Ice core aquisition and analysis, Cambridge, UK

Position
Lat. 52°12'44"N, Long. 0°4'50"E

State-of-the-art capability

BAS provides the UK’s only capability to recover and analyse ice cores (up to 1000 m).  We provide ice core drills for deployment by research teams around the world, and operate state-of-the-art laboratories in Cambridge to provide a wide range of climatologically and environmentally-relevant chemical, gas and stable isotope analyses.

Expertise

Ice cores from Antarctica, the Arctic and mi-latitude locations are drilled, processed and analysed by BAS scientists and engineers. Laboratory facilities in Cambridge allow the analysis and interpretation of ice cores dating from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of years old. The current facilities allow ice to be stored, processed, and analysed, using a number of analytical chemistry, isotopic and gas extraction techniques to provide information from the past to help to predict the future.

Ice chemistry laboratories

The interpretation of ice core records including climate and atmospheric modelling studies, aimed both at improving ice core proxies, and understanding the couplings and interactions between different parts of the earth-system.

A bespoke Continuous Flow Analysis (CFA) method coupled to a suite of instruments and detectors including:

  • Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS)
    • Elemental chemistry
  • Fast Ion Chromatography (FIC)
    • Major ion chemistry
  • Fluorescence detectors
    • Hydrogen peroxide, ammonium, calcium, nitrate
  • Gas analysers (Picarro and Zara)
    • Continuous methane and carbon monoxide

Take a tour of the ice core labs:

Click here for a virtual tour of the labs and meet some of the team.

 

 

Ice core data stored at the UK Polar Data Centre:

 

Recent ice core papers:

2023

Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Vladimirova, Diana O. , Tetzner, Dieter R. , Emanuelsson, B. Daniel , Chellman, Nathan, Dixon, Daniel A., Goosse, Hugues, Grieman, Mackenzie M., King, Amy C.F. , Sigl, Michael, Udy, Danielle G., Vance, Tessa R., Winski, Dominic A., Winton, V. Holly L., Bertler, Nancy A.N., Hori, Akira, Laluraj, Chavarukonam M., McConnell, Joseph R., Motizuki, Yuko, Takahashi, Kazuya, Motoyama, Hideaki, Nakai, Yoichi, Schwanck, Franciéle, Simões, Jefferson Cardia, Gaudie Ley Lindau, Filipe, Severi, Mirko, Traversi, Rita, Wauthy, Sarah, Xiao, Cunde, Yang, Jiao, Mosely-Thompson, Ellen, Khodzher, Tamara V., Golobokova, Ludmila P., Ekaykin, Alexey A.. (2023) Ice core chemistry database: an Antarctic compilation of sodium and sulfate records spanning the past 2000 years. Earth System Science Data, 15. 2517-2532. 10.5194/essd-15-2517-2023

Thomas, Elizabeth Ruth , Tetzner, Dieter , Markle, Bradley, Pedro, Joel, Gacitúa, Guisella, Moser, Dorothea Elisabeth , Jackson, Sarah. (2023) The first firn core from Peter 1st Island – capturing climate variability across the Bellingshausen Sea. Climate of the Past: Discussions. 10.5194/egusphere-2023-1064

Emanuelsson, B. Daniel , Renwick, James A., Bertler, Nancy A. N., Baisden, W. Troy, Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2023) The role of large-scale drivers in the Amundsen Sea Low variability and associated changes in water isotopes from the Roosevelt Island ice core, Antarctica. Climate Dynamics, 60. 4145-4155. 10.1007/s00382-022-06568-8

Hartz, William F., Björnsdotter, Maria K., Yeung, Leo W.Y., Hodson, Andrew, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Humby, Jack D. , Day, Chris, Jogsten, Ingrid Ericson, Kärrman, Anna, Kallenborn, Roland. (2023) Levels and distribution profiles of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in a high Arctic Svalbard ice core. Science of the Total Environment, 871. 12 pp. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161830

Thomas, E.R. , Tetzner, D.R. , Roberts, S.L., Turner, S.D., Rose, N.L.. (2023) First evidence of industrial fly-ash in an Antarctic ice core. Scientific Reports, 13. 5 pp. 10.1038/s41598-023-33849-x

Thomas, Elizabeth R.. , Vladimirova, Diana O., Tetzner, Dieter R. , Emanuelsson, Daniel B. , Humby, Jack , Turner, Simon D., Rose, Neil L., Roberts, Sarah L., Gaca, Pawel, Cundy, Andrew B.. (2023) The Palmer ice core as a candidate Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Anthropocene series. The Anthropocene Review, 10. 30 pp. 10.1177/20530196231155191

Brown, Joseph W., Moser, Dorothea E. , Emanuelsson, Daniel B. , Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2023) Visual Stratigraphy-Based Age Scale Developed for the Shallow Mount Siple Firn Core, Antarctica. Geosciences, 13. 10.3390/geosciences13030085

Wang, Yetang, Zhang, Xueying, Ning, Wentao, Lazzara, Matthew A., Ding, Minghu, Reijmer, Carleen H., Smeets, Paul C.J.P., Grigioni, Paolo, Heil, Petra, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Mikolajczyk, David, Welhouse, Lee J., Keller, Linda M., Zhai, Zhaosheng, Sun, Yuqi, Hou, Shugui. (2023) The AntAWS dataset: a compilation of Antarctic automatic weather station observations. Earth System Science Data, 15. 19 pp. 10.5194/essd-15-411-2023

Rowell, Isobel F., Mulvaney, Robert , Rix, Julius , Tetzner, Dieter R. , Wolff, Eric W.. (2023) Viability of chemical and water isotope ratio measurements of RAID ice chippings from Antarctica. Journal of Glaciology, 69. 16 pp. 10.1017/jog.2022.94

2022

Emanuelsson, B. Daniel , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Humby, Jack D. , Vladimirova, Diana O. . (2022) Decadal Scale Variability of Larsen Ice Shelf Melt Captured by Antarctic Peninsula Ice Core. Geosciences, 12. 12 pp. 10.3390/geosciences12090344

Hoffmann, Helene M., Grieman, Mackenzie M., King, Amy C.F. , Epifanio, Jenna A., Martin, Kaden, Vladimirova, Diana, Pryer, Helena, Doyle, Emily, Schmidt, Axel, Humby, Jack D. , Rowell, Isobel F., Nehrbass-Ahles, Christoph, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Mulvaney, Robert , Wolff, Eric W.. (2022) The ST22 chronology for the Skytrain Ice Rise ice core – Part 1: A stratigraphic chronology of the last 2000 years. Climate of the Past, 18. 17 pp. 10.5194/cp-18-1831-2022

Jones, Richard S., Johnson, Joanne S. , Lin, Yucheng, Mackintosh, Andrew N., Sefton, Juliet P., Smith, James A. , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Whitehouse, Pippa L.. (2022) Stability of the Antarctic Ice Sheet during the pre-industrial Holocene. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 3. 16 pp. 10.1038/s43017-022-00309-5

Tetzner, Dieter R. , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Allen, Claire S. , Grieman, Mackenzie M.. (2022) Regional validation of the use of diatoms in ice cores from the Antarctic Peninsula as a Southern Hemisphere westerly wind proxy. Climate of the Past, 18. 1709-1727. 10.5194/cp-18-1709-2022

Turner, John , Holmes, Caroline , Caton Harrison, Thomas , Phillips, Tony , Jena, Babula, Reeves-Francois, Tylei, Fogt, Ryan, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Bajish, C.C.. (2022) Record low Antarctic sea ice cover in February 2022. Geophysical Research Letters, 49. 11 pp. 10.1029/2022GL098904

Johnson, Joanne S. , Venturelli, Ryan A., Balco, Greg, Allen, Claire S. , Braddock, Scott, Campbell, Seth, Goehring, Brent M., Hall, Brenda L., Neff, Peter D., Nichols, Keir A., Rood, Dylan H., Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Woodward, John. (2022) Existing and potential evidence for Holocene grounding line retreat and readvance in Antarctica. The Cryosphere, 16. 1543-1562. 10.5194/tc-16-1543-2022

Erhardt, T., Bigler, M., Federer, U., Gfeller, G., Leuenberger, D., Stowasser, O., Röthlisberger, R., Schüpbach, S., Ruth, U., Twarloh, B., Wegner, A., Goto-Azuma, K., Kuramoto, T., Kjær, H.A., Vallelonga, P.T., Siggaard-Andersen, M-L., Hansson, M.E., Benton, A.K., Fleet, L.G., Mulvaney, R. , Thomas, E.R. , Abram, N., Stocker, T.F., Fischer, H.. (2022) High-resolution aerosol concentration data from the Greenland NorthGRIP and NEEM deep ice cores. Earth System Science Data, 14. 1215-1231. 10.5194/essd-14-1215-2022

Tetzner, Dieter R. , Allen, Claire S. , Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2022) Regional variability of diatoms in ice cores from the Antarctic Peninsula and Ellsworth Land, Antarctica. The Cryosphere, 16. 779-798. 10.5194/tc-16-779-2022

Emanuelsson, B. Daniel , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Tetzner, Dieter R. , Humby, Jack D. , Vladimirova, Diana O. . (2022) Ice core chronologies from the Antarctic Peninsula: The Palmer, Jurassic, and Rendezvous age-scales. Geosciences, 12. 10.3390/geosciences12020087

Grieman, Mackenzie M., Hoffmann, Helene M., Humby, Jack D. , Mulvaney, Robert , Nehrbass-Ahles, Christoph, Rix, Julius , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Tuckwell, Rebecca , Wolff, Eric W.. (2022) Continuous flow analysis methods for sodium, magnesium and calcium detection in the Skytrain ice core. Journal of Glaciology, 68. 90-100. 10.1017/jog.2021.75

2021

Tetzner, Dieter R. , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Allen, Claire S. , Permattei, Alma. (2021) Evidence of recent active volcanism in the Balleny Islands (Antarctica) from ice core records. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 126. 20 pp. 10.1029/2021JD035095

Dalaiden, Quentin, Goosse, Hugues, Rezsöhazy, Jeanne, Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2021) Reconstructing atmospheric circulation and sea-ice extent in the West Antarctic over the past 200 years using data assimilation. Climate Dynamics, 57. 3479-3503. 10.1007/s00382-021-05879-6

Simms, Alexander R., Bentley, Michael J., Simkins, Lauren M., Zurbuchen, Julie, Reynolds, Laura C., DeWitt, Regina, Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2021) Evidence for a “Little Ice Age” glacial advance within the Antarctic Peninsula – Examples from glacially-overrun raised beaches. Quaternary Science Reviews, 271. 16 pp. 10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107195

Moser, Dorothea Elisabeth , Jackson, Sarah, Kjær, Helle Astrid, Markle, Bradley, Ngoumtsa, Estelle, Pedro, Joel B., Segato, Delia, Spolaor, andrea, Tetzner, Dieter , Vallelonga, Paul, Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2021) An age scale for the first shallow (sub-)Antarctic ice core from Young Island, Northwest Ross Sea. Geosciences, 11. 18 pp. 10.3390/geosciences11090368

Tetzner, Dieter , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Allen, Claire S. , Wolff, Eric W.. (2021) A refined method to analyse insoluble particulate matter in ice cores, and its application to diatom sampling in the Antarctic Peninsula. Frontiers in Earth Science, 9. 13 pp. 10.3389/feart.2021.617043

Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Gacitúa, Guisella, Pedro, Joel B., King, Amy Constance Faith , Markle, Bradley, Potocki, Mariusz, Moser, Dorothea Elisabeth. (2021) Physical properties of shallow ice cores from Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands. The Cryosphere, 15. 14 pp. 10.5194/tc-15-1173-2021

Nguyen, L., Paleari, C.I., Müller, S., Christl, M., Mekhaldi, F. , Gautschi, P., Mulvaney, R. , Rix, J. , Muscheler, R.. (2021) The potential for a continuous 10Be record measured on ice chips from a borehole. Results in Geochemistry, 5. 11 pp. 10.1016/j.ringeo.2021.100012

Mulvaney, Robert , Rix, Julius , Polfrey, Scott, Grieman, Mackenzie, Martìn, Carlos , Nehrbass-Ahles, Christoph, Rowell, Isobel, Tuckwell, Rebecca , Wolff, Eric. (2021) Ice drilling on Skytrain Ice Rise and Sherman Island, Antarctica. Annals of Glaciology, 62. 311-323. 10.1017/aog.2021.7

Bauska, Thomas K. , Marcott, Shaun A., Brook, Edward J.. (2021) Abrupt changes in the global carbon cycle during the last glacial period. Nature Geoscience, 14. 18 pp. 10.1038/s41561-020-00680-2

2020

Cavitte, Marie G. P., Dalaiden, Quentin, Goosse, Hugues, Lenaerts, Jan T. M., Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2020) Reconciling the surface temperature–surface mass balance relationship in models and ice cores in Antarctica over the last 2 centuries. The Cryosphere, 14. 20 pp. 10.5194/tc-14-4083-2020

Dalaiden, Quentin, Goosse, Hugues, Klein, François, Lenaerts, Jan T.M., Holloway, Max , Sime, Louise , Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2020) How useful is snow accumulation in reconstructing surface air temperature in Antarctica? A study combining ice core records and climate models. The Cryosphere, 14. 1187-1207. 10.5194/tc-14-1187-2020

Hoffmann, Kirstin, Fernandoy, Francisco, Meyer, Hanno, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Aliaga, Marcelo, Tetzner, Dieter , Freitag, Johannes, Opel, Thomas, Arigony-Neto, Jorge, Göbel, Christian Florian, Jaña, Ricardo, Rodríguez Oroz, Delia, Tuckwell, Rebecca , Ludlow, Emily, McConnell, Joseph R., Schneider, Christoph. (2020) Stable water isotopes and accumulation rates in the Union Glacier region, Ellsworth Mountains, West Antarctica, over the last 35 years. The Cryosphere, 14. 881-904. 10.5194/tc-14-881-2020

Allen, Claire , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Blagbrough, Hilary , Tetzner, Dieter , Warren, Richard A., Ludlow, Emily C., Bracegirdle, Thomas J. . (2020) Preliminary evidence for the role played by south westerly wind strength on the marine diatom content of an Antarctic Peninsula ice core (1980–2010). Geosciences, 10. 10.3390/geosciences10030087

Martinetto, Edoardo, Bertini, Adele, Bhandari, Sudarshan, Bruch, Angela A., Cerilli, Eugenio, Cherin, Marco, Field, Judith H., Gabrielyan, Ivan, Gianotti, Franco, Kern, Andrea K., Kienast, Frank, Lindsey, Emily L., Momohara, Arata, Ravazzi, Cesare, Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2020) The last three millions of unequal spring thaws. In: Martinetto, E., Tschopp, E., Gastaldo, R. (eds.). Nature through Time, Cham, Springer, 53 pp. (Springer Textbooks in Earth Sciences, Geography and Environment, ). 10.1007/978-3-030-35058-1_1

2019

Fourteau, Kévin, Martinerie, Patricia, Faïn, Xavier, Schaller, Christoph F., Tuckwell, Rebecca J., Löwe, Henning, Arnaud, Laurent, Magand, Olivier, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Freitag, Johannes, Mulvaney, Robert , Schneebeli, Martin. (2019) Multi-tracer study of gas trapping in an East Antarctic ice core. The Cryosphere, 13. 3383-3403. 10.5194/tc-13-3383-2019

Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Allen, Claire S. , Etourneau, Johan, King, Amy C.F. , Severi, Mirko, Winton, Holly , Mueller, Juliane, Crosta, Xavier, Peck, Victoria L. . (2019) Antarctic sea ice proxies from marine and ice core archives suitable for reconstructing sea ice over the past 2000 years. Geosciences, 9. 33 pp. 10.3390/geosciences9120506

Khider, D., Emile‐Geay, J., McKay, N. P., Gil, Y., Garijo, D., Ratnakar, V., Alonso‐Garcia, M., Bertrand, S., Bothe, O., Brewer, P., Bunn, A., Chevalier, M., Comas‐Bru, L., Csank, A., Dassié, E., DeLong, K., Felis, T., Francus, P., Frappier, A., Gray, W., Goring, S., Jonkers, L., Kahle, M., Kaufman, D., Kehrwald, N. M., Martrat, B., McGregor, H., Richey, J., Schmittner, A., Scroxton, N., Sutherland, E., Thirumalai, K., Allen, K., Arnaud, F., Axford, Y., Barrows, T., Bazin, L., Pilaar Birch, S. E., Bradley, E., Bregy, J., Capron, E., Cartapanis, O., Chiang, H.‐W., Cobb, K. M., Debret, M., Dommain, R., Du, J., Dyez, K., Emerick, S., Erb, M. P., Falster, G., Finsinger, W., Fortier, D., Gauthier, Nicolas, George, S., Grimm, E., Hertzberg, J., Hibbert, F., Hillman, A., Hobbs, W., Huber, M., Hughes, A. L. C., Jaccard, S., Ruan, J., Kienast, M., Konecky, B., Le Roux, G., Lyubchich, V., Novello, V. F., Olaka, L., Partin, J. W., Pearce, C., Phipps, S. J., Pignol, C., Piotrowska, N., Poli, M.‐S., Prokopenko, A., Schwanck, F., Stepanek, C., Swann, G. E. A., Telford, R., Thomas, E. , Thomas, Z., Truebe, S., Gunten, L., Waite, A., Weitzel, N., Wilhelm, B., Williams, J., Winstrup, M., Zhao, N., Zhou, Y.. (2019) PaCTS 1.0: A Crowdsourced Reporting Standard for Paleoclimate Data. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 34. 1570-1596. 10.1029/2019PA003632

King, A.C.F. , Thomas, E.R. , Pedro, J.B., Markle, B., Potocki, M., Jackson, S.L. , Wolff, E., Kalberer, M.. (2019) Organic compounds in a sub-Antarctic ice core: A potential suite of sea-ice markers. Geophysical Research Letters, 46. 9930-9939. 10.1029/2019GL084249

Tetzner, Dieter , Thomas, Liz , Allen, Claire . (2019) A validation of ERA5 reanalysis data in the southern Antarctic Peninsula – Ellsworth Land region, and its implications for ice core studies. Geosciences, 9. 10.3390/geosciences9070289

Bracegirdle, Thomas J. , Colleoni, Florence, Abram, Nerilie J., Bertler, Nancy A.N., Dixon, Daniel A., England, Mark, Favier, Vincent, Fogwill, Chris J., Fyfe, John C., Goodwin, Ian, Goose, Hugues, Hobbs, Will, Jones, Julie M., Keller, Elizabeth D., Khan, Alia L., Phipps, Steven J., Raphael, Marilyn N., Russell, Joellen, Sime, Louise , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , van den Broeke, Michiel R., Wainer, Ilana. (2019) Back to the Future: Using long-term observational and paleo-proxy reconstructions to improve model projections of Antarctic climate. Geosciences, 9. 10.3390/geosciences9060255

Wang, Yetang, Huai, Baojuan, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Broeke, Michiel R., Wessem, J. Melchior, Schlosser, Elisabeth. (2019) A new 200‐year spatial reconstruction of West Antarctic surface mass balance. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124. 5282-5295. 10.1029/2018JD029601

King, Amy , Giorio, Chiara, Wolff, Eric, Thomas, Liz , Roverso, Marco, Schwikowski, Margit, Tapparo, Andrea, Bogialli, Sara, Kalberer, Markus. (2019) Direct injection liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry for determination of primary and secondary terrestrial and marine biomarkers in ice cores. Analytical Chemistry, 91. 5051-5057. 10.1021/acs.analchem.8b05224

Turner, John , Phillips, Tony , Thamban, Meloth, Rahaman, Waliur, Marshall, Gareth , Wille, Jonathan, Favier, Vincent, Winton, Holly , Thomas, Liz , Wang, Zhaomin, van den Broeke, Michiel, Hosking, Scott , Lachlan-Cope, Thomas . (2019) The dominant role of extreme precipitation events in Antarctic snowfall variability. Geophysical Research Letters, 46. 3502-3511. 10.1029/2018GL081517

King, Amy C.F. , Giorio, Chiara, Wolff, Eric, Thomas, Liz , Karroca, Ornela, Roverso, Marco, Schwikowski, Margit, Tapparo, Andrea, Gambaro, Andrea, Kalberer, Markus. (2019) A new method for the determination of primary and secondary terrestrial and marine biomarkers in ice cores using liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry. Talanta, 194. 233-242. 10.1016/j.talanta.2018.10.042

Medley, B., Thomas, E.R. . (2019) Increased snowfall over the Antarctic Ice Sheet mitigated twentieth-century sea-level rise. Nature Climate Change, 9. 34-39. 10.1038/s41558-018-0356-x

Rix, Julius , Mulvaney, Robert , Hong, Jialin, Ashurst, Daniel. (2019) Development of the British Antarctic Survey Rapid Access Isotope Drill. Journal of Glaciology, 65. 288-298. 10.1017/jog.2019.9

2018

Thomas, Liz R. , Tetzner, Dieter R. . (2018) The climate of the Antarctic Peninsula during the 20th century- evidence from ice cores. In: Kanao, Masaki (eds.). Antarctica – A Key To Global Change, IntechOpen, 10.5772/intechopen.81507

Lenaerts, Jan T. M., Ligtenberg, Stefan R. M., Medley, Brooke, Van de Berg, Willem Jan, Konrad, Hannes, Nicolas, Julien P., Van Wessem, J. Melchior, Trusel, Luke D., Mulvaney, Robert , Tuckwell, Rebecca J. , Hogg, Anna E., Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2018) Climate and surface mass balance of coastal West Antarctica resolved by regional climate modelling. Annals of Glaciology, 59. 29-41. 10.1017/aog.2017.42

Johnson, Joanne S. , O’Donnell, John P., Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2018) In situ measurements of snow accumulation in the Amundsen Sea Embayment during 2016. Antarctic Science, 30. 197-203. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102018000068

Schüpbach, S., Fischer, H., Bigler, M., Erhardt, T., Gfeller, G., Leuenberger, D., Mini, O., Mulvaney, Robert , Abram, Nerilie J., Fleet, Louise, Frey, Markus M. , Thomas, E. , Svensson, A., Dahl-Jensen, D., Kettner, E., Kjaer, H., Seierstad, I., Steffensen, J. P., Rasmussen, S. O., Vallelonga, P., Winstrup, M., Wegner, A., Twarloh, B., Wolff, K., Schmidt, K., Goto-Azuma, K., Kuramoto, T., Hirabayashi, M., Uetake, J., Zheng, J., Bourgeois, J., Fisher, D., Zhiheng, D., Xiao, C., Legrand, M., Spolaor, A., Gabrieli, J., Barbante, C., Kang, J.-H., Hur, S. D., Hong, S. B., Hwang, H. J., Hong, S., Hansson, M., Iizuka, Y., Oyabu, I., Muscheler, R., Adolphi, F., Maselli, O., McConnell, J., Wolff, E. W.. (2018) Greenland records of aerosol source and atmospheric lifetime changes from the Eemian to the Holocene. Nature Communications, 9. 1476. 10.1038/s41467-018-03924-3

Giorio, Chiara, Kehrwald, Natalie, Barbante, Carlo, Kalberer, Markus, King, Amy , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Wolff, Eric W., Zennaro, Piero. (2018) Prospects for reconstructing paleoenvironmental conditions from organic compounds in polar snow and ice. Quaternary Science Reviews, 183. 1-22. 10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.01.007

2017

Wang, Yetang, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Hou, Shugui, Huai, Baojuan, Wu, Shuangye, Sun, Weijun, Qi, Shanzhong, Ding, Minghu, Zhang, Yulun. (2017) Snow accumulation variability over the West Antarctic Ice Sheet since 1900: a comparison of ice core records with ERA-20C reanalysis. Geophysical Research Letters, 44. 11,482-11,490. 10.1002/2017GL075135

Stenni, Barbara, Curran, Mark A. J., Abram, Nerilie J., Orsi, Anais, Goursaud, Sentia, Masson-Delmotte, Valerie, Neukom, Raphael, Goosse, Hugues, Divine, Dmitry, van Ommen, Tas, Steig, Eric J., Dixon, Daniel A., Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Bertler, Nancy A. N., Isaksson, Elisabeth, Ekaykin, Alexey, Werner, Martin, Frezzotti, Massimo. (2017) Antarctic climate variability on regional and continental scales over the last 2000 years. Climate of the Past, 13. 1609-1634. 10.5194/cp-13-1609-2017

Thomas, Elizabeth R. , van Wessem, J. Melchior, Roberts, Jason, Isaksson, Elisabeth, Schlosser, Elisabeth, Fudge, Tyler J., Vallelonga, Paul, Medley, Brooke, Lenaerts, Jan, Bertler, Nancy, van den Broeke, Michiel R., Dixon, Daniel A., Frezzotti, Massimo, Stenni, Barbara, Curran, Mark, Ekaykin, Alexey A.. (2017) Regional Antarctic snow accumulation over the past 1000 years. Climate of the Past, 13. 1491-1513. 10.5194/cp-13-1491-2017

Hosking, J. Scott , Fogt, Ryan, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Moosavi, Vahid, Phillips, Tony , Coggins, Jack, Reusch, David. (2017) Accumulation in coastal West Antarctic ice core records and the role of cyclone activity. Geophysical Research Letters, 44. 9084-9092. 10.1002/2017GL074722

Severi, M., Becagli, S., Caiazzo, L., Ciardini, V., Colizza, E., Giardi, F., Mezgec, K., Scarchilli, C., Stenni, B., Thomas, E.R. , Traversi, R., Udisti, R.. (2017) Sea salt sodium record from Talos Dome (East Antarctica) as a potential proxy of the Antarctic past sea ice extent. Chemosphere, 177. 266-274. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.03.025

Turney, Chris S. M., Fogwill, Christopher J., Palmer, Jonathan G., van Sebille, Erik, Thomas, Zoë, McGlone, Matt, Richardson, Sarah, Wilmshurst, Janet M., Fenwick, Pavla, Zunz, Violette, Goosse, Hugues, Wilson, Kerry-Jayne, Carter, Lionel, Lipson, Mathew, Jones, Richard T., Harsch, Melanie, Clark, Graeme, Marzinelli, Ezequiel, Rogers, Tracey, Rainsley, Eleanor, Ciasto, Laura, Waterman, Stephanie, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Visbeck, Martin. (2017) Tropical forcing of increased Southern Ocean climate variability revealed by a 140-year subantarctic temperate reconstruction. Climate of the Past, 13. 231-248. 10.5194/cp-13-231-2017

Chart, histogram

Ice Core Gas Lab

Specialist ice core facility to measure concentration and isotopic composition of greenhouse gases

A large body of water.

ANTARCTIC BLOG: Working on the Polar Plateau

7 February, 2017 by Markus Frey

Ice core drilling is a large complex operation to firstly get the equipment out into the field, assemble it, drill intact columns of ice and then process the collected ice for analysis. Markus Frey explains.

A sign on a pole in the snow

Drilling of oldest ice on Earth completed

18 February, 2022

The first ice core drilling campaign of Beyond Epica-Oldest Ice has been successfully completed at the remote Little Dome C site in Antarctica – one of the most extreme places …

A close up of a flower.

Mission to drill Antarctica’s oldest ice

30 November, 2021

The first campaign to drill Antarctica’s oldest ice starts this month (November). Beyond EPICA-Oldest Ice aims to drill an ice core to collect a record of past climate spanning 1.5 million years

A group of people standing on top of a snow covered mountain.

Prestigious award for BAS early career scientist

6 November, 2018

Congratulations to Dr Emilie Capron who has been awarded the prestigious Early Career Scientist Award of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG). Dr Capron is a palaeoclimatologist at British …

A close up of a person wearing a mask.

PRESS RELEASE: West Antarctica snow accumulation

4 November, 2015

West Antarctic coastal snow accumulation rose 30 percent during 20th century Annual snow accumulation on West Antarctica’s coastal ice sheet increased dramatically during the 20th century, according to a new …

NEWS STORY: Polar ice cores reveal volcanic eruptions

8 July, 2015

Polar ice cores reveal volcanic eruptions that changed human history Researchers find new evidence that large eruptions were responsible for cold temperature extremes recorded since early Roman times A freshly …

A close up of a machine to drill for ice cores

NEWS STORY: Changes in winds in south

12 May, 2014

Ocean winds keep Australia dry and Antarctica cold New research explains why Antarctica is not warming as much as other continents, and why southern Australia is recording more droughts. Analysis …

NEWS STORY: Unlocking clues to past climate

1 May, 2014

Earth’s last warm phase exposed Analysis of data collected from ice cores and marine sediment cores in both polar regions has given scientists a clearer picture of how the Earth’s …

A man wearing a blue hat.

PRESS RELEASE: Warmer spells detected in ice cores

18 November, 2009

Mysteriously warm times in Antarctica A new study of Antarctica’s past climate reveals that temperatures during the warm periods between ice ages (interglacials) may have been higher than previously thought. …

A close up of a person.

Data as Art: POLAR AESTHETICS

British Antarctic Survey has an ongoing science & art collaboration with Royal College of Art PhD candidate Wayne Binitie. Wayne has visited BAS a number of times to develop his …

Ice Floor installation - close up of ice core

Ice Floor Sci-Art Installation

Ice Floor, is an immersive exhibition commissioned by engineering consultants Arup. UK born artist Wayne Binitie created the installation.

ice stories composite

Polar Zero – Ice Stories

Polar Zero forms a major part of British Antarctic Survey’s (BAS) multi-media engagement plan for COP 26.  Ice Stories draws on personal anecdotes, memories and oral testimonies from the national …

Antarctic Climate over the last millennia

The Antarctic Peninsula and West Antarctica have warmed dramatically in recent decades, with some climate records indicating that these are among the most rapidly warming regions on Earth. The Antarctic …

Beyond Epica

A decade ago, the European EPICA project completed drilling a deep ice core at Dome C, revealing the close link between climate and atmospheric greenhouse gases over the past 800,000 …

A close up of a refrigerator.

P-RAID

The ice sheets of Antarctica can be several kilometres thick, and contain precious information about the past climate. However, the bottoms of the ice sheets are melting, erasing this information. …

The snow covered Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica

PRESCIENT

PRESCIENT (UK Polar Research Expertise for Science and Society) is a joint programme between BAS (British Antarctic Survey) and CPOM (the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling). The programme supports …

A man flying a kite in the snow

SIWHA

The NERC funded SIWHA_CO2 project “Sea Ice and Westerly winds during the Holocene in coastal Antarctica, to better constrain oceanic CO2 uptake” will be a breakthrough in our understanding of how …

A close up of a hand.

SubICE

The Sub-Antarctic – ice coring expedition (SubICE), part of the international Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE), successfully drilled several shallow ice cores, from five of the remote and globally significant sub-Antarctic …