1 January, 2012 by Peter Convey
global changes are prompting scientists and governments to consider the risk of extinction of species inhabiting environments influenced by ice. Concerted, multidisciplinary, international programmes aimed at understanding life processes, evolution…1 January, 2012 by Gareth Marshall
A 200-year proxy for northerly air mass incursions (NAMI) into central and western West Antarctica is developed from the examination of 19 shallow (21–150 m deep) Antarctic ice-core non-sea-salt (nss)…Read more on An ice-core proxy for northerly air mass incursions into West Antarctica
1 January, 2012 by Huw Griffiths, Katrin Linse
Sponges play a key role in Antarctic marine benthic community structure and dynamics and are often a dominant component of many Southern Ocean benthic communities. Understanding the drivers of sponge…Read more on Diversity and distribution patterns in high southern latitude sponges
1 January, 2012
The roots of a British Antarctic policy can be traced, paradoxically, back to the establishment of a meteorological station by the Scottish Antarctic Expedition in the South Orkneys, in 1903,…Read more on From Scotia to ‘Operation Tabarin’: developing British policy for Antarctica
1 January, 2012
For over 50 years the Antarctic has been governed through the Antarctic Treaty, an international agreement now between 49 nations of whom 28 Consultative Parties (CPs) undertake the management role.…Read more on Leadership in politics and science within the Antarctic Treaty
1 January, 2012 by Mervyn Freeman
Background: Ecologists are collecting extensive data concerning movements of animals in marine ecosystems. Such data need to be analysed with valid statistical methods to yield meaningful conclusions. Principal Findings: We…1 January, 2012 by William Block
Juvenile instars of four species of the oribatid mite family Ameronothridae— Alaskozetes antarcticus intermedius, Ameronothrus lineatus, Halozetes crozetensis and Pseudantarcticola georgiae—are described and illustrated in detail. Known juvenile instars of…Read more on Morphology of juvenile instars of Ameronothridae (Acari: Oribatida)
1 January, 2012 by Roger Worland, Peter Convey
During the 1960s, the midge, Eretmoptera murphyi, was transferred from sub-Antarctic South Georgia (55oS 37oW) where it is endemic to a single location on maritime Antarctic Signy Island (60oS 45oW).…1 January, 2012 by Roger Worland, Peter Convey
A directional primary succession with moderate species replacement was quantitatively characterized on Signy Island in zones of a glacial valley corresponding to their age since deglaciation. A continuous increase in…1 January, 2012 by Hugh Venables, Jonathan Watkins, Martin Collins, Peter Enderlein, Sophie Fielding
Multifrequency acoustic backscatter data were examined from transects at eight stations across the Scotia Sea, from the South Orkneys to the north west of South Georgia. These transects were repeated…1 January, 2012 by Victoria Peck
Two major types of glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) are commonly used in paleoecological and paleoclimatological reconstructions: isoprenoidal and branched GDGTs. In aquatic environments, it was originally assumed that isoprenoidal…1 January, 2012 by Philip Trathan
Several methods, each with specific advantages and disadvantages, are frequently used to obtain diet samples from seabirds. The collection of regurgitates (REG) as well as samples from the stomach water-off-load…1 January, 2012 by Elaine Fitzcharles
Correct identification of species forms the basis of all biological studies from individual genetic variation to population genetics, stock assessments and understanding whole ecosystems. This often relies on skilled taxonomists…1 January, 2012 by Geraint Tarling, Philip Trathan, Sophie Fielding
Antarctic krill Euphausia superba (hereafter ‘krill’) occur in regions undergoing rapid environmental change, particularly loss of winter sea ice. During recent years, harvesting of krill has increased, possibly enhancing stress…1 January, 2012 by Philip Leat, Robert Mulvaney, Teal Riley
New Pb analyses of K feldspars (Kfs) from Archaean–Mesozoic crystalline rocks from across the Weddell Sea region of Antarctica show Pb isotopic compositions that vary geographically. Five distinct basement provinces…1 January, 2012 by Sandra McInnes, Sandra McInnes
The number of described species on the planet is about 1.9 million, with ca. 17,000 new species described annually, mostly from the tropics. However, taxonomy is usually described as a…1 January, 2012 by Jaume Forcada, Philip Trathan
The compound effects of changing habitats, ecosystem interactions, and fishing practices have implications for the management of Antarctic krill and conservation of its predators. For Antarctic pack-ice seals, an important…1 January, 2012 by Richard Phillips
Marine environments are greatly affected by climate change, and understanding how this perturbation affects marine vertebrates is a major issue. In this context, it is essential to identify the environmental…1 January, 2012
This study investigates the statistical significance of the trends of station temperature time series from the European Climate Assessment & Data archive poleward of 60°N. The trends are identified by…1 January, 2012
This study investigates the significance of trends of four temperature time series—Central England Temperature (CET), Stockholm, Faraday-Vernadsky, and Alert. First the robustness and accuracy of various trend detection methods are…1 January, 2012
The objective of this work is to evaluate the potential of reduced order models to reproduce the extreme event and predictability characteristics of higher dimensional dynamical systems. A nonlinear toy…Read more on Predictability of extreme events in a nonlinear stochastic-dynamical model
1 January, 2012 by Richard Phillips
Aim: An understanding of the non-breeding distribution and ecology of migratory species is necessary for successful conservation. Many seabirds spend the non-breeding season far from land, and information on their…1 January, 2012 by Peter Fretwell
Studying emperor penguins used to be a job for heroes. But penguins leave traces; thanks to high-resolution satellites they can waddle but they cannot hide. Peter Fretwell comes in from…1 January, 2012 by Andrew Fleming, Adrian Fox, Norman Ratcliffe, Philip Trathan, Peter Fretwell
Our aim was to estimate the population of emperor penguins (Aptenodytes fosteri) using a single synoptic survey. We examined the whole continental coastline of Antarctica using a combination of medium…1 January, 2012 by Thomas Bracegirdle
An unusually deep (961 hPa) hurricane-like polar low over the Barents Sea during 18–21 December 2002 is studied by a series of fine-mesh (3 km) experiments using the Weather Research…1 January, 2012 by Jennifer Jackson
Sixteen years of fluke photo identifications have been used to create datasets of the New Caledonia humpback whale breeding ground (IWC sub-stock E2). Estimates of abundance have been calculated using…Read more on An anomalous increase in the New Caledonia humpback whales breeding sub-stock E2
1 January, 2012 by Povl Abrahamsen
The fourth workshop of the South Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (SAMOC 4) took place in Simons Town, South Africa, on 27-29 September 2011. The main objectives of the workshop were…Read more on South Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (SAMOC) – Fourth Workshop
1 January, 2012
and sea level for the past 50 Ma have increased. In parallel, efforts to model ice sheet changes during this period have been ongoing. We review published paleodata and modeling…1 January, 2012 by Emily Shuckburgh, Jean-Baptiste Sallee, Michael Meredith
The Diapycnal and Isopycnal Mixing Experiment in the Southern Ocean (DIMES) was designed as a multi-pronged US and UK CLIVAR effort to measure and to better understand diapycnal mixing and…Read more on The Diapycnal and Isopycnal Mixing Experiment: A First Assessment
1 January, 2012 by Paul Holland
A numerical model for an interacting ice shelf and ocean is presented in which the iceshelf base exhibits a channelized morphology similar to that observed beneath Petermann Gletscher’s (Greenland) floating…Read more on Ice-shelf basal channels in a coupled ice/ocean model
1 January, 2012 by Eugene Murphy, Geraint Tarling, Will Goodall-Copestake
Estimates of genetic diversity represent a valuable resource for biodiversity assessments and are increasingly used to guide conservation and management programs. The most commonly reported estimates of DNA sequence diversity…1 January, 2012 by James Smith
The glacial history of the continental shelf northwest of Alexander Island is not well known, due mainly to a lack of targeted marine data on Antarctica's palaeo-ice sheets in their…1 January, 2012 by Peter Convey
Three exotic species of Collembola are here identified in collections made during surveys on subantarctic South Georgia in the summers of 2005/2006 and 2009/2010. Previously, only two exotic species of…Read more on Exotic Collembola on subantarctic islands: pathways, origins and biology
1 January, 2012 by Peter Convey
Three new non-indigenous springtail species are recorded in recent collections made on Deception Island, South Shetland Islands, maritime Antarctic: Deuteraphorura (Deuteraphorura) cebennaria (Gisin) (Collembola: Onychiuridae), Mesaphorura macrochaeta Rusek (Tullbergiidae), and…1 January, 2012 by Thomas Lachlan-Cope
In-situ aircraft observations of ice crystal concentrations in Antarctic clouds are presented for the first time. Orographic, layer and wave clouds around the Antarctic Peninsula and Larsen Ice shelf regions…1 January, 2012 by Roger Worland, Peter Convey
In order to contribute to the reconstruction of the deglaciation history of the Marguerite Bay area (~ 68°S, Maritime Antarctic) and to estimate the rock weathering rate in this Antarctic…1 January, 2012 by Roger Worland
A CALM grid with a data logger system to monitor the active layer thermal regime was established on Signy Island (60°43′S, 45°38′Wat 80 m a.s.l.) in December 2005. The active…1 January, 2012
During the heroic age of Antarctic exploration, a number of the early explorers developed psychiatric illness either in the Antarctic or shortly after leaving it. Most of these were psychotic…Read more on Psychiatric illness and suicide in the heroic age of Antarctic exploration
1 January, 2012
The psychology of Antarctic explorers and groups in Antarctic bases has been much studied in recent years, and current knowledge has been summarized in a review by Palinkas and Suedenfeld…Read more on Psychology during the expeditions of the heroic age of Antarctic exploration
1 January, 2012
Reginald Koettlitz was born in Ostend but moved to England as a child and qualified at Guy's Hospital. He was a general practitioner in County Durham for eight years before…Read more on Dr Reginald Koettlitz (1860-1916): Arctic and Antarctic explorer
1 January, 2012
Frostbite and other cold injuries on the early polar expeditions were common. This paper explains how frostbite was described, prevented, and treated on the Antarctic expeditions of the heroic age,…Read more on Frostbite and other cold injuries in the heroic age of Antarctic exploration
1 January, 2012
During the heroic age of Antarctic exploration, snow blindness was a common problem, but not all the descriptions of it lit the modern view of the disease, and some of…Read more on Snow blindness and other eye problems during the heroic age of Antarctic exploration
1 January, 2012 by Huw Griffiths, John Turner, Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark, Peter Convey, Thomas Bracegirdle, Zhaomin Wang
Developments of future scenarios of Antarctic ecosystems are still in their infancy, whilst predictions of the physical environment are recognized as being of global relevance and corresponding models are under…1 January, 2012 by Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark, Simon Morley
We document differences in shell damage and shell thickness in a bivalve mollusc (Laternula elliptica) from seven sites around Antarctica with differing exposures to ice movement. These range from 60%…Read more on Iceberg Scour and Shell Damage in the Antarctic Bivalve Laternula elliptica
1 January, 2012 by Ailsa Stroud
The REgents PARk and Tower Environmental Experiment (REPARTEE) comprised two campaigns in London in October 2006 and October/November 2007. The experiment design involved measurements at a heavily trafficked roadside site,…1 January, 2012 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
We analyzed 214 new core-top samples for their CaCO3 content from shelves all around Antarctica in order to understand their distribution and contribution to the marine carbon cycle. The distribution…Read more on Distribution and mineralogy of carbonate sediments on Antarctic shelves
1 January, 2012 by Richard Phillips
The distributions of many marine birds, particularly those that are highly pelagic, remain poorly known outside the breeding period. Here we use geolocator-immersion loggers to study trans-equatorial migration, activity patterns…1 January, 2012 by Michael Meredith
The supply of nutrients to the low-latitude thermocline is largely controlled by intermediate- depth waters formed at the surface in the high southern latitudes. Silicic acid is an essential macronutrient…1 January, 2012 by Eugene Murphy, Simeon Hill
Foodweb models provide a useful framework for compiling data on biomass, production, consumption and feeding relationships. They are particularly useful for identifying gaps and inconsistencies in the data, and for…Read more on A foodweb model to explore uncertainties in the South Georgia shelf pelagic ecosystem
1 January, 2012 by Guy Hillyard, Melody Clark
Fifteen species of marine invertebrate commonly occurring in the near-shore environment of Rothera base, Antarctica, were used to test tissue sample storage protocols with regard to preservation of RNA integrity.…Read more on RNA preservation of Antarctic marine invertebrates
1 January, 2012 by Richard Hindmarsh, Richard Hindmarsh
An analytical theory is developed for ice flow velocity in a boundary layer couplet at the calving front. The theory has simple quantitative characteristics that relate ice front velocity to…1 January, 2012
The Southern Ocean is largely a High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll (HNLC) region where macronutrient concentrations are high and phytoplankton productivity is low. However, there are productive ‘hot spots’ that sustain…Read more on Responses of microplankton community structure to iron addition in the Scotia Sea
1 January, 2012
The Southern Ocean is an important biogeochemical region on a global scale, in which mineralising phytoplankton play a role in cycling energy, carbon and nutrients. Mineralising phytoplankton with cells 2–20…1 January, 2012 by Andreas Cziferszky, Dominic Hodgson, Peter Convey, Peter Fretwell
We studied the glacial geomorphology and geochronology of two ice-free valleys in the Dufek Massif (Antarctic Specially Protected Area 119) providing new constraints on past ice sheet thickness in the…1 January, 2012 by Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark
Although recent years have witnessed a rapid growth in the number of genetic studies of Antarctic organisms, relatively few studies have so far used nuclear markers, possibly due to the…1 January, 2012 by Andrew Clarke, Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark, Peter Fretwell
Several recent empirical studies have challenged the prevailing dogma that broadcast-spawning species exhibit little or no population genetic structure by documenting genetic discontinuities associated with large-scale oceanographic features. However, relatively…1 January, 2012 by Jaume Forcada
Natal philopatry is an important component of mammalian behaviour but is difficult to study in natural vertebrate populations due to the requirement for long-term individual-based spatial observations. Consequently, we quantified…Read more on Extreme natal philopatry in female Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella)
1 January, 2012 by Paul Holland
The sea-ice cover around Antarctica has experienced a slight expansion in area over the past decades1, 2. This small overall increase is the sum of much larger opposing trends in…1 January, 2012 by Richard Horne
Weather forecasting has expanded to space weather. As of 1 March 2012, satellite operators and the general public will be able to obtain forecasts of the Earth’s radiation belts, thanks…1 January, 2012 by Scott Hosking
We introduce a methodology to visualise rapid vertical and zonal tropical transport pathways. Using prescribed sea-surface temperatures in four monthly model integrations for 2005, we characterise preferred transport routes from…Read more on Tropical convective transport and the Walker circulation
1 January, 2012 by Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey
Continental Antarctic terrestrial and freshwater environments currently have few established non-native species compared to the sub-Antarctic islands and other terrestrial ecosystems on Earth. This is due to a unique combination…1 January, 2012 by Jennifer Jackson
Humpbacks breeding in East Australia (E1) and Oceania (New Caledonia E2, Tonga E3 and French Polynesia F) in the South Pacific are thought to be demographically independent, due to significant…1 January, 2012 by Jennifer Jackson
Rapid advances in molecular genetic techniques and the statistical analysis of genetic data have revolutionized the way that populations of animals, plants and microorganisms can be monitored. Genetic monitoring is…Read more on Guidelines for collecting and maintaining archives for genetic monitoring
1 January, 2012 by Adrian Jenkins
A few decades ago, Antarctic ice sheets were expected to grow as the atmosphere warmed and increasing poleward moisture transport added snowfall to regions that would remain below freezing year-round.…1 January, 2012 by Adrian Fox
Changes in the volume and extent of land ice of the Svalbard archipelago have been the subject of considerable research since their sensitivity to changes in climate was first noted.…Read more on Observations of enhanced thinning in the upper reaches of Svalbard glaciers
1 January, 2012 by David Pearce
Spatial patchiness in marine surface bacterioplankton populations was investigated in the Southern Ocean, where the Antarctic Circumpolar Current meets the islands of the Scotia Arc and is subjected to terrestrial…1 January, 2012 by Adrian Jenkins, Pierre Dutrieux
In recent years, mass loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet has contributed nearly 0.5 mm yr–1 to global mean sea level rise, about one-sixth of the current rate (Church et…1 January, 2012
We placed light-level geolocators on 17 Rusty Blackbirds (Euphagus carolinus) in 2009 to track their migrations from nest sites near Anchorage, Alaska to wintering areas and back. We recaptured three…Read more on Identifying migratory pathways used by Rusty Blackbirds breeding in Southcentral Alaska
1 January, 2012 by Joanne Johnson, Philip Leat
Recent changes along the margins of the Antarctic Peninsula, such as the collapse of the Wilkins Ice Shelf, have highlighted the effects of climatic warming on the Antarctic Peninsula Ice…Read more on The deglacial history of NW Alexander Island, Antarctica, from surface exposure dating
1 January, 2012 by Hugh Venables
The influence of the island mass effect of South Georgia on the seasonal marine carbon cycle was investigated during austral summer (January–February) 2008. South Georgia (54–55°S 36–38°W) lies on the…1 January, 2012
Understanding the variability and coherence of surface ocean pCO2 on a global scale can provide insights into its physical and biogeochemical drivers and inform future samplings strategies and data assimilation…Read more on Autocorrelation characteristics of the surface ocean pCO2 and air-sea CO2 fluxes
1 January, 2012 by Peter Convey
It is not clear for how long Antarctic soil nematodes might tolerate freezing. Samples of the Antarctic moss, Bryum argenteum, were collected on 1 October 1983 at Langhovde, Soya coast,…1 January, 2012 by David Vaughan
Radio-echo sounding (RES) of polar ice sheets reveals extensive internal layering. The degree of continuity of internal layering holds critical information about the ice-flow field, but previous analyses of this…1 January, 2012 by Victoria Peck
Environmental changes associated with the Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum (PETM, ∼56 Ma) have not yet been documented in detail from the North Sea Basin. Located within proximity to the North Atlantic…1 January, 2012 by Mark Belchier
Krill forms an important part of the diet of many Antarctic fish species. An understanding of the role of fish as krill predators in the Southern Ocean is critical to…1 January, 2012 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
The goal of this study is to assess the changes that have occurred during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition, an important transitional period in cryosphere evolution, by examining the siliceous microfossil record…1 January, 2012 by Hugh Venables, Peter Ward
Surveys of the microplankton communities of the Scotia Sea, Southern Ocean, were carried out during three separate seasons of interest, spring, summer, and autumn of consecutive years. The surveys were…1 January, 2012 by Zhaomin Wang
The transport of the AntarcticCircumpolarCurrent (ACC) varies strongly across the coupled GCMs (general circulation models) used for the IPCC AR4. This note shows that a large fraction of this across-model…1 January, 2012 by Adrian Fox, David Vaughan
From approximately 400 glaciers of the western Antarctic Peninsula, no in situ records of mass balance exist and their recent contribution to sea level is consequently poorly constrained. We seek…Read more on Multi-decadal glacier surface lowering in the Antarctic Peninsula
1 January, 2012
Ice core data from Antarctica provide detailed insights into the characteristics of past climate, atmospheric circulation, as well as changes in the aerosol load of the atmosphere. We present high-resolution…1 January, 2012 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith, Robert Larter
The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; ca 23–19 ka BP) extent of grounded ice in the Filchner Trough, a major cross shelf trough extending seaward from the Filchner Ice Shelf in…1 January, 2012 by Adrian Fox, Philip Leat
1 January, 2012 by Chester Sands, Jennifer Jackson, Katrin Linse, Will Goodall-Copestake
High throughput sequencing technologies are revolutionizing genetic research. With this ‘‘rise of the machines’’, genomic sequences can be obtained even for unknown genomes within a short time and for reasonable…1 January, 2012
Trophic relationships and vertical distribution patterns of dominant mesozooplankton (2–20 mm) and macrozooplankton (>20 mm) invertebrates (Euphausiacea, Copepoda, Decapoda, Amphipoda, Thecosomata and Lophogastrida) were investigated within the epi- and meso-pelagic…1 January, 2012 by Andrew Wood, Richard Phillips
Numerous studies of wild animal species have documented that population level responses to environmental change are underpinned by individual level phenotypic plasticity. However, where the relationship between an individual trait…1 January, 2012 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
We review the geomorphological, sedimentological and chronological evidence for palaeo-icestreams on the continental shelf of Antarctica and use this information to investigate basal conditions and processes, and to identify factors…1 January, 2012 by Philip Trathan
As important marine mesopredators and sensitive indicators of Antarctic ecosystem change, penguins have been a major focus of long-term biological research in the Antarctic. However, the vast majority of such…1 January, 2012 by Katrin Linse
The crustacean genus Rhachotropis has a worldwide distribution and amongst the largest bathymetric range known from any amphipod genus. DNA barcoding of new material from around New Zealand and the…1 January, 2012 by Katrin Linse
DNA barcoding revealed four well-supported clades among amphipod specimens that keyed out to Epimeria georgiana Schellenberg, 1931, three clades with specimens from the southern Scotia Arc and one clade with…1 January, 2012 by Eugene Murphy, Nadine Johnston, Peter Ward, Simeon Hill
Since the Discovery Investigations of the 1920s and 1930s, seawater temperatures have increased in the Atlantic sector by ∼1 °C; greater than the global mean rise. The aims of this…