Convey
Current meta-community theories postulate that the structure of local communities depends on dispersal, environmental filtering, and biotic interactions. However, disentangling the relative effects of these factors in the field and…1 June, 2013 by Richard Phillips
Carry-over effects relate to events or processes that influence individual performance in a subsequent season, but their occurrence in the annual cycle of migratory avian taxa is seldom studied. We…1 June, 2013 by Richard Phillips
Moult entails costs related to the acquisition of energy and nutrients necessary for feather synthesis, as well as the impact of reduced flight performance induced by gaps in the wing…1 June, 2013 by Michael Meredith
Four repeat hydrographic sections across the eastern Weddell gyre at 30°E reveal a warming (by ~0.1°C) and lightening (by ~0.02–0.03 kg m−3) of the Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) entering the…Read more on Remotely induced warming of Antarctic Bottom Water in the eastern Weddell gyre
1 June, 2013 by Hilmar Gudmundsson, Hugh Corr
An interpolated bedrock topography is presented for Flask Glacier, one of the tributaries of the remnant part of the Larsen B ice shelf, Antarctic Peninsula. The ice thickness distribution is…1 June, 2013 by Richard Phillips
Aim Extensive development of human activities in combination with ocean warming is rapidly modifying marine habitats in the Arctic and North Atlantic regions. To understand the potential impacts on marine…1 June, 2013 by Peter Fretwell, Simeon Hill, Susie Grant
Systematic conservation planning for developing marine spatial protection includes analysis of the spatial distribution of fishing activities, existing management and ecological characteristics. This paper assesses the overlap between habitat (bioregion),…1 June, 2013 by Mervyn Freeman, Tracy Moffat-Griffin
Progress in the science of weather – on Earth and in space – depends on understanding the whole of the atmosphere, from the surface of the Earth into space. Tracy…Read more on From atmosphere to space: a new scientific frontier
1 June, 2013 by Katrin Linse
Iheyaspira bathycodon sp. nov. is described from the Von Damm Vent Field on the world's deepest spreading centre, the Mid-Cayman Spreading Centre (MCSC), Caribbean, at 2300 m depth. The new…1 June, 2013
Deriving glacier outlines from satellite data has become increasingly popular in the past decade. In particular when glacier outlines are used as a base for change assessment, it is important…Read more on On the accuracy of glacier outlines derived from remote-sensing data
1 June, 2013 by Alex Brisbourne
A passive seismology experiment was conducted across the main overdeepening of Storglaciaren in the Tarfala valley, northern Sweden, to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of basal microseismic waveforms in…1 June, 2013
The global positioning system (GPS) phase scintillation caused by high-latitude ionospheric irregularities during an intense high-speed stream (HSS) of the solar wind from April 29 to May 5, 2011, was…1 June, 2013 by Katrin Linse
The hydrothermal vents on the East Scotia Ridge are the first to be explored in the Antarctic and are dominated by large peltospiroid gastropods, stalked barnacles (Vulcanolepas sp.) and anomuran…1 June, 2013 by Dominic Hodgson
A lack of quantitative high resolution paleoclimate data from the Southern Hemisphere limits the ability to examine current trends within the context of long-term natural climate variability. This study presents…Read more on A 950 yr temperature reconstruction from Duckhole Lake, southern Tasmania, Australia
1 June, 2013 by Michael Meredith
The spatial distribution of turbulent dissipation rates and internal wave field characteristics is analysed across two contrasting regimes of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), using microstructure and finestructure data collected…1 June, 2013 by Michael Thorne, Melody Clark
The proteome can be regarded as a molecular phenotype, as changes in protein expression patterns have a direct effect on organismal physiology and fitness. The analysis of the proteome can…Read more on Proteome response to heat stress in the Antarctic clam Laternula elliptica
1 June, 2013 by Zhaomin Wang
In order to estimate biogeophysical effects of historical land cover change on climate during last three centuries, a set of experiments with a climate system model of intermediate complexity (MPM-2)…Read more on Simulation of the influence of historical land cover changes on the global climate
1 June, 2013 by Simeon Hill
Decision-makers charged with implementing ecosystem-based management (EBM) rely on scientists to predict the consequences of decisions relating to multiple, potentially conflicting, objectives. Such predictions are inherently uncertain, and this can…1 June, 2013 by Richard Horne
Electron cyclotron harmonic (ECH) waves have long been considered a potential driver of diffuse aurora in Earth's magnetotail. However, the scarcity of intense ECH emissions in the outer magnetotail suggests…Read more on Quasi-steady, marginally unstable electron cyclotron harmonic wave amplitudes
1 June, 2013 by Ingrid Cnossen
The daily amplitude of the solar quiet (Sq) magnetic variation of the horizontal intensity, H, of observatories at low and midlatitudes is analyzed, in search of significant long-term trends. These…28 May, 2013
Climate sensitivity is commonly taken to refer to the equilibrium change in the annual mean global surface temperature following a doubling of the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration. Evaluating this variable…28 May, 2013
Society is increasingly impacted by natural hazards which cause significant damage in economic and human terms. Many of these natural hazards are weather and climate related. Here, we show that…Read more on Persistent regimes and extreme events of the North Atlantic atmospheric circulation
28 May, 2013 by David Vaughan
We use satellite observations to show that, between 1992 and 2011, the Pine Island Glacier hinge line retreated at a rate of 0.95 ± 0.09 km yr−1 despite a progressive steepening and…27 May, 2013 by Hua Lu, Tony Phillips
We provide statistical evidence of the effect of the solar wind dynamic pressure (Psw) on the northern winter and spring circulations. We find that the vertical structure of the Northern…21 May, 2013 by Elisabeth Biersma, Richard Phillips
The Long-tailed Skua, a small (15 May, 2013
The composition of marine ecosystems is determined by spatial and temporal patterns of global biogeochemical cycles. Shifts in marine ecosystem composition driven by changes in climate can in turn affect…Read more on Rapid climatic driven shifts of diatoms at high latitudes
15 May, 2013 by Claire Allen, Dominic Hodgson, James Smith, Stephen Roberts
The Antarctic Peninsula is one of the fastest-warming regions on Earth, but its palaeoenvironmental history south of 63° latitude is relatively poorly documented, relying principally on the marine geological record…15 May, 2013 by Eric Wolff, Louise Sime
Changes in the strength and position of Southern Hemisphere westerly winds during the Last Glacial cycle have been invoked to explain both millennial and glacial–interglacial climate fluctuations. However, neither paleo…14 May, 2013 by Andrew Clarke, Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark
Understanding the relationship between life-history variation and population structure in marine invertebrates is not straightforward. This is particularly true of polar species due to the difficulty of obtaining samples and…7 May, 2013 by Norman Ratcliffe
The Falkland Islands currently supports one of the largest Southern Rockhopper Penguin (Eudyptes c. chrysocome) populations. Archipelago-wide censuses conducted in 2000 and 2005 revealed that the number of breeding pairs…2 May, 2013 by Emilie Capron, Robert Mulvaney
Correct estimation of the firn lock-in depth is essential for correctly linking gas and ice chronologies in ice core studies. Here, two approaches to constrain the firn depth evolution in…1 May, 2013 by Richard Phillips
Understanding the behaviour of animals in the wild is fundamental to conservation efforts. Advances in bio-logging technologies have offered insights into the behaviour of animals during foraging, migration and social…1 May, 2013 by Emilie Capron, Eric Wolff, Louise Sime
Measurements of Last Interglacial stable water isotopes in ice cores show that central Greenland d18O increased by at least 3& compared to present day. Attempting to quantify the Greenland interglacial…1 May, 2013 by Eric Wolff, Robert Mulvaney
Over the past 50 years, warming of the Antarctic Peninsula has been accompanied by accelerating glacier mass loss and the retreat and collapse of ice shelves. A key driver of…1 May, 2013 by Robert Mulvaney
Past global climate changes had strong regional expression. To elucidate their spatio-temporal pattern, we reconstructed past temperatures for seven continental-scale regions during the past one to two millennia. The most…Read more on Continental-scale temperature variability during the past two millennia
1 May, 2013 by Richard Phillips
Arctic Terns Sterna paradisaea have an exceptionally long-distance migration, annually travelling back and forth between the Arctic and the Antarctic. Birds from Greenland, Iceland and the USA were recently found…1 May, 2013 by Andrew Wood, Richard Phillips
The processes driving age-related variation in demographic rates are central to understanding population and evolutionary ecology. An increasing number of studies in wild vertebrates find evidence for improvements in reproductive…1 May, 2013 by Andy Smith, Hamish Pritchard
Ice streams provide major drainage pathways for the Antarctic ice sheet. The stress distribution and style of flow in such ice streams produce elastic and rheological anisotropy, which informs ice-flow…1 May, 2013 by Richard Phillips
The time seabirds have to forage is restricted while breeding, as time at sea must be balanced against the need to take turns with the partner protecting the nest site…1 May, 2013 by David Pearce
The relationship between surface-derived particulate organic matter (POM) and deep-sea sediment bacterial abundance, community structure and composition was investigated in two different sediment layers from two zones of contrasting surface…1 May, 2013
It is widely acknowledged that in the terrestrial Antarctic, interspecific interactions are typically unimportant in determining species distributions and community structure. Therefore, correlative models should prove useful for predicting current…1 May, 2013 by Paul Holland
The Antarctic continental shelf seas feature a bimodal distribution of water mass temperature, with the Amundsen and Bellingshausen Seas flooded by Circumpolar Deep Water that is several degrees Celsius warmer…Read more on Impact of atmospheric forcing on Antarctic continental shelf water masses
1 May, 2013 by Philip Trathan
Albatrosses are known to expend only a small amount of energy during flight. The low energy cost of albatross flight has been attributed to energy-efficient gliding (soaring) with sporadic flapping,…1 May, 2013 by Emily Shuckburgh
Stretching back to Scott's doomed Terra Nova expedition, the enigmatic polar regions have long been a source of fascination for explorers and scientists alike. Today the polar regions remain a…1 May, 2013 by Andrew Clarke, Hugh Venables, Michael Meredith
We report results collected year-round since 1998 in northern Marguerite Bay, just inside the Antarctic Circle. The magnitude of the spring phytoplankton bloom is much reduced following winters with reduced…1 May, 2013 by Andrew Clarke, Michael Meredith
A study was carried out to assess primary production and associated export flux in the coastal waters of the western Antarctic Peninsula at an oceanographic time-series site. New, i.e., exportable,…1 May, 2013 by Emily Shuckburgh
The overturning circulation of the Southern Ocean has been investigated using eddying coupled ocean–sea ice models. The circulation is diagnosed in both density–latitude coordinates and in depth–density coordinates. Depth–density coordinates…30 April, 2013 by Richard Phillips
The principle of competitive exclusion postulates that ecologically-similar species are expected to partition their use of resources, leading to niche divergence. The most likely mechanisms allowing such coexistence are considered…22 April, 2013 by Chester Sands, David Barnes, Huw Griffiths, Katrin Linse, Paul Geissler, Peter Enderlein
Information regarding the molluscs in this dataset is based on the epibenthic sledge (EBS) samples collected during the cruise BIOPEARL II / JR179 RRS James Clark Ross in the austral…Read more on Amundsen Sea Mollusca from the BIOPEARL II expedition
20 April, 2013 by Andrew Clarke
The marine environment is known to be a source of CHBr3 and CH2Br2 and hence ozone-depleting inorganic bromine to the troposphere but, to date, the dominant processes controlling their concentrations…11 April, 2013 by Damien Guihen, Eugene Murphy, Sophie Fielding
The GENTOO project aims to investigate the potential for undersea gliders to make high resolution temporal and spatial biological and physical observations of ocean currents and krill distribution to the…Read more on Acoustic detection of krill from an undersea glider
11 April, 2013 by Philip Trathan
This project is intended to build time series of E. superba abundance and demography patterns related to hydrography and abundance and distribution patterns of E. superba predators, in the South…Read more on Studies of Antarctic krill, krill predators and trawl gear at South Orkney Islands
5 April, 2013 by Deb Shoosmith
We present estimates of mixed-layer net community oxygen production (N) and gross oxygen production (G) of the Bellingshausen Sea in March and April 2007. N was derived from oxygen-to-argon (O2/Ar)…4 April, 2013 by Hilmar Gudmundsson
Ice-shelf buttressing and the stability of marine-type ice sheets are investigated numerically. Buttressing effects are analysed for a situation where a stable grounding line is located on a bed sloping…Read more on Ice-shelf buttressing and the stability of marine ice sheets
4 April, 2013
A well-documented, publicly available, global data set of surface ocean carbon dioxide (CO2) parameters has been called for by international groups for nearly two decades. The Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas…Read more on A uniform, quality controlled Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas (SOCAT)
3 April, 2013 by Pierre Mathiot
From 10 to 8 ka BP (thousand years before present), paleoclimate records show an atmospheric and oceanic cooling in the high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere. During this interval, temperatures…3 April, 2013
As a response to public demand for a well-documented, quality controlled, publically available, global surface ocean carbon dioxide (CO2) data set, the international marine carbon science community developed the Surface…Read more on Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas (SOCAT) gridded data products
1 April, 2013 by Rosie Williams, Robert Arthern, Richard Hindmarsh, Richard Hindmarsh
The contribution to sea level to 2200 from the grounded, mainland Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet (APIS) was calculated using an ice sheet model initialized with a new technique computing ice…1 April, 2013 by Kevin Hughes
Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island, was one of the first sites in Antarctica designated for environmental conservation and scientific protection. Research on Byers Peninsula has been predominantly international, with 88 indexed…1 April, 2013 by Richard Phillips
We studied the long-distance migration of Lesser Black-backed Gulls Larus fuscus fuscus breeding in northern Norway along their eastern flyway using geolocators in 2009 and 2010. The majority of birds…1 April, 2013
We propose a novel method to investigate the statistical significance of trends of extreme values in serially correlated time series based on quantile regression and surrogate data. This method has…1 April, 2013
This study examines the daily observed temperature at the Faraday/Vernadsky station in the Antarctic Peninsula for the period February 1947 through January 2011. Faraday/Vernadsky is experiencing a significant warming trend…