on X/twitter: @geologicalJo
on bluesky: @geologicaljo.bsky.social
Professional Experience
2018-2025 Lead UK PI on NSF-NERC International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration grant: “Geological history constraints on the magnitude of grounding line retreat in the Thwaites Glacier system”, with Ryan Venturelli (Colorado School of Mines, USA), Brent Goehring (Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA), Dylan Rood (Imperial), John Woodward (Northumbria), Greg Balco (Berkeley Geochronology Center, USA), Brenda Hall (University of Maine, USA) and Seth Campbell (also Maine).
2015-2025 PI on NERC standard grant NE/K012088/1: “Reconstructing millennial-scale ice sheet change in the western Amundsen Sea Embayment, Antarctica, using high-precision exposure dating”, with Steve Roberts (BAS), Dylan Rood (Imperial), and Joerg Schaefer (LDEO).
2023 awarded Polar Medal in UK New Year Honours: BAS staff awarded the Polar Medal
2022-present Co-leader of Theme 2 (Solid Earth-Ice Interactions), SCAR INStabilities & Thresholds in ANTarctica (INSTANT) Scientific Research Programme: SCAR INSTANT Theme 2
2021-present Member of NERC Peer Review College
June 2010 awarded Marie Tharp Fellowship for 2010-2011, to undertake research at Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, New York with Dr Joerg Schaefer – Joanne Johnson and Lamont-Doherty, Collaborating on Glacial Research
May 2008 awarded the Laws Prize
2002-present British Antarctic Survey
1998-2002 PhD, University of Cambridge (Clare College)
Thesis title: Magmatism of the Vitim Volcanic Field, Baikal Rift Zone, Siberia
1995-1998 BSc. Hons. Geology (1st class), University of Durham (Hatfield College)
Johnson Mesa, James Ross Island, Antarctica
In January 2007, the Antarctic Place-Names Committee named a feature on James Ross Island, Antarctica after me. The SCAR Gazetteer description is:
Johnson Mesa 63 49’40”S, 57 55’22”W Large mesa north of Abernethy Flats, between Crame Col and Bibby Point, Ulu Peninsula, James Ross Island. It was named after Dr Joanne S Johnson (b.1977), BAS geochemist. Her work led to a completely new proxy for recognising past ice sheets using alteration mineral chemistry.
From 2018-2025 I am UK lead Principal Investigator on the GHC project, which is part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration funded by NERC and NSF. “GHC” is short for “Geological History Constraints on the Magnitude of Grounding Line Retreat in the Thwaites Glacier System“. My co-PIs are Ryan Venturelli (US lead PI; Colorado School of Mines, USA), Brent Goehring (Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA), Dylan Rood (Imperial College London), John Woodward (Northumbria University), Greg Balco (Berkeley Geochronology Center, USA), and Brenda Hall and Seth Campbell (both University of Maine, USA). Keir Nichols was a post-doc on the project, and students Jonathan Adams and Scott Braddock successfully completed their PhDs in 2024 with us. To listen to an interview with me and Ted Scambos about the programme for BBC Inside Science, click here.
From 2015-2025 I am Principal Investigator on a NERC standard grant (NE/K012088/1) entitled:
“Reconstructing millennial-scale ice sheet change in the western Amundsen Sea Embayment, Antarctica, using high-precision exposure dating”
My Co-Investigators are Steve Roberts (BAS) and Dylan Rood (Imperial). The project also involves Joerg Schaefer (Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, USA), and Ruthie Halberstadt (Berkeley Geochronology Center, USA) as Project Partners, and the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre. Steve Roberts and I undertook fieldwork around Mt Murphy in November 2015-January 2016.
I am also working on exploring feedbacks between glaciation, volcanism and climate in Antarctica.
From 2009-2013, my work focused on samples from the Hudson Mountains, which lie adjacent to Pine Island Glacier. This built on research of the QWAD project (see below). We obtained a high-resolution record of thinning of a tributary of Pine Island Glacier, which showed rapid thinning in the early Holocene (8 kyrs ago). This research was published in 2014 in Science (see Johnson et al., 2014).
From 2005-2009, I worked in the QWAD (Quaternary West Antarctic Deglaciation project, within the GRADES (Glacial Retreat in Antarctica and Deglaciation of the Earth System) project. I used cosmogenic surface exposure dating to construct a preliminary age versus elevation record for nunataks near the Pine Island Glacier (e.g. the Hudson Mountains). I visited the Hudson Mountains in 2006, as part of the Alfred Wegener Institute cruise ANT-XXIII/4 on the RV Polarstern. Please see Johnson et al. 2008 (Geology) for the results of this work. There is also a good article in Nature Reports Climate Change describing my work in the Amundsen Sea Embayment at
http://www.nature.com/climate/2008/0804/full/climate.2008.30.html
From August 2002 to April 2005, I worked on a project focusing on the origin and palaeoenvironmental implications of authigenic alteration minerals in volcaniclastic rocks from James Ross Island (Northern Antarctic Peninsula). The aim was to understand the relationship of alteration to the composition of porewaters present during eruption, and to determine whether the chemical composition of alteration products (such as zeolites and clay minerals) reflects the alteration environment. I undertook Antarctic fieldwork on James Ross Island in January 2003 and January-March 2004. This formed part of the LCHAIS (Late Cenozoic History of the Antarctic Ice Sheet) project, within the GIANTS (Global Interactions of the ANTarctic Ice Sheet) programme (which ran from 2000-2005).
For my PhD, I studied the geochemistry of a suite of alkaline lavas from the Vitim Volcanic Field in Siberia. This lies ~ 200 km east of Lake Baikal, in one of the world’s major continental rift zones. My research involved using geochemical characteristics of these lavas to constrain the composition and thickness of the lithosphere in the Baikal Rift Zone, and to improve our understanding of the melting regime beneath the region during the Cenozoic.
ADAMS, J. R., ROOD, D. H., WILCKEN, K., ROBERTS, S. J., JOHNSON, J. S. (2024) Paired 14C-10Be exposure ages from Mount Murphy, West Antarctica: Implications for accurate and precise deglacial chronologies. Geochronology Discussions https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-2024-34
JOHNSON, J. S., WOODWARD, J., NESBITT, I., WINTER, K., CAMPBELL, S., NICHOLS, K. A., VENTURELLI, R. A., BRADDOCK, S., GOEHRING, B. M., HALL, B., ROOD, D. H., BALCO, G. (2025) Assessing the suitability of sites near Pine Island Glacier for subglacial bedrock drilling aimed at detecting Holocene retreat and readvance. The Cryosphere 19, 303–324. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-303-2025 (open access)
ADAMS, J. R., MASON, P. J., ROBERTS, S. J., ROOD, D. H., SMELLIE, J. L., NICHOLS, K. A., WOODWARD, J., JOHNSON, J. S. (2025) Remote mapping of bedrock for future cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating studies in remote unvisited areas of Antarctica. Remote Sensing 17 (2), 314. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17020314
JOHNSON, J. S., NICHOLS, K. A., RILEY, T. R., VENTURELLI, R. A., HODGSON, D. A., BALCO, G., HALL, B., SMITH, J. A., WOODWARD, J. (2025) Glacial geology of the Hudson Mountains, Amundsen Sea sector, West Antarctica. Quaternary Science Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.109027 (open access)
NICHOLS, K. A., ADAMS, J. R, BROWN, K., CREEL, R. C., MCKENZIE, M. A., VENTURELLI, R. A., JOHNSON, J. S., ROOD, D. H., WILCKEN, K., WOODWARD, J., ROBERTS, S. J. (2024) Direct constraints on the timing of a Late Holocene readvance near Thwaites Glacier. Geophysical Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110350 (open access)
WALSHAW, C.V., GRAY, A., FRETWELL, P.T., CONVEY, P., DAVEY, M.P., JOHNSON, J.S., COLESIE, C. (2024) A remote-sensed baseline of photosynthetic life across Antarctica. Nature Geoscience 17, 755–762. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01492-4 (open access)
BRADDOCK, S., VENTURELLI, R.A., NICHOLS, K., MORAVEC, E., BOECKMANN, G.V., CAMPBELL, S., BALCO, G., ACKERT, R., SMALL, D., JOHNSON, J.S., DUNBAR, N., WOODWARD, J., MUKHOPADHYAY, S. (2024) Lessons learned from shallow subglacial bedrock drilling campaigns in Antarctica. Annals of Glaciology, 1-11, 10.1017/aog.2024.12 (open access).
NICHOLS, K.A., ROOD, D.H., VENTURELLI, R.A., BALCO, G., ADAMS, J.R., GUILLAUME, L., CAMPBELL, S., GOEHRING, B.M., HALL, B.L., WILCKEN, K., WOODWARD, J., JOHNSON, J.S. (2023) Offshore-onshore record of Last Glacial Maximum-to-present grounding line retreat at Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica. Geology, 51, 1033-1037, paper (open access).
HERBERT, L., LEPP, A.P., MUNEVAR GARCIA, S., BROWNING, A., MILLER, L.E., WELLNER, J., SEVERMANN, S., HILLENBRAND, C.-D., JOHNSON, J.S., SHERRELL, R.M. (2023) Volcanogenic fluxes of iron from the seafloor in the Amundsen Sea, West Antarctica. Marine Chemistry, 104250, paper (open access)
BALCO, G., BROWN, N., NICHOLS, K., VENTURELLI, R.A., ADAMS, J., BRADDOCK, S., CAMPBELL, S., GOEHRING, B., JOHNSON, J.S., ROOD, D.H., WILCKEN, K., HALL, B., WOODWARD, J. (2023) Reversible ice sheet thinning in the Amundsen Sea Embayment during the Late Holocene. The Cryosphere, 17, 1787-1801, paper (open access)
ADAMS, J. JOHNSON, J.S., ROBERTS, S.J., MASON, P.J., NICHOLS, K.A., VENTURELLI, R.A., WILCKEN, K., BALCO, G., GOEHRING, B., HALL, B., WOODWARD, J., ROOD, D.H. (2022) New 10Be exposure ages improve Holocene ice sheet thinning history near the grounding line of Pope Glacier, Antarctica. The Cryosphere, 16, 4887–4905, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2022-82.
JONES, R.S., JOHNSON, J.S., LIN, Y., MACKINTOSH, A.N., SEFTON, J.P., SMITH, J.A., THOMAS, E.R., WHITEHOUSE, P.L. (2022) Stability of the Antarctic Ice Sheet during the pre-Industrial Holocene. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-022-00309-5.
BRADDOCK, S., HALL, B.L., JOHNSON, J.S., BALCO, G., SPOTH, M., WHITEHOUSE, P.L., CAMPBELL, S., GOEHRING, B.M., ROOD, D.H., WOODWARD, J. (2022) Relative sea-level data preclude major late Holocene ice-mass change in Pine Island Bay. Nature Geoscience, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00961-y.
JOHNSON, J.S., VENTURELLI, R.A., BALCO, G., ALLEN, C.S., BRADDOCK, S., CAMPBELL, S., GOEHRING, B., HALL, B.L., NEFF, P., NICHOLS, K.A., ROOD, D.H., THOMAS, E.R., WOODWARD, J. (2022) Existing and potential evidence for Holocene grounding-line retreat and readvance in Antarctica. The Cryosphere, tc-2021-360 link to paper (open access)
JOHNSON, J.S., POLLARD, D.P., WHITEHOUSE, P.L., ROBERTS, S.J., ROOD, D.H., SCHAEFER, J.M. (2021) Comparing Glacial-Geological Evidence and Model Simulations of Ice Sheet Change since the Last Glacial Period in the Amundsen Sea Sector of Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JF005827
JOHNSON, J.S., ROBERTS, S.J., ROOD, D.H., POLLARD, D., SCHAEFER, J.M., WHITEHOUSE, P.L., IRELAND, L.C., LAMP, J.L. (2020) Deglaciation of Pope Glacier implies widespread early Holocene ice sheet thinning in the Amundsen Sea sector of Antarctica. Earth & Planetary Science Letters 548, 116501. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116501
NICHOLS, K.A., GOEHRING, B.M., BALCO, G., JOHNSON, J.S., HEIN, A.S., TODD, C. (2019) New Last Glacial Maximum ice thickness constraints for the Weddell Sea sector, Antarctica. The Cryosphere 13, 2935–2951. link to paper
JOHNSON, J.S., NICHOLS, K.A., GOEHRING, B.M., BALCO, G., SCHAEFER, J.M. (2019) Abrupt mid-Holocene ice loss in the western Weddell Sea Embayment of Antarctica. Earth & Planetary Science Letters 518, 127-135. full text (open access)
JOHNSON, J.S., O’DONNELL, J.P., THOMAS, E.R. (2018) In situ measurements of snow accumulation in the Amundsen Sea Embayment during 2016. Antarctic Science, doi: 10.1017/S0954102018000068.
SMELLIE, J.L., ROCCHI, S., JOHNSON, J.S., DI VICENZO, G., SCHAEFER, J.M. (2018) A tuff cone erupted under frozen-bed ice (northern Victoria Land, Antarctica): linking glaciovolcanic and cosmogenic nuclide data for ice sheet reconstructions. Bulletin of Volcanology 80:12. full text
JOHNSON, J.S., SMITH, J.A., SCHAEFER, J.M., YOUNG, N.E., GOEHRING, B.M., HILLENBRAND, C.-D., LAMP, J.L., FINKEL, R.C., GOHL, K. (2017) The last glaciation of Bear Peninsula, central Amundsen Sea Embayment of Antarctica: constraints on timing and duration revealed by in situ cosmogenic 14C and 10Be dating. Quaternary Science Reviews 178, 77-88. Full text
RAISED Consortium (2014) A community-based geological reconstruction of Antarctic Ice Sheet deglaciation since the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews 100, 1-9, doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.06.025.
O’COFAIGH, C., DAVIES, B. J., LIVINGSTONE, S. J., JOHNSON, J.S., SMITH, J. A., HOCKING, E., HODGSON, D. A., ANDERSON, J. B., BENTLEY, M. J., CANALS, M., DOMACK, E., DOWDESWELL, J. A., EVANS, J., GLASSER, N. F., HILLENBRAND, C.-D., LARTER, R. D., ROBERTS, S. J. (2014) Reconstruction of ice-sheet changes in the Antarctic Peninsula since the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews 100, 87-110, doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.06.023.
JOHNSON, J. S., BENTLEY, M. J., SMITH, J. A., FINKEL, R. C., ROOD, D. H., GOHL, K., BALCO, G., LARTER, R. D., SCHAEFER, J. M. (2014) Rapid thinning of Pine Island Glacier in the early Holocene. Science 343, 999-1001, doi: 10.1126/science.1247385 (Full text | Reprint)
LINDOW, J., CASTEX, M., WITTMANN, H., JOHNSON, J. S., LISKER, F., GOHL, K., SPIEGEL, C. (2014) Deglaciation in the Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica – a new piece in the jigsaw, Quaternary Science Reviews 98, 166-173, doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.05.010.
LARTER, R. D., ANDERSON, J. B., GRAHAM, A. G. C., GOHL, K., HILLENBRAND, C. D., JAKOBSSON, M., JOHNSON, J. S., KIRSHNER, A. E., KUHN, G., NITSCHE, F. O., SMITH, J. A., BENTLEY, M. J., DOWDESWELL, J. A., EHRMANN, W., KLAGES, J. P., LINDOW, J., O COFAIGH, C., SPIEGEL, C. (2014) Reconstruction of changes in the Amundsen Sea and Bellingshausen Sea sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet since the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews 100, Special Issue on Antarctic Ice Sheet History, 55-86, doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.10.016.
SMELLIE, J. L., JOHNSON, J. S., NELSON, A. E. (2013) Geological map of James Ross Island. I. James Ross Island Volcanic Group (1:125 000 scale). British Antarctic Survey GEOMAP 2 Series, Sheet 5, British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK.
JOHNSON, J. S., , EVEREST, J. D., LEAT, P. T., GOLLEDGE, N. R., ROOD, D. H., STUART, F. M. (2011) The deglacial history of NW Alexander Island, Antarctica, from surface exposure dating. Quaternary Research 77, 273-280. doi: 10.1016/j.yqres.2011.11.012.
JOHNSON, J. S., BENTLEY, M. J., ROBERTS, S. J., BINNIE, S., FREEMAN, S. P. H. T. (2011). Holocene deglacial history of the north east Antarctic Peninsula – a review and new chronological constraints. Quaternary Science Reviews 30, 3791-3802. doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2011.10.011.
BENTLEY, M. J., JOHNSON, J. S., HODGSON, D. A., DUNAI, T. J., FREEMAN, S., O’COFAIGH, C. (2011). Rapid deglaciation of Marguerite Bay, western Antarctic Peninsula, in the early Holocene. Quaternary Science Reviews 30, 3338-3349, doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2011.09.002.
GOLLEDGE, N. R., EVEREST, J. D., BRADWELL, T., JOHNSON, J. S. (2010) Lichenometry on Adelaide Island, Antarctic Peninsula: size-frequency studies, growth rates and snowpatches. Geografiska Annaler 92A (1), 111-124.
JOHNSON, J. S., SMELLIE, J. L., NELSON, A. E., STUART, F. M. (2009). History of the Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet since the early Pliocene – evidence from cosmogenic dating of Pliocene lavas on James Ross Island, Antarctica. Global and Planetary Change 69, 205-213, doi: 10.1016/j.glopacha.2009.09.001.
HODGSON, D. A., ROBERTS, S. J., BENTLEY, M. J., SMITH, J. A., JOHNSON, J. S., VERLEYEN, E., VYVERMAN, W., HODSON, A. J., LENG, M. J.,CZIFERSKY, A., FOX, A. J., SANDERSON, D. C. W., SUGDEN, D. E. (2009). Exploring former subglacial Hodgson Lake, Antarctica. Paper I: site description, geomorphology and limnology. Quaternary Science Reviews 28, 2295-2309, doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.04.011.
JOHNSON, J. S., HILLENBRAND, C.-D., SMELLIE, J. L., ROCCHI, S. (2008) The last deglaciation of Cape Adare, northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. Antarctic Science 20 (6), 581-587, doi: 10.1017/S0954102008001417.
HAMBREY, M. J., SMELLIE, J. L., NELSON, A. E., JOHNSON, J. S. (2008) Late Cenozoic glacier-volcano interaction on James Ross Island and adjacent areas, James Ross Island. Geological Society of America Bulletin 120 (5/6), 709-731, doi: 10.1130/B26242.1.
SMELLIE, J. L., JOHNSON, J. S., MCINTOSH, W. C., ESSER, R., GUDMUNDSSON, M. T., HAMBREY, M. J., VAN WYK DE VRIES, B. (2008) Six million years of glacial history recorded in volcanic lithofacies of the James Ross Island Volcanic Group, Antarctic Peninsula. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 260, 122-148, doi: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.08.011.
JOHNSON, J. S., BENTLEY, M. J., GOHL, K. (2008) First exposure ages from the Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica: the Late Quaternary context for recent thinning of Pine Island, Smith and Pope Glaciers. Geology 36 (3), 223-226.
LARTER, R. D., GOHL, K., HILLENBRAND, C. -D., KUHN, G., DEEN, T. J., DIETRICH, R., EAGLES, G., JOHNSON, J. S., LIVERMORE, R. A., NITSCHE, F. O., PUDSEY, C. J., SCHENKE, H. -W., SMITH, J. A., UDINTSEV, G., UENZELMANN-NEBEN, G. (2007) West Antarctic Ice Sheet Change Since the Last Glacial Period. EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union 88 (17), 189-190.
JOHNSON, J. S.& SMELLIE, J. L. (2007) Zeolites as proxies for eruptive paleoenvironment. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 8, Q03009, doi: 10.1029/2006GC001450.
WILLIAMS, M., SMELLIE, J. L., JOHNSON, J. S., BLAKE, D. B. (2006) Late Miocene asterozoans (Echinodermata) in the James Ross Island Volcanic Group. Antarctic Science 18 (1), 117-122.
JOHNSON, J. S., GIBSON, S. A., THOMPSON, R. N., NOWELL, G. M. (2005) Volcanism in the Vitim Volcanic Field, Siberia: Geochemical Evidence for a Mantle Plume Beneath the Baikal Rift Zone. Journal of Petrology 46 (7), 1309-1344. reprint
JOHNSON, J. S. (2004) Ancient Antarctica. Planet Earth (NERC) Spring 2004, 32.
COLLEONI, F., NAISH, T., GASSON, E., JAMIESON, S., JOHNSON, J., KLEMANN, V., LEVY, R., LLOYD, A., NOWICKI, S., PRIESTLEY, R., SILVANO, A., SIMMS, A., THOMAS, E., VAN DE WAL, R. and SCAR INSTANT Conference Organizing Committee* (2024) Instabilities and Thresholds in Antarctica. Past Global Changes Magazine 32(1), 53, article
JOHNSON, J.S. (2022) Determining post-glacial ice sheet history of the Thwaites Glacier system, West Antarctica, using onshore geological archives: Where are we at, and where are we going? AGU Fall Meeting, Chicago (USA), 12-16 December 2022, invited talk.
HERBERT, L.C., LEPP, A., SIMKINS, L., WELLNER, J., HILLENBRAND, C.D., JOHNSON, J.S., SEVERMANN, S., SHERRELL, R.M. (2022) A Potential Benthic Source of Nutrient Iron Driving Productivity in the Amundsen Sea in the Context of Current and Past Glacial Retreat. AGU Fall Meeting, Chicago (USA), 12-16 December 2022, poster.
BRADDOCK, S.S., HALL, B.L., JOHNSON, J.S., BALCO, G., SPOTH, M., WHITEHOUSE, P., CAMPBELL, S.W., GOEHRING, B.M., ROOD, D.H., WOODWARD, J. (2022) Relative sea-level data preclude major late Holocene ice-mass change in Pine Island Bay, Antarctica. AGU Fall Meeting, Chicago (USA), 12-16 December 2022, poster.
JOHNSON, J.S., POLLARD, D., ROBERTS, S.J., ROOD, D.H., SCHAEFER, J.M., WHITEHOUSE, P.L., GOEHRING, B., IRELAND, L., LAMP, J.L., RAND, C., SMITH, J.A. (2020) Early- to mid-Holocene ice sheet thinning in the Pine Island-Thwaites Glacier catchment of West Antarctica: glacial-geological observations and modeling. AGU Fall Meeting, December 2020.
SMELLIE, J., ROCCHI, J., JOHNSON, J., DI VICENZO, G., SCHAEFER, J. (2019) Construction and environmental implications of a tuff cone erupted under cold-based ice: Harrow Peaks, northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. EGU General Assembly 2019, Vienna, 7-12 April 2019.
JOHNSON, J.S., ROBERTS, S.J., ROOD, D.H., SCHAEFER, J.M., POLLARD, D., WHITEHOUSE, P.L., LAMP, J.L. (2018) Early- to Mid-Holocene ice sheet thinning at Mt Murphy. West Antarctic Ice Sheet Workshop, Stony Point, New York USA, 16-19 September 2018. https://www.waisworkshop.org/sites/waisworkshop.org/files/webform/2018/abstracts/JohnsonJ2018.pdf
JOHNSON, J.S., ROBERTS, S.J., ROOD, D.H., SCHAEFER, J.M., POLLARD, D., WHITEHOUSE, P.L. (2017) Glacial-geomorphological evidence for post-LGM thinning of Pope Glacier, western Amundsen Sea Embayment. West Antarctic Ice Sheet Workshop, Camp Casey, Washington USA, 8-11 October 2017. https://www.waisworkshop.org/sites/waisworkshop.org/files/webform/2017/abstracts/Johnson_J.pdf
BUSCH, P., SCHEINERT, M., KNÖFEL, C., EBERLEIN, JOHNSON, J., HORWATH, M., SCHROEDER, L., GROH, A. (2017) GNSS measurements in West Antarctica to reconcile glacial-isostatic adjustment. International Workshop on Glacial Isostatic Adjustment and Elastic Deformation, Reykjavik, Iceland, September 2017.
JOHNSON, J.S., ROBERTS, S.J., IRELAND, L., ROOD, D.H., SCHAEFER, J.M., WHITEHOUSE, P.L., POLLARD, D. (2016) Glacial-geomorphological evidence for past ice cover in the western Amundsen Sea Embayment of Antarctica. AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, December 2016.
SCHEINERT, M., BUSCH, P., HORWATH, M., KNÖFEL, C., JOHNSON, J., EBERLEIN, L., ZAKRAJSEK, A., SIMOTACCHI, L., GROH, A., DIETRICH, R., RICHTER, A. (2016) GNSS measurements in the region of West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula constrain solid earth deformation. SCAR Open Science Meeting, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 20th-30th August 2016
JOHNSON, J.S., SCHAEFER, J.M., FINKEL, R.C. (2015) Evidence for ice cover in the Lassiter Coast region, western Weddell Sea Embayment, Antarctica. INQUA, Nagoya, Japan, 26th July-2nd August 2015
JOHNSON, J.S., ROBERTS, S.J., ROOD, D.H., SCHAEFER, J.M., WHITEHOUSE, P.W., POLLARD, D. (2015) Reconstructing West Antarctic Ice Sheet history in the western Amundsen Sea Embayment, using high-precision cosmogenic dating. INQUA, Nagoya, Japan, 26th July-2nd August 2015
SMELLIE, J. L., JOHNSON, J. S., NELSON, A. E. (2013) New 1:125 000-scale geological map of the James Ross Island Volcanic Group, the most important terrestrial repository of Neogene palaeoenvironmental information in the Antarctic Peninsula—Scotia Sea region. The Scotia Arc: Geodynamic Evolution and Global Implications, Granada, May 2013.
LINDOW, J., CASTEX, M., KAMP, P., JOHNSON, J.S. , WITTMANN, H., LISKER, F., GOHL, K., SPIEGEL, C. (2012) The exhumation history of eastern Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica –tectonic evolution and glacial dynamics. Thermo 2012, Guilin, China, 24-28th August 2012.
JOHNSON, J. S., BENTLEY, M. J., SCHAEFER, J. M., FOGWILL, C. J., SMITH, J. A., SCHIMMELPFENNIG, I., GOHL, K. (2011) Rapid early- to mid-Holocene thinning of Pine Island Glacier detected cosmogenic exposure dating. West Antarctic Ice Sheet workshop, Loveland, Colorado, 21st-23rd September 2011.
JOHNSON, J. S., , EVEREST, J. D., LEAT, P. T., GOLLEDGE, N. R., ROOD, D. H., STUART, F. M. (2011) The deglacial history of NW Alexander Island, Antarctica, from surface exposure dating. International Symposium of Antarctic Earth Sciences, Edinburgh, UK, 10-16th July 2011.
JOHNSON, J. S. , SCHAEFER, J. M., SCHIMMELPFENNIG, I., SMITH, J. A., BENTLEY, M. J., FOGWILL, C. J., GOHL, K. (2011) Pine Island Glacier had thinned close to present limits by the mid-Holocene. International Symposium of Antarctic Earth Sciences, Edinburgh, UK, 10-16th July 2011.
LINDOW, J., SPIEGEL, C., JOHNSON, J. S., CASTEX, M., LISKER, F., GOHL, K. (2011) Glacial retreat since the Last Glacial Maximum – new constraints from the Walgreen Coast, west Antarctica. International Symposium of Antarctic Earth Sciences, Edinburgh, UK, 10th-16th July 2011.
JOHNSON, J. S., BENTLEY, M. J., ROBERTS, S. J., BINNIE, S. A., FREEMAN, S.P.H.T. (2010) Holocene deglacial history of the north east Antarctic Peninsula. 6th Antarctic Peninsula Climate Change meeting, Leeds, UK, 22nd-23rd July 2010.
BENTLEY, M. J., JOHNSON, J. S., LARTER, R. D., FOGWILL, C. J. (2009) What do we know about the West Antarctic Ice Sheet at the Last Glacial Maximum, and its deglacial history? Antarctic Climate Evolution symposium, Grenada, Spain, 7th-11th September 2009.
LARTER, R. D., GRAHAM, A. G. C., HILLENBRAND, C.-D., JOHNSON, J. S., SMITH, J. S., BENTLEY, M. J. (2009) Things we don’t know about the West Antarctic Ice Sheet at the Last Glacial Maximum. Antarctic Climate Evolution symposium, Grenada, Spain, 7th-11th September 2009.
SMELLIE, J. L., HAYWOOD, A., HILLENBRAND, C.-D., JOHNSON, J. S., NELSON, A. E., HAMBREY, M. J., LUNT, D., VALDES, P. (2009) Seven million year history of the Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet revealed by coupled geological and climate modelling studies. Antarctic Climate Evolution symposium, Grenada, Spain, 7th-11th September 2009.
JOHNSON, J. S., BENTLEY, M. J., GOHL, K. (2008) First exposure ages from the Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica: The Late Quaternary context for recent thinning of Pine Island, Smith and Pope Glaciers. EGU, Vienna, 14th-18th April 2008.
SMELLIE, J. L., NELSON, A. E., JOHNSON, J. S., MCINTOSH, W. C., ESSER, R., GUDMUNDSSON, M. T., HAMBREY, M. J., VAN WYK DE VRIES, B. (2007) Six million years of environmental (glacial-interglacial) conditions preserved in volcanic lithofacies of the James Ross Island Volcanic Group, northern Antarctic Peninsula. ISAES, Santa Barbara, USA, August 2007.
JOHNSON, J. S., BENTLEY, M. J., GOHL, K. (2007) Deglaciation of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet: surface exposure dating in the Amundsen Sea region. INQUA, Cairns, Australia, 28th July-3rd August 2007.
JOHNSON, J. S., GOHL, K., O’DONOVAN, T. L., BENTLEY, M. J. (2006) Surface exposure dating using cosmogenic isotopes: a field campaign in Marie Byrd Land and the Hudson Mountains. West Antarctic Ice Sheet meeting, Pack Forest, Eatonville, USA, September 2006.
JOHNSON, J. S. & SMELLIE, J. L. (2004) Determining Eruptive Palaeoenvironment: a Study of Alteration Minerals from the James Ross Island Volcanic Group, Antarctica. IAVCEI meeting, Pucon, Chile, November 2004.
GARNER, J. S., GIBSON, S. A., THOMPSON, R. N., NOWELL, G. M. (2001) Contribution of pyroxenite-derived melts to Baikal rift-related magmatism. EOS 82(47), F1396.
GARNER, J. S., GIBSON, S. A., THOMPSON, R. N. (2001) Lithospheric thinning associated with the Baikal Rift, Siberia: geochemical evidence from the Vitim volcanic field. Abstract volume, Volcanic & Magmatic Studies Group 2001.
Riley, T., Carter, A., & Johnson, J. (2025). Geochronological data from the Hudson Mountains, Antarctica (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/8f999423-ff40-4181-bdf3-964a7e145772
Nichols, K., Rood, D., Johnson, J., Wilcken, K., & Brown, K. (2025). Cosmogenic 10Be data and calculated surface exposure ages for 41 cobbles and boulders collected from nunataks adjacent to Larter and Lucchitta glaciers in the Hudson Mountains, West Antarctica (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/de4a62bc-9c01-4aa3-9fd8-c64d706cfc13
Johnson, J. (2024). Orientations of bedrock striations in the Hudson Mountains, West Antarctica (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/7e80c81b-acc2-4a9b-9b5e-d37d49705524
Adams, J., Johnson, J., Roberts, S., Mason, P., Rood, D., & Ramsay, R. (2024). Laboratory spectral reflectance measurements at VNIR-SWIR wavelengths of 17 rock samples from Mount Murphy, West Antarctica (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/fcd80bf1-bd69-4054-826c-a4727af8096a
Woodward, J., & Johnson, J. (2024). Ground-penetrating radar surveys at three nunataks in the Hudson Mountains in the Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica, December 2019 (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/9555694e-c9f5-4bf8-a556-2ad9d29e55c6
Johnson, J., & Smith, J. (2024). Geomorphological measurements and lithological classifications of 90 erratic cobbles from the Hudson Mountains, West Antarctica. (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/79c8eb39-5c19-440e-804f-816cd0b8e4bd
Adams, J., Venturelli, R., Goehring, B., Johnson, J., Roberts, S., & Rood, D. (2024). Cosmogenic in situ 14C data and calculated surface exposure ages for 9 erratic cobbles collected from Mount Murphy, West Antarctica (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/dbb30962-bbf3-434a-9f27-6de2f61a86e2
Nichols, K., Roberts, S., Rood, D., Johnson, J., Wilcken, K., & Brown, K. (2024). Cosmogenic Be-10 and Al-26 data and calculated surface exposure ages for cobbles collected from a moraine adjacent to Mount Murphy, West Antarctica (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/1efc0048-5f0f-4ae7-a3a6-7728fe2ccf48
Nichols, K., Rood, D., Wilcken, K., & Johnson, J. (2023). Cosmogenic Be-10 data and calculated surface exposure ages from nunataks adjacent to Pine Island Glacier in the Hudson Mountains, West Antarctica (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/9ddd50c8-cd08-4afe-b245-f6891f1d9a3f
Adams, J., Rood, D., Wilcken, K., Roberts, S., & Johnson, J. (2022). Beryllium-10 exposure ages for Pope Glacier from a scoria cone 1.5 km west of Mount Murphy in the Amundsen Sea Embayment (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/8f275626-5f22-48df-95e5-cdc8f204a897
Johnson, J., Roberts, S., Rood, D., Schaefer, J., & Smith, J. (2019). 10Be surface exposure age data from Mt Murphy, Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica (Version 1.0) [Data set]. UK Polar Data Centre, Natural Environment Research Council, UK Research & Innovation. https://doi.org/10.5285/63bbaf4f-fe53-45a8-b2b5-d41adcf3d35f
Johnson, J., O’Donnell, J., & Thomas, L. (2018). In situ measurements of snow accumulation in the Amundsen Sea Embayment during 2016 (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01057
GHC will gather information about past ice sheet behaviour and relative sea level change in the Thwaites Glacier system. Determining the timing and magniture of past episodes of thinning and retreat and subsequent re-advance is important to provide a context for the current and future behaviour of Thwaites Glacier.
The International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration unites global scientists to study Antarctica’s most vulnerable glacier, predict sea-level rise, and inform climate action worldwide.
ANiSEED reconstructed millennial-scale ice sheet change in the western Amundsen Sea Embayment, Antarctica, using high-precision exposure dating.
After our extended period of lie-up, I now have the slightly surreal pleasure of sitting at Rothera writing this, contemplating flying home tomorrow. We flew back from the field on […]
Reflections from the ANiSEED team in Marie Byrd Land Field Guide Al Docherty recounts his most memorable day of the field season so far: “7am the alarm goes off. I look […]
Every person who works in Antarctica has a different experience and takes away different memories because our perception is shaped so much by our previous life experiences. The four of […]
The challenges of glacier travel The ANiSEED project field area lies between two of the most rapidly changing glaciers in Antarctica, the Smith and Kohler Glaciers. These have thinned more […]
Greetings from Marie Byrd Land! The waiting is over….we finally arrived at our field site on 11th December, after a 4 hour flight from Sky Blu one of BAS’s fuel […]
Geologist Jo Johnson waits patiently to go deep-field
Being a parent working in Antarctica
A long drive ahead….update from polar guides preparing for a geology project in remote Marie Byrd Land Whilst Steve Roberts and I are preparing to depart the UK for Rothera […]
Science team goes deep field to Marie Byrd Land
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is shrinking, with many glaciers across the region retreating and melting at an alarming rate. However, this was not always the case according to new […]
Congratulations to BAS staff who have been awarded a Polar Medal in the 2023 New Year’s Honours List for their scientific work or their technical support for science, in order […]
Two crucial glaciers in West Antarctica may be losing ice faster than they have over the last 5,000 years, according to a new study published this month (June 2022).
International Day of Women and Girls in Science today (11 February) is a celebration of women and girls in science and is organised by UNESCO and UN-Women. To mark this […]
Previous rapid thinning of Pine Island Glacier sheds light on future Antarctic ice loss New research, published this week in Science, suggests that the largest single contributor to global sea […]
Boulders the size of footballs could help scientists predict the West Antarctic Ice Sheet’s (WAIS) contribution to sea-level rise according to new research published this week in the journal Geology. […]
I talk to Nadia Frontier about working in Antarctica and the challenges of leaving behind young children in Beyond the Ice podcast, broadcast December 2023: https://audioboom.com/posts/8420921-a-polar-voyage-into-the-new-year