1 January, 2005
Many phyla of marine invertebrates are difficult to identify using conventional morphological taxonomy. Larvae of a wider set of phyla are also difficult to identify as a result of conservation…1 January, 2005 by Adrian Fox, David Vaughan
The continued retreat of ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula has been widely attributed to recent atmospheric warming, but there is little published work describing changes in glacier margin positions.…Read more on Retreating glacier fronts on the Antarctic Peninsula over the past half-century
1 January, 2005
Background Animal mitochondrial genomes are physically separate from the much larger nuclear genomes and have proven useful both for phylogenetic studies and for understanding genome evolution. Within the phylum Arthropoda…Read more on The complete mitochondrial genome of the stomatopod crustacean Squilla mantis
1 January, 2005
Ian Crawford and Charles Cockell report on a wide-ranging RAS Discussion Meeting putting the broad scientific case for people in space, at the Linnean Society on 10 December 2004. Despite…Read more on The scientific case for human space exploration
1 January, 2005 by Janet Silk, Richard Phillips, Vsevolod Afanasyev
Although albatrosses are paradigms of oceanic specialization, their foraging areas and migration routes when not breeding remain essentially unknown. Our continuous remote tracking of 22 adult gray-headed albatrosses for over…Read more on Global circumnavigations: tracking year-round ranges of nonbreeding albatrosses
1 January, 2005
The biologically damaging solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation (quantified by the DNA-weighted dose) reaches the martian surface in extremely high levels. Searching for potentially habitable UV-protected environments on Mars, we considered…Read more on Radiative habitable zones in martian polar environments
1 January, 2005 by Howard Roscoe
Here we present an operational method to improve accuracy and information content of ground-based measurements of stratospheric NO2. The motive is to improve the investigation of trends in NO2, and…1 January, 2005
We describe in situ observations on nesting by the Scotia Sea (or blackfin) icefish Chaenocephalus aceratus (Lönnberg) that constitute the first substantive evidence of egg brooding and parental care by…1 January, 2005
Joint inversion of isochron and flow line data from the flanks of the extinct West Scotia Ridge spreading center yields five reconstruction rotations for times between the inception of spreading…1 January, 2005
With proposals that micro-miniaturised Raman spectrometers could soon be part of a suite of analytical instrumentation on the surface of Mars, it is critically important to examine the spectral information…1 January, 2005
We present a new European Mars mission proposal to build on the UK-led Beagle2 Mars mission and continue its astrobiology-focussed investigation of Mars. The small surface element to be delivered…Read more on Vanguard — a European robotic astrobiology-focussed Mars sub-surface mission proposal
1 January, 2005 by Geraint Tarling
A biophysical model of the Irish Sea was produced to predict net horizontal movement of key taxa including small copepods (Acartia, Pseudocalanus), large copepod species (Calanus finmarchicus and C. helgolandicus),…1 January, 2005
Geological and geophysical data from the NE Antarctic Peninsula continental shelf are used to reconstruct the glacial history, flow-dynamics and sedimentation of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet (APIS) along its…1 January, 2005 by Howard Roscoe
An offline 3D chemical transport model (CTM) has been used to study the evolution of the Antarctic ozone hole during the sudden warming event of 2002 and to compare it…1 January, 2005 by Fausto Ferraccioli, Philip Leat
Determining the location and geometry of possible subglacial rifts in western Dronning Maud Land is a key element to address processes leading to early Gondwana break-up. However, previous geophysical investigations…1 January, 2005 by Fausto Ferraccioli, Philip Leat, Teal Riley
The Jutulstraumen ice stream in western Dronning Maud Land may conceal a Jurassic continental rift. Delineating the geometry and the magmatic patterns of this inferred glaciated rift in East Antarctica…1 January, 2005
Depleted mantle model ages derived from granitoids of the Lassiter Coast Intrusive Suite, sampled over a wide geographical area in eastern Ellsworth Land, Antarctica, cluster between 1000 Ma and 1200…1 January, 2005
Granulite-facies metamorphism affecting the Slishwood Division was extreme. Three samples yielded P–T conditions of 15.8, 14, 14.9kbar at 810, 750 and 880°C, respectively. Four Sm–Nd mineral isochrons, defined by granulite-facies…1 January, 2005
A set of polymerase chain reaction primers were designed, which amplify a c. 1 kb fragment of the 18S ribosomal DNA gene, and are specific to the phylum Nematoda. These…Read more on Nematode-specific PCR primers for the 18S small subunit rRNA gene
1 January, 2005 by Eugene Murphy, Jaume Forcada, Philip Trathan
Climate variability has strong effects on marine ecosystems, with repercussions that range in scale from those that impact individuals to those that impact the entire food web. Climate-induced changes in…Read more on The effects of global climate variability in pup production of Antarctic fur seals
1 January, 2005
We investigated trophic ecology variation among colonies as well as sex- and age-related differences in the diet of the southern giant petrel Macronectes giganteus, a long-lived seabird that is sexually…1 January, 2005
In this report daily ground-based measurements of vertical profiles of CO and H2O from 2002 are used to trace the vertical movement of air caused by the seasonally varying mean…1 January, 2005 by Adrian Fox, David Vaughan
In recent decades, several ice shelves along the Antarctic Peninsula have diminished in size as a result of climate warming. Using aerial photographic, satellite and survey data we document a…Read more on The retreat of Jones Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula
1 January, 2005 by Peter Convey
Alien microbes, fungi, plants and animals occur on most of the sub-Antarctic islands and some parts of the Antarctic continent. These have arrived over approximately the last two centuries, coincident…Read more on Biological invasions in the Antarctic: extent, impacts and implications
1 January, 2005 by Andrew Clarke
The bathyal West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) shelf experiences intense seasonal variability in primary production, with summer phytoplankton blooms yielding intense pulse of phytodetritus to shelf sediments. Echinoderms form a conspicuous…1 January, 2005
Placopsis antarctica, which is apparently endemic to antarctic regions south of lat. 60°S (South Orkney Is, South Shetland Is and the Antarctic Peninsula), is described. Details of its morphology, anatomy,…Read more on A new species of Placopsis (Agyriaceae: Ascomycota) from Antarctica
1 January, 2005
Vahlkampfia signyensis n. sp. was isolated from two soil sites at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, maritime Antarctic. Trophozoites of the species had a typical vahlkampfiid morphology, showed eruptive movement…1 January, 2005 by Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
We present a new computer code (PADIE) that calculates fully relativistic quasi-linear pitch angle and energy diffusion coefficients for resonant wave-particle interactions in a magnetized plasma. Unlike previous codes, the…Read more on Calculation of pitch angle and energy diffusion coefficients with the PADIE code
1 January, 2005
The two sibling species of giant petrels (northern Macronectes halli and the southern M. giganteus), the dominant scavengers of the sub-Antarctic and Antarctic environment, are one of the best examples…Read more on Differences in foraging behaviour and feeding ecology in giant petrels
1 January, 2005
Macaroni penguins were implanted with data loggers to record heart rate (fH), abdominal temperature (Tab) and diving depth during their pre-moult trip (summer) and winter migration. The penguins showed substantial…Read more on Do seasonal changes in metabolic rate facilitate changes in diving behaviour?
1 January, 2005
Penguins are major consumers in the marine environment. However, like many top predators, very little information exists on their foraging behaviour outside the breeding season. We investigated the foraging behaviour…Read more on Behavioural flexibility during year-round foraging in macaroni penguins
1 January, 2005
In the eighteenth century, James Hutton came up with a theory that revolutionized the science of geology, ‘The present is a key to the past’. But could the past also…Read more on The climate of the future: clues from three million years ago
1 January, 2005
Abstract not available for this article.1 January, 2005
Traditional reconstructions of sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) produced by the Pliocene Research Interpretations and Synoptic Mapping (PRISM) Group indicate that mid-Pliocene surface ocean temperatures were unchanged or slightly cooler than modern…1 January, 2005 by Jonathan Shanklin
A medium frequency spaced-antenna radar has been operating at Rothera station, Antarctica (67° S, 68° W) for two periods, between 1997-1998 and since 2002, measuring winds in the mesosphere and…1 January, 2005 by Simeon Hill
The South Georgia population of mackerel icefish (Champsocephalus gunnari) is exploited by both a fishery and predators, including gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua). Because considerable uncertainty surrounds recent estimates of stock…1 January, 2005 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
Upper Quaternary marine sediments recovered from the West Antarctic continental margin are characterized by a distinct lithological succession allowing the reconstruction of past environmental changes. Massive, homogenous diamictons were deposited…1 January, 2005
The ‘Moult Rate’ (MR) method has been used widely to derive stage-specific growth rates in juvenile copepods. It is the most common field-based method. Unfortunately, the equation underlying the method…1 January, 2005 by Dominic Hodgson, Peter Convey
We studied the fossil remains of the common Antarctic oribatid mites, Alaskozetes antarcticus and Halozetes belgicae, in sediment cores from two lakes in adjacent catchments on Signy Island, South Orkney…1 January, 2005 by Dominic Hodgson
Little is known about the response of terrestrial East Antarctica to climate changes during the last glacial–interglacial cycle. Here we present a continuous sediment record from a lake in the…1 January, 2005 by Dominic Hodgson
Elevated ultraviolet irradiance (UVR, 280–400 nm) damages DNA and induces reorganisation within biological communities at the Earth's surface. Southern high latitude aquatic ecosystems may be particularly susceptible because of low…Read more on Late Pleistocene record of elevated UV radiation in an Antarctic lake
1 January, 2005
Novel observations collected from video, acoustic and conductivity sensors showed that Antarctic fur seals consistently exhale during the last 50–85% of ascent from all dives (10–160 m, n>8000 dives from…1 January, 2005 by Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
Electron acceleration inside the Earth's magnetosphere is required to explain increases in the ∼MeV radiation belt electron flux during magnetically disturbed periods. Recent studies show that electron acceleration by whistler…Read more on Timescale for radiation belt electron acceleration by whistler mode chorus waves
1 January, 2005 by Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
The Van Allen radiation belts are two regions encircling the Earth in which energetic charged particles are trapped inside the Earth's magnetic field. Their properties vary according to solar activity…Read more on Wave acceleration of electrons in the Van Allen radiation belts
1 January, 2005
Fossil soils are present within mid-Cretaceous fluvial sediments of the Fossil Bluff Group, Alexander Island, Antarctica. The palaeosols contain in situ fossil trees and rooted plants. These palaeosols are typically…1 January, 2005 by David Barnes
Variation in gonadal somatic indices (GSI) and fatty acid signatures of 2 contrasting Scottish west coast populations of the echinoid Psammechinus miliaris were examined. P. miliaris was sampled from both…Read more on Gonad fatty acids and trophic interactions of the echinoid Psammechinus miliaris
1 January, 2005 by Kevin Hughes
The majority of coastal Antarctic research stations discard untreated sewage waste into the near-shore marine environment. However, Antarctic solar conditions are unique, with ozone depletion increasing the proportion of potentially…Read more on Effect of Antarctic solar radiation on sewage bacteria viability
1 January, 2005 by Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey
The populations of two non-native Dipterans have been established at two Antarctic research stations since at least 1998. Both belong to Sciaridae ("black fungus midge"), and have been determined to…Read more on Alien fly populations established at two Antarctic research stations
1 January, 2005
New U–Pb zircon ion-microprobe ages from the alluvial conglomerates and flood plain sediments of the Botany Bay Group demonstrate that sedimentation occurred at c. 167 Ma, coeval with rift-related silicic…1 January, 2005
We investigated the possible effects of a 12-g data-logger attached to a darvic ring on the performance of Coryrsquos shearwater (Calonectris diomedea, 600–850 g) from two different colonies in the…Read more on Short-term effects of data-loggers on Cory’s shearwater (Calonectris diomedea)
1 January, 2005 by Robert Mulvaney
Svalbard ice cores have not yet been fully exploited for studies of climate and environmental conditions. In one recently drilled ice core from Lomonosovfonna, we have studied the methanesulfonic acid…Read more on The methanesulfonic acid (MSA) record in a Svalbard ice core
1 January, 2005
Climatological change in the tides in the lower thermosphere has been estimated at five different latitudes using wavelet analysis of geomagnetic data series extending back to the beginning of the…1 January, 2005 by Robert Mulvaney
We investigate and quantify the variability of snow accumulation rate around a medium-depth firn core (160 m) drilled in east Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica (75°00′S, 15°00′E; 3470 m h.a.e. (ellipsoidal…1 January, 2005 by Robert Mulvaney
We present a high-resolution record of water-soluble ion chemistry from a 121 m ice core spanning about 800 years. The core is well dated to 2/3 depth using cycle counting…Read more on The 800 year long ion record from the Lomonosovfonna (Svalbard) ice core
1 January, 2005 by Ed King
Ocean tide models around Antarctica are presently only sparsely tested against independent data. Ocean tide modeling errors, along with subsequent ocean tide loading (OTL) displacement modeling errors, alias into altimetry…Read more on Validation of ocean tide models around Antarctica using onshore GPS and gravity data
1 January, 2005 by Sally Thorpe
During the austral summer of 2003, a large scale survey of the Scotia Sea was undertaken by the British Antarctic Survey as part of the Southern Ocean Global Ocean Ecosystems…1 January, 2005
A revised stratigraphy of Cenozoic volcanic outcrops in the Brandy Bay area on James Ross Island is obtained by combining palaeomagnetic and stratigraphical anlysis with 40Ar/39Ar dating. The fieldwork was…1 January, 2005 by David Barnes
Boulder communities were studied in summer 2002 in West Spitsbergen fiords. We examined multiple samples at three stations in Kongsfjorden (79° N, 12° E) and three stations in Hornsund (77°…Read more on Biodiversity on coastal boulders at Spitsbergen
1 January, 2005 by David Barnes
Bryozoans are one of the major macrofaunal groups of the high polar regions. Here we present data on the nature of bryozoan assemblages in the Svalbard Archipelago sampled over 6…1 January, 2005 by Thomas Lachlan-Cope
Two different experiments have been conducted using the Hadley Centre's atmosphere-only, global climate model to investigate the role of sea ice in forcing the Antarctic climate during the winter months.…Read more on Role of sea ice in forcing the winter climate of Antarctica in a global climate model
1 January, 2005 by Philip Leat, Teal Riley
The chemistry of mafic volcanic rocks and minor intrusions erupted on continents can be used to define sub-continental asthenospheric and lithospheric mantle sources. Data have been collated from Antarctica and…1 January, 2005
No abstract available for this article.Read more on Thinking big – taking a large-scale approach to seabird bycatch
1 January, 2005
The timing of events leading to the earliest connection between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans at Drake Passage is controversial but important, because gateway opening probably had a profound effect…1 January, 2005 by Hua Lu
For long-standing theoretical reasons, it is often asserted that the threshold shear stress for entrainment of sedimentary particles (τ*t = ρfu*2t, made dimensionless as A = ρfu*2t/((ρp − ρf)gd)) has…Read more on Modeling entrainment of sedimentary particles by wind and water: A generalized approach
1 January, 2005 by Richard Horne
Enhancements in relativistic electron fluxes in the outer radiation belt often occur following magnetic storms and have been suggested to result from resonant interactions with enhanced whistler-mode chorus emissions observed…1 January, 2005 by Keith Makinson
Throughout much of the year a coastal polynya along Ronne Ice Front in the southern Weddell Sea is maintained by winds blowing from Ronne Ice Shelf and tidal divergence [Foldvik…Read more on Seasonal stratification and tidal current profiles along Ronne Ice Front
1 January, 2005 by Robert Mulvaney
From its original formulation in 1990 the International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE) has had as its primary aim the collection and interpretation of a continent-wide array of environmental parameters assembled…Read more on The International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE): an overview
1 January, 2005 by Peter Convey, Sandra McInnes, Sandra McInnes
The maritime Antarctic South Sandwich Islands are an isolated oceanic archipelago of volcanic origin lying between 56º18'S, 27º34'W and 59º27'S, 27º22'W. All the islands are of recent origin (maximum ages…Read more on Tardigrade fauna of the South Sandwich Islands, maritime Antarctic
1 January, 2005 by Eugene Murphy, Michael Meredith, Philip Trathan, Sally Thorpe
Six years of high-resolution hydrographic data from the eastern and northwestern sides of South Georgia (southwest Atlantic) are used to study the changing circulation and water mass properties of the…1 January, 2005 by Sandra McInnes, Sandra McInnes
A new species, Hypsibius heardensis sp. nov. (Tardigrada: Eutardigrada: Hypsibiidae) is described from samples collected during the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) 1986-87 expedition to Heard Island, in the…1 January, 2005 by Dominic Hodgson
Analysis of lacustrine sediments is an accepted method for deciphering the palaeoenvironment of a lake's catchment area, as each strata of the sediment gives information about the rock type it…Read more on Biogeological Raman spectroscopic studies of Antarctic lacustrine sediments
1 January, 2005 by David Pearce
This study is the first demonstration that a diverse facultatively methylotrophic microbiota exists in some Antarctic locations. PCR amplification of genes diagnostic for methylotrophs was carried out with bacterial DNA…1 January, 2005 by David Pearce
Three novel strains of methylotrophic Afipia felis were isolated from several locations on Signy Island, Antarctica, and a fourth from estuary sediment from the River Douro, Portugal. They were identified…1 January, 2005 by Mark Belchier, Simon Morley
Mackerel icefish, Champsocephalus gunnari, larvae were sampled by weekly plankton tows in Cumberland Bay South Georgia. The formation of daily growth increments in sagittal otoliths was validated from larvae sampled…Read more on Daily otolith increment validation in larval mackerel icefish, Champsocephalus gunnari
1 January, 2005 by Howard Roscoe
Historic upper-air observations from Antarctica are inspected to investigate the uniqueness of the vortex split in the Antarctic spring of 2002. No comprehensive meteorological observations are available prior to the…1 January, 2005 by Helen Peat, Kevin Newsham, Paul Geissler
UV-B radiation (280–315 nm), incident on the leafy liverwort Cephaloziella varians growing at Rothera Point on the Western Antarctic Peninsula, was manipulated in late austral spring 1998 by screens consisting…1 January, 2005
This study analysed the total length (LT)-frequency distribution of mackerel icefish Champsocephalus gunnari at South Georgia and Shag Rocks from nine bottom trawl surveys at South Georgia and eight at…1 January, 2005 by Claire Allen
Geophysical and geological data indicate that during the last glacial cycle a palaeo-ice stream drained the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet (APIS) through Marguerite Bay to the edge of the continental…1 January, 2005 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Robert Larter
Geophysical data show that during the last glaciation the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) drained to the continental shelf edge of the Bellingshausen Sea through a cross-shelf bathymetric trough (Belgica…1 January, 2005 by Melody Clark
Scophthalmus maximus is an important commercially aquaculture fish species. We tackle the search for new microsatellites using two different approaches: an enriched partial genomic library and a screening of all…1 January, 2005 by Michael Pinnock
The comparatively low latitude of the Tasman International Geospace Environment Radar (TIGER) (147.2°E, 43.4°S, geographic; −54.6°Λ), a Southern Hemisphere HF SuperDARN radar, facilitates the observation of extensive backscatter from decametre-scale…1 January, 2005 by Michael Pinnock
Earthward injections of energetic ions and electrons mark the onset of magnetospheric substorms. In the inner magnetosphere (L~4), the energetic ions drift westward and the electrons eastward, thereby enhancing the…1 January, 2005
The MODVOLC satellite monitoring system has revealed the first recorded eruption of Mount Belinda volcano, on Montagu Island in the remote South Sandwich Islands. Here we present some initial qualitative…1 January, 2005 by David Pearce
In this study, variation in the bacterioplankton community structure of three Antarctic lakes of different nutrient status, was determined in relation to physical and chemical gradients at depth and at…1 January, 2005 by David Pearce, Kevin Newsham
Nutrient enrichment is known to increase bacterioplankton population density in a variety of Antarctic freshwater lakes. However, relatively little is known about the associated changes in species composition. In this…1 January, 2005 by Lloyd Peck
Organisms have a limited number of responses that enhance survival in changing environments. They can: 1. Cope within existing physiological flexibility; 2. Adapt to changing conditions; or 3. Migrate to…1 January, 2005 by Lloyd Peck
Maritime Antarctic freshwater habitats are amongst the fastest changing environments on Earth. Temperatures have risen around 1°C and ice cover has dramatically decreased in 15 years. Few animal species inhabit…Read more on Prospects for surviving climate change in Antarctic aquatic species