Antarctica organisms live in the coldest and driest conditions in the world, and only the hardiest organisms can survive there. Low temperatures and lack of moisture limits the release of nutrients through rock weathering and processes of soil development. Some primary production occurs in the ice free zones, mostly by various types of bacteria, algae, lichens, and mosses.
Globally-important populations of seabirds breed at South Georgia. However, human-induced impacts have led to the decline of many seabird populations. Four species of albatrosses and white-chinned petrels have shown persistent …
The Big Thaw is an ambitious new UKRI/NERC-funded Highlight Topic project assessing past, present and future changes in global mountain water resources by studying snow/ice accumulation and melt in the …
Can a fungus from an Antarctic soil be used to control weevil larvae causing damage to UK soft fruits and forestry? The larvae of weevils, which overwinter in soil and …
Methane is one of the most important greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and changes in its concentration could have major influences on the Earth’s climate. Measurements made around the world …
In this NERC-funded project, we are generating Southern Hemisphere Westerlies (SHW) proxy records from each of the three major sectors of the Southern Ocean, focusing on subantarctic islands situated in …
30 June, 2022
Introduction Lakes that lie beneath Antarctica’s vast ice sheets may hold clues to the Earth’s past climate, ice sheet history and the evolution of life — how do we know? …
25 November, 2020
Applications for PhD projects with British Antarctic Survey (BAS) are now open for October 2021 admission. There are currently over 100 PhD students associated with BAS, working on a huge variety …
30 May, 2018
Fungi in Antarctic soils release carbon that is more than a thousand years old, a team led by scientists at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has found. This discovery sheds light on how carbon is released into the atmosphere as polar regions warm.
20 January, 2017
The first molecular study of an organism able to survive intracellular freezing (freezing within its cells) is published this week by British Antarctic Survey (BAS), in collaboration with researchers from …
27 December, 2012
Antarctic lake mission called off In the early hours of Christmas Day (Tuesday 25 December 2012) Professor Martin Siegert, Principal Investigator of the Subglacial Lake Ellsworth experiment, confirmed that the …
12 December, 2012
British team set to access and sample one of the last unexplored environments on Earth This week (12 December) a British team of scientists and engineers, including scientists from British …