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
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…1 April, 2013 by Paul Holland
An array of five moorings was deployed from February 2009 to February 2010 across the Antarctic shelf and slope in the southeastern Weddell Sea (~18°W). Observations demonstrate the key processes…1 April, 2013
In the literature of the exploration of the Antarctic in the early 20th century, there are many references to ‘medical comforts’. While ‘medical comforts’ was sometimes used as a euphemism…Read more on Medical comforts during the heroic age of Antarctic exploration
1 April, 2013 by Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
Satellites can be damaged by high energy charged particles in the Earth's radiation belts and during solar energetic particle (SEP) events. Here we review the growing reliance on satellite services,…1 April, 2013 by Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
High-energy charged particles in the van Allen radiation belts and in solar energetic particle events can damage satellites on orbit leading to malfunctions and loss of satellite service. Here we…1 April, 2013
Descriptions of intra- and interspecific variation in migratory patterns of closely related species are rare yet valuable because they can help assess how differences in ecology and life-history strategies drive…1 April, 2013
Little is known about the timing of migration, migration routes, and migratory connectivity of most of the >230 species of birds that breed at south temperate latitudes of South America…Read more on Long-distance bird migration within South America revealed by light-level geolocators
1 April, 2013 by Pierre Mathiot
Sea ice variability in the Southern Ocean has a complex spatio-temporal structure. In a global warming context, the Antarctic sea ice cover has slightly expanded over the recent decades. This…1 April, 2013 by Kevin Hughes
Currently, a substantial proportion of Antarctic research is carried out through deployment of field camps, but little detailed information on the running of these facilities is often available. The remoteness…1 April, 2013 by Richard Phillips
Although the Yelkouan Shearwater Puffinus yelkouan is listed as near threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, with many populations in serious decline, there is little…Read more on Migration strategies of the Yelkouan Shearwater Puffinus yelkouan
1 April, 2013 by Andrew Meijers, Emily Shuckburgh, Jean-Baptiste Sallee, Thomas Bracegirdle
The development of the deep Southern Ocean winter mixed layer in the climate models participating in the fifth Coupled Models Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) is assessed. The deep winter convection regions…1 April, 2013 by Andrew Meijers, Emily Shuckburgh, Jean-Baptiste Sallee, Thomas Bracegirdle
The ability of the models contributing to the fifth Coupled Models Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) to represent the Southern Ocean hydrological properties and its overturning is investigated in a water mass…1 April, 2013 by Andy Smith, Fausto Ferraccioli, Tom Jordan
We interpret seismic reflection and airborne potential field data acquired on Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica and find variations in the subglacial geology which correlate with variations in ice dynamics.…1 April, 2013 by Geraint Tarling
The contribution of faecal pellet (FP) production by zooplankton to the downward flux of particulate organic carbon (POC) can vary from 70 m) occurred when diel VM took place. Simulated…Read more on Modelling the influence of copepod behaviour on faecal pellet export at high latitudes
1 April, 2013 by Katrin Linse
Recent expeditions have revealed high levels of biodiversity in the tropical deep-sea, yet little is known about the age or origin of this biodiversity, and large-scale molecular studies are still…30 March, 2013 by Thomas Bracegirdle
The observed acceleration of glaciers from West Antarctica into the Amundsen Sea is estimated to be contributing 6% to current sea-level rise with the estimated potential to add 0.24 m…30 March, 2013 by Michael Meredith
The Southern Ocean is fundamentally important to the Earth system, influencing global climate, biogeochemical and ecological cycles. Limited observations suggest the Southern Ocean is changing, yet chronic under-sampling makes the…Read more on The vision for a Southern Ocean Observing System
30 March, 2013 by Gareth Marshall, John Turner, Michael Meredith, Tony Phillips
Over 1979–2007 near-surface air temperatures on the maritime western side of the Antarctic Peninsula have increased throughout the year, with the greatest monthly temperature rise of 1.7 °C dec−1 occurring…29 March, 2013 by Deborah Pardo
In long-lived species only a fraction of a population breeds at a given time. Non-breeders can represent more than half of adult individuals, calling in doubt the relevance of estimating…16 March, 2013 by Hugh Venables, Michael Meredith
The lower limb of the Atlantic overturning circulation is renewed by dense waters from the Southern Ocean, a substantial portion of which flow through the Scotia Sea. We report dense…16 March, 2013 by Hua Lu, Mark Clilverd
We analyzed ERA-40 and ERA Interim meteorological re-analysis data for signatures of geomagnetic activity in zonal mean zonal wind, temperature, and Eliassen-Palm flux in the Northern Hemisphere extended winter (November–March).…15 March, 2013 by John Turner
The linkages between the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the sea ice extent (SIE) in the Weddell Sea (South Atlantic) and the Bellingshausen–Amundsen Sea (South-Eastern Pacific) sectors of the…15 March, 2013 by Peter Fretwell
This map presents the final outputs from the BEDMAp2 project as a double-sided poster map.It shows the new BEDMAP datasets of Antarctic ice thickness, surface height and bed elevation mapped…15 March, 2013 by Anna Jones, Eric Wolff, Markus Frey, Neil Brough
Atmospheric nitrogen oxides (NO and NO2) were observed at Dome C, East Antarctica (75.1° S, 123.3° E, 3233 m), for a total of 50 days, from 10 December 2009 to…15 March, 2013 by Eric Wolff, Louise Sime
The Southern Hemisphere (SH) westerly winds are thought to be critical to global ocean circulation, productivity, and carbon storage. For example, an equatorward shift in the winds, though its affect…1 March, 2013 by Hilmar Gudmundsson, Hugh Corr, Jan De Rydt
Full Stokes flow-line models predict that fast-flowing ice streams transmit information about their bedrock topography most efficiently to the surface for basal undulations with length scales between 1 and 20…Read more on Surface undulations of Antarctic ice streams tightly controlled by bedrock topography
1 March, 2013 by Richard Hindmarsh, Richard Hindmarsh
Marine ice-sheet stability is mostly controlled by the dynamics of the grounding line, i.e. the junction between the grounded ice sheet and the floating ice shelf. Grounding line migration has…Read more on Grounding line transient response in marine ice sheet models
1 March, 2013 by Robert Larter
Five quantitatively distinct gully types are identified on the Antarctic continental margin from swath bathymetric data of over 1100 individual features. The gullies differ in terms of length, width, depth,…1 March, 2013 by Peter Convey
We assessed culturable soil microfungal diversity in various habitats around Hornsund, Spitsbergen in the High Arctic, using potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium. Thermal growth classification of the fungi obtained was…Read more on Studies on diversity of soil microfungi in the Hornsund area, Spitsbergen
1 March, 2013 by David Vaughan, Scott Hosking
Multidecadal meteorological station records and microwave backscatter time-series from the SeaWinds scatterometer onboard QuikSCAT (QSCAT) were used to calculate temporal and spatial trends in surface melting conditions on the Antarctic…1 March, 2013
Polar regions have great sensitivity to climate forcing; however, understanding of the physical processes coupling the atmosphere and ocean in these regions is relatively poor. Improving our knowledge of high-latitude…Read more on High-latitude ocean and sea ice surface fluxes: Challenges for climate research
1 March, 2013 by Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark
Brittle stars are included within a whole range of species, which contribute to knowledge in the medically important area of tissue regeneration. All brittle stars regenerate lose limbs, but the…Read more on Transcriptome pyrosequencing of the Antarctic brittle star Ophionotus victoriae
1 March, 2013 by Richard Phillips
The ability to predict the distribution of threatened marine predators is essential to inform spatially explicit seascape management. We tracked 99 individual black-browed albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris from two Falkland Islands’…1 March, 2013 by Richard Phillips
Albatrosses are among the world’s most endangered seabirds. Th reats during the nonbreeding period have major impacts on their population dynamics, but for most species, detailed information on distribution and…1 March, 2013
Wave-current interactions play a major role in the dynamics of shallow tidal inlets. This study investigates these interactions at a natural inlet, with a strong focus on current-induced changes on…Read more on Wave-current interactions in a wave-dominated tidal inlet
1 March, 2013 by Carlos Martin Garcia
We present a comprehensive approach (including field data, remote sensing and an anisotropic ice-flow model) to characterize Halvfarryggen ice dome in coastal Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. This is a potential…1 March, 2013
During the heroic age of Antarctic exploration, there was much discussion on the role of alcohol. The explorers expected to be able to consume alcohol, and the expeditions were supported…Read more on Use and abuse of alcohol and other drugs during the heroic age of Antarctic exploration
1 March, 2013 by Peter Convey
Aim: Why are some species geographically restricted? Ecological explanations suggest that endemic species may have restricted distributions because limited phenotypic variability results in narrow niches. However, studying variability of traits…1 March, 2013 by Dominic Hodgson
We surveyed and dated the former shorelines of one lake in the Shackleton Range and two lakes in the Pensacola Mountains, situated inland of the Weddell Sea embayment Antarctica between…1 March, 2013 by Roger Worland
Differences in the level of cold acclimation and cryoprotection estimated as ice nucleation activity in snow algae (Chlamydomonas cf. nivalis and Chloromonas nivalis), lichen symbiotic algae (Trebouxia asymmetrica, Trebouxia erici…Read more on The ice nucleation activity of extremophilic algae
1 March, 2013 by Chester Sands, Elaine Fitzcharles, Jennifer Jackson, Katrin Linse
The phylogenetic relationships of seven Antarctic barnacle species, one verrucomorph and six scalpelliforms from the Scotia, Weddell and Ross seas were investigated using DNA sequences from two nuclear genes (18…Read more on Phylogenetic position of Antarctic scalpelliformes (Crustacea: Cirripedia: Thoracica)
1 March, 2013 by Andrew Clarke, Hugh Venables, Michael Meredith
Climate change west of the Antarctic Peninsula is the most rapid of anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere, with associated changes in the rates and distributions of freshwater inputs to the…Read more on The freshwater system west of the Antarctic Peninsula: spatial and temporal changes
1 March, 2013
Changes in the metastability of the Southern Hemisphere 500-hPa circulation are examined using both cluster analysis techniques and split-flow blocking indices. The cluster methodology is a purely data-driven approach for…1 March, 2013 by Richard Phillips
Aim: Pelagic seabirds exploit large areas of ocean when acting as central-place foragers during the breeding season, and ranges are even more extensive outside the breeding period. Spatial niche partitioning…1 March, 2013 by Dominic Hodgson, Peter Convey
The extent of an external water layer around moss tissue influences CO2 assimilation. Experiments on the desiccation-tolerant moss Syntrichia ruralis assessed the real-time dependence of the carbon and oxygen isotopic…1 March, 2013 by Dominic Hodgson, Louise Sime, Peter Convey
Oxygen isotope palaeoclimate records, preserved in moss tissue cellulose, are complicated by environmental influences on the relationships between source water inputs and evaporative conditions. We carried out stable isotope analyses…1 March, 2013 by Gareth Marshall, Scott Hosking, John Turner, Thomas Bracegirdle, Tony Phillips
This paper examines the annual cycle and trends in Antarctic sea ice extent (SIE) for 18 models used in phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) that were…Read more on An initial assessment of Antarctic Sea ice extent in the CMIP5 models
28 February, 2013 by Adrian Jenkins, Andy Smith, David Vaughan, Ed King, Fausto Ferraccioli, Hugh Corr, Hamish Pritchard, Peter Fretwell, Richard Hindmarsh, Tom Jordan, Richard Hindmarsh
We present Bedmap2, a new suite of gridded products describing surface elevation, ice-thickness and the seafloor and subglacial bed elevation of the Antarctic south of 60° S. We derived these…Read more on Bedmap2: improved ice bed, surface and thickness datasets for Antarctica
27 February, 2013 by Richard Phillips
The conservation of threatened seabirds that are highly pelagic, such as the gadfly petrels Pterodroma spp., depends on understanding the main oceanographic determinants of their movements in order to apply…Read more on Year-round distribution and habitat preferences of the Bugio petrel
26 February, 2013 by Vsevolod Afanasyev
Strong and predictable environmental variability can reward flexible behaviors among animals. We used long-term records of activity data that cover several lunar cycles to investigate whether behavior at-sea of swallow-tailed…21 February, 2013 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 Inferring ocean currents from the shapes of towed seismic streamers. Extended abstract
19 February, 2013 by David Barnes
Comprehensive information on Antarctic macrobenthic community structure has been publicly available since the 1960s. It stems from trawl, dredge, grab, and corer samples as well as from direct and camera…Read more on Antarctic macrobenthic communities: a compilation of circumpolar information
15 February, 2013 by Richard Hindmarsh, Richard Hindmarsh
Despite their importance in understanding glaciological processes and constraining large-scale flow patterns in palaeo-glaciology, there is little consensus as to how drumlins are formed. Attempts to solve the ‘drumlin problem’…