1 January, 2006
A rapid increase in the variety, quality, and quantity of observations in polar regions is leading to a significant improvement in the understanding of sea ice dynamic and thermodynamic processes…1 January, 2006 by Mark Clilverd, Michael Rose
Plasmaspheric ducts may execute Doppler oscillations driven by propagating ultra-low frequency (ULF) waves. We examined about 100 such events recorded over 1 year under magnetically quiet conditions at L =…1 January, 2006 by Mark Clilverd, Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne
Plasmaspheric hiss is an electromagnetic wave emission responsible for electron loss from the radiation belts, particularly in the slot region (2 < L < 3). There are two leading theories…1 January, 2006 by Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
Following enhanced magnetic activity the fluxes of energetic electrons in the Earth's outer radiation belt gradually decay to quiet-time levels. We use CRRES observations to estimate the energetic electron loss…Read more on Energetic outer zone electron loss timescales during low geomagnetic activity
1 January, 2006
We explore methods of dating a 101 m ice core from a bare ice ablation area in the Yamato Mountains, Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. There are two unknowns, the…1 January, 2006 by Mark Belchier, Simon Morley
We present the first fecundity and egg size data for three species of lithodid crab from Antarctic waters south of the Polar Front, caught in the fisheries operating around the…Read more on Reproductive strategies of sub-Antarctic lithodid crabs vary with habitat depth
1 January, 2006
A function that approximates atmospheric tidal behavior in the polar regions is described. This function is fitted to multistation radar measurements of wind in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere with…Read more on A climatology of tides in the Antarctic mesosphere and lower thermosphere
1 January, 2006
The purpose of RTD 08 was to canvass the collating, into a centralized database, of all tracking data on seabirds (principally albatrosses and petrels) affected by long-line fisheries. The objective:…1 January, 2006 by Kevin Newsham, Rolf Maslen, Sandra McInnes, Sandra McInnes
A sample of the liverwort Cephaloziella varians was collected on 1 January 1999 at Rothera Point on the Wright Peninsula, Adelaide Island, western Antarctic Peninsula and was partially dried and…Read more on Survival of antarctic soil metazoans at −80°C for six years
1 January, 2006 by Keith Nicholls
As a result of their importance in the production of Antarctic Bottom Water, processes over the Antarctic continental shelf have a strong impact on the global ocean. Some of the…Read more on Interannual variability beneath Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, Antarctica
1 January, 2006
All-sky CCD observations of short-period mesospheric gravity waves have been made from Halley Station, Antarctica (76°S, 27°W). On 27 May, 2001, an unusual wave event exhibiting several features characteristic of…Read more on An unusual mesospheric bore event observed at high latitudes over Antarctica
1 January, 2006 by Michael Pinnock
Auroral westward flow channels (AWFCs) are intense, narrow channels of westward drift overlapping the equatorward edge of the auroral oval in the pre-magnetic midnight sector. They are a close relative…Read more on On the occurrence of auroral westward flow channels and substorm phase
1 January, 2006 by Richard Hindmarsh, Richard Hindmarsh
The effect of spatial variations in ice thickness, accumulation rate and lateral flow divergence on radar-detected isochrone geometry in ice sheets is computed using an analytical method, under assumptions of…1 January, 2006 by Andrew Clarke, Lloyd Peck
The Antarctic gastropods Marseniopsis mollis (Smith, 1902) and Torellia mirabilis (Smith, 1907) lay eggs in the late austral summer and autumn; these hatch the following late winter and early summer.…1 January, 2006 by David Barnes, Lloyd Peck, Peter Convey
Knowledge of Antarctic biotas and environments has increased dramatically in recent years. There has also been a rapid increase in the use of novel technologies. Despite this, some fundamental aspects…1 January, 2006 by Andy Smith
Laterally continuous subglacial sediments are a necessary component for ice streaming in the modern onset regions of the ice streams draining the Siple Coast of West Antarctica on the basis…1 January, 2006 by Mervyn Freeman, Richard Horne
Collisionless magnetic reconnection requires the violation of ideal MHD by various kinetic-scale effects whose relative importance is uncertain. Recent research has highlighted the potential importance of wave-particle interactions by showing…Read more on Anomalous resistivity and the non-linear evolution of the ion-acoustic instability
1 January, 2006 by Mervyn Freeman
We present an analysis of the electric and magnetic wave spectra on kinetic scales during several crossings of a reconnecting current sheet. The spectra were measured from 1 Hz or…1 January, 2006 by Richard Phillips, Vsevolod Afanasyev
The white-chinned petrel Procellaria aequinoctialis is a medium-sized procellariiform with a circumpolar subAntarctic breeding distribution. Feeding during both day and night, and often competing aggressively for bait, offal and discards,…1 January, 2006 by Richard Phillips
Although a variety of techniques (including water-offloading, and spontaneous and induced regurgitation) are used routinely to obtain fresh stomach samples from seabirds, there have been few studies of their efficacy…Read more on Efficacy and effects of diet sampling of albatross chicks
1 January, 2006 by Philip Trathan, Richard Phillips
Long-term studies at Bird Island, South Georgia, show that numbers of wandering, black-browed and grey-headed albatrosses have been decreasing since the late 1970s. To determine the status of the total…1 January, 2006
Naturally occurring microbial communities are complex, with autotrophs and heterotrophs often similarly sized and impossible to separate by conventional size fractionation approaches. However, if it was possible to identify specific…1 January, 2006 by Andrew Clarke
Through functional analyses, integrative physiology is able to link molecular biology with ecology as well as evolutionary biology and is thereby expected to provide access to the evolution of molecular,…Read more on Trade-offs in thermal adaptation: the need for a molecular to ecological integration
1 January, 2006 by Martin Collins
The oceanic abyss (depths greater than 3000 m), one of the largest environments on the planet, is characterized by absence of solar light, high pressures and remoteness from surface food…Read more on The absence of sharks from abyssal regions of the world’s oceans
1 January, 2006
A detailed record of late Pleistocene deglaciation followed by mid-Holocene ice shelf breakup and late Holocene re-growth is contained in continental shelf sediments in the northern Larsen area, northeast Antarctic…1 January, 2006 by Peter Convey
The molecular weight distributions and hydrolysable neutral sugar composition of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was investigated in four maritime Antarctic lakes on Signy Island of different trophic status; Heywood Lake…1 January, 2006
British Antarctic Survey director Chris Rapley (above) first conceived the idea of an International Polar Year back in early 2003. It has now grown into the world’s largest coordinated science…1 January, 2006 by Iain Staniland
The spatial and temporal variability in the fish component of the diet of Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella (Peters, 1875)) in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean was examined…1 January, 2006
Observations from a novel autonomous Doppler sodar wind profiling system are described and analysed. These include the first continuous wintertime soundings of katabatic winds over Antarctica - a continent with…Read more on Profiles of katabatic flows in summer and winter over Coats Land, Antarctica
1 January, 2006 by Philip Leat, Teal Riley
A suite of mafic dykes from the Underberg region of southern KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) were intruded at 178 Ma, coincident in age with the major Okavango Dyke Swarm of Botswana,…Read more on Overlap of Karoo and Ferrar magma types in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
1 January, 2006 by David Vaughan, Hugh Corr
The East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) is the largest reservoir of ice on the planet by an order of magnitude. Compared with the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), it is…Read more on Switch-off of a major enhanced ice flow unit in East Antarctica
1 January, 2006 by David Vaughan, Hugh Corr
Radio-echo sounding data are used to investigate bed roughness beneath the three enhanced-flow tributaries of Slessor Glacier, East Antarctica. Slow-moving inter-tributary areas are found to have rough beds, while the…Read more on Basal conditions beneath enhanced-flow tributaries of Slessor Glacier, East Antarctica
1 January, 2006 by Mark Clilverd
Solar proton events (SPE) are major, though infrequent, space weather phenomena that can produce hazardous effects in the near-Earth space environment. A detailed understanding of their effects depends upon knowledge…Read more on Dynamic geomagnetic rigidity cutoff variations during a solar proton event
1 January, 2006 by Elaine Fitzcharles, Mark Belchier, Simon Morley
The genetic structure of Patagonian toothfish populations in the Atlantic and western Indian Ocean Sectors of the Southern Ocean (SO) were analysed using partial sequences of the mitochondrial 12S rRNA…1 January, 2006 by Gareth Marshall, Howard Roscoe, John King
Stratospheric change associated with the Antarctic ozone hole is clearly implicated in changing surface climate near 65°S in late summer, in both measurements and models, via downward propagation of height…1 January, 2006 by Howard Roscoe
The Brewer–Dobson circulation brings tropospheric air, accompanied by CFCs and greenhouse gases, into the stratosphere. Many models predict an increased circulation associated with an increase in greenhouse gases, such as…Read more on The Brewer–Dobson circulation in the stratosphere and mesosphere – Is there a trend?
1 January, 2006 by Howard Roscoe
The Royal Society expedition to Antarctica established a base at Halley Bay, in support of the International Geophysical Year of 1957–1958. Surface ozone was measured during 1958 only, using a…1 January, 2006 by Gareth Marshall
Precipitation delivery mechanisms for Dolleman Island (DI), located off the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, are investigated using reanalysis and back trajectory data. The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and…1 January, 2006 by Robert Larter
Seismic reflection profiles, bathymetric and magnetic data collected along and across the continental margin of the Bellingshausen Sea provide new constraints and interpretations of the oceanic basement structure and Cenozoic…1 January, 2006
The bivalve Adamussium colbecki is an endemic Antarctic pectinid that can be locally abundant in nearshore habitats, sometimes as the dominant species. However, its distribution around the Antarctic continent is…1 January, 2006
Approaches to describe gene regulation networks can be categorized by increasing detail, as network parts lists, network topology models, network control logic models or dynamic models. We discuss the current…1 January, 2006
We studied the diet of Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, at five stations across the southwest Atlantic sector in summer 2003 by analyzing stomach content, fatty acids, and stable isotopes on…1 January, 2006 by Katrin Linse
Records of extant Monoplacophora are still scarce, often limited to single specimens or empty shells. Little is known about monoplacophoran diversity, distribution and biology. This study summarizes the present distributional…1 January, 2006
Satellite radar altimeters and scatterometers deployed over ice sheets experience backscatter from the surface and from within the snowpack, termed surface and volume backscatter respectively. In order to assess the…1 January, 2006 by Michael Meredith
This paper synthesizes our understanding of the Arctic's large-scale freshwater cycle. It combines terrestrial and oceanic observations with insights gained from the ERA-40 reanalysis and land surface and ice-ocean models.…1 January, 2006 by Fausto Ferraccioli
During the austral summer of 2001/02 five thousand line kilometres of airborne radio echo sounding and aeromagnetic data were collected in the region of three tributaries of Slessor Glacier, East…1 January, 2006 by Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
Observations of the relativistic electron flux increases during the first days of November, 2003 are compared to model simulations of two leading mechanisms for electron acceleration. It is demonstrated that…1 January, 2006 by Richard Horne
Whistler mode chorus emissions in the Earth's magnetosphere extend from the plasmapause to the boundary of trapping. Knowledge of the pitch angle and energy scattering rates is essential for accurate…Read more on Bounce-averaged diffusion coefficients for field-aligned chorus waves
1 January, 2006 by Keith Nicholls
In the period 1979–2003 the mass of “giant” icebergs (icebergs larger than 18.5 km in length) calving from Antarctica averaged 1089 ± 300 Gt yr−1 of ice, under half the…Read more on Contribution of giant icebergs to the Southern Ocean freshwater flux
1 January, 2006 by Adrian Jenkins
Model simulations of circulation and melting beneath Fimbulisen, Antarctica, obtained using an isopycnic coordinate ocean model, are presented. Model results compare well with available observations of currents and hydrography in…Read more on Modeling ocean processes below Fimbulisen, Antarctica
1 January, 2006
The hydraulic behaviour of meltwater during subglacial basaltic eruptions in temperate ice is of paramount importance in understanding the eruptive processes, lithofacies and architecture of the edifices formed. Hydraulics also…1 January, 2006
Terrestrial volcanism occurred extensively on Brabant Island, northern Antarctic Peninsula, during the Late Quaternary (< 200 ka; probably entirely Late Pleistocene). Two compositionally distinct volcanic sequences formed three large shield…1 January, 2006 by Peter Fretwell
Cape Purvis is a conspicuous promontory on southern Dundee Island. It forms a prominent mesa that contrasts with the smooth, shield-like (snow-covered) topography of the remainder of the island. The…1 January, 2006
New outcrops of Late Neogene sedimentary deposits discovered on James Ross and Vega islands, northern Antarctic Peninsula, are fossiliferous and contain mainly fragmented pectinids amongst other as yet unstudied biota.…1 January, 2006
Back in the mid-nineteenth century British explorer James Clark Ross took his ships, HMS Terror and HMS Erebus, farther south than anyone else had been. He now lends his name…1 January, 2006 by Peter Fretwell
A new approach to modelling patterns of glacio-isostatic land uplift during the Holocene in mainland Scotland, UK, is described. The approach is based upon altitude measurements at the inner margin…1 January, 2006 by Dominic Hodgson, James Smith, Stephen Roberts
George VI Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula and its northern margin marks the southern most latitudinal limit of recent ice…1 January, 2006
Soil samples from the summit of Coulman Island in northern Victoria Land, continental Antarctica (lat. 73o28'S, 169o45'E) were cultured and after nine weeks they have yeilded sterile shoots of a…1 January, 2006
Eruptions of Öræfajökull have produced mafic and silicic magmas, and have taken place in both glacial and interglacial periods. The geology of the volcano records the differing response of magmas…Read more on Subglacial and ice-contact volcanism at the Oraefajokull stratovolcano, Iceland
1 January, 2006
As part of a collaborative research program between British Antarctic Survey, U.K. and Utah State University, USA, all sky airglow images were recorded at Halley Station Antarctica (75.5 S, 26.7…Read more on A novel joint space-wavenumber analysis of an unusual Antarctic gravity wave event
1 January, 2006
This is the first study to use both molecular and fossil data to date the divergence of taxa within the coleoid cephalopods (octopus, squid, cuttlefish). A dataset including sequences from…Read more on Divergence time estimates for major cephalopod groups: evidence from multiple genes
1 January, 2006 by Howard Roscoe
A solar occultation sensor, the Improved Limb Atmospheric Spectrometer (ILAS)-II, measured 5890 vertical profiles of ozone concentrations in the stratosphere and lower mesosphere and of other species from January to…1 January, 2006
Fatty acid biomarker analyses of Cassidulina crassa, a dominant calcareous foraminieran at 55-m water depth in Arthur Harbor, Anvers Island (64°46′S, 64°04′W), Antarctica, revealed that this species responds rapidly to…1 January, 2006
Experimental trials were conducted onboard a stern trawler to identify the relative efficacy of three emerging mitigation measures (tori lines, warp scarer and Brady baffler) designed to reduce seabird mortality…1 January, 2006
A new Greenland Ice Core Chronology (GICC05) based on multi-parameter counting of annual layers has been obtained for the last 42 ka. Here we compare the glacial part of the…Read more on The Greenland Ice Core Chronology 2005, 15–42 ka. Part 2: comparison to other records
1 January, 2006 by Eugene Murphy, Geraint Tarling, Jonathan Watkins
The growth rates of postlarval krill (Euphausia superba) were measured across a wide range of environments in the Scotia Sea and around South Georgia using the Instantaneous Growth Rate (IGR)…1 January, 2006 by Dominic Hodgson
For the first time, the cyanobacterial diversity from microbial mats in lakes of Eastern Antarctica was investigated using microscopic and molecular approaches. The present study assessed the biogeographical distribution of…1 January, 2006 by Dominic Hodgson
We isolated 59 strains of cyanobacteria from the benthic microbial mats of 23 Antarctic lakes, from five locations in two regions, in order to characterize their morphological and genotypic diversity.…Read more on Polyphasic study of Antarctic cyanobacterial strains
1 January, 2006 by Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne
This comment does not have an abstract1 January, 2006 by Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
Electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves are excited during the enhanced convective injection of plasmasheet ions into the inner magnetosphere. Waves grow rapidly near the magnetic equatorial plane reaching amplitudes up to…Read more on Interaction of EMIC waves with thermal plasma and radiation belt particles
1 January, 2006
A microcosm experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of sewage-derived particulate organic matter (POM) on the food sources and diets of two species of intertidal benthic foraminifera, Ammonia beccarii…1 January, 2006 by Peter Ward
Physical ocean processes (ice-melt, island run-off and upwelling of nutrients) were hypothesised to affect the bacterioplankton composition in the surface mixed layer of the Scotia Sea during the austral summer…1 January, 2006 by Jaume Forcada
The effect of age, sex, nutritive condition and organochlorine concentration on blubber retinoid concentrations was examined in 74 common dolphins incidentally caught off northwestern Spain. Age and blubber lipid content…1 January, 2006 by Helen Peat, Philip Trathan
We used satellite telemetry methods to study macaroni penguins at South Georgia to determine how they ranged from their colonies during the early part of their breeding season at a…1 January, 2006
Models of snow processes in areas of possible large-scale change need to be site independent and physically based. Here, the accumulation and ablation of the seasonal snow cover beneath a…Read more on The radiative effect of a fir canopy on a snowpack
1 January, 2006 by Gareth Marshall, John Turner, Thomas Lachlan-Cope
An assessment of mean atmospheric and oceanic data from a 100-year segment of a pre-industrial control run of version 3 of the Hadley Centre climate model is presented. The model…Read more on The performance of the Hadley Centre climate model (HADCM3) in high southern latitudes
1 January, 2006 by Gareth Marshall, John Turner, Steve Colwell, Thomas Lachlan-Cope
We report an undocumented major warming of the Antarctic winter troposphere that is larger than any previously identified regional tropospheric warming on Earth. This result has come to light through…Read more on Significant warming of the Antarctic winter troposphere
1 January, 2006 by David Vaughan
Long-term records from meteorological stations on the Antarctic Peninsula show strong rising trends in the annual duration of melting conditions. In each case, the trend is statistically significant and represents…1 January, 2006 by David Vaughan, Fausto Ferraccioli, Hugh Corr
Predictions about future changes in the Amundsen Sea sector of the West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS) have been hampered by poorly known subglacial topography. Extensive airborne survey has allowed us…1 January, 2006 by Howard Roscoe
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We present in this paper fifteen years measurements, from March 1991 to September 2005, of stratospheric NO2 vertical columns measured by a SAOZ zenith-sky visible spectrometer. The instrument spent…Read more on SAOZ measurements of stratospheric NO2 at Aberystwyth
1 January, 2006 by Richard Phillips
At St Kilda, Outer Hebrides, a large colony of great skuas Stercorarius skua feed extensively on one of the largest colonies of Leach’s storm-petrels Oceanodroma leucorhoa in Europe, but little…1 January, 2006
We report the composition of terrestrial, intertidal and shallow sublittoral faunal communities at sites around Rothera Research Station, Adelaide Island, Antarctic Peninsula. We examined primary hypotheses that the marine environment…Read more on Ecological contrasts across an Antarctic land-sea interface
1 January, 2006 by David Barnes, Roger Worland, Peter Convey
Recent studies have revealed a previously unanticipated level of biodiversity present in the Antarctic littoral. Here, we report research on the ecophysiological strategies adopted by intertidal species that permit them…