BAS-Arctic Working Group
Working Group purpose
The Arctic Working Group is a group of more than 60 BAS scientists and operations staff who are currently working in the Arctic or have aspirations to work there. The AWG was started in 2018 to bring together researchers in different fields to share their experiences of Arctic research, to enable new collaborations, and to maximise the potential output of this group by coordinating efforts and knowledge regarding Arctic projects, funding calls and logistics.
Terms of Reference
Content coming soon
Our priorities
Content coming soon
Arctic marine geophysics
This research focuses on investigating the glacial histories of Arctic ice sheets and ice caps using the marine geological record preserved on continental margins. By reconstructing past ice sheets, their …SDOO
Abrupt warming episodes punctuate Greenland ice core records throughout the last glacial period. These events were first identified in two Greenland stable water isotope records (Dansgaard et al., 1993), and …
Climate and Ice during the Last Interglacial
During the Last Interglacial (129-116 thousand years ago, ka) CO2 and global temperature were both higher than they were before human industrialisation. By examining Last Interglacial climate, we thus gain …
TEA-COSI
TEA_COSI assesses Arctic Sea-ice which has an important impact on currents and ocean circulations around the globe
UKESM-BAS
Reliable projections of the Earth’s climate are at the heart of scientific support for international efforts to address global change. There is increasing recognition that reliable projections require that physical …
ESA IAP ArcticSat project
Situational awareness in the ArcticAerosol-Cloud and Climate interations in the Arctic
Developing a better understanding of cloud and aerosol processes in the Arctic in order to improve climate models.
ICE-ARC
physicists, chemists, biologists, economists, and sociologists from 21 institutes in 11 countries across Europe assess the rapid retreat and collapse of Arctic sea-ice cover
SIOS
Svalbard Integrated Earth Observing System (SIOS) is an international infrastructure project. There are 26 partners from Europe and Asia involved. The essential objective is to establish better coordinated services for …
SEANA
Global shipping is undergoing significant changes. In January 2020 the maximum sulphur emission by ships in international waters will reduce from 3.5% to 0.5% by mass, as a result of …
Data As Art
DATA AS ART is an ongoing science & art project in development at NERC’s British Antarctic Survey (BAS). It visualises science data (in its widest definition), to create stunning and …
ICEMAR
The EC-funded ICEMAR project is a GMES pilot service delivering sea ice information products directly to ships navigating through sea ice in the Arctic.
EISCAT Science Support
The UK EISCAT support group (UKESG) is a collaboration between the British Antarctic Survey and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, funded via the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) EISCAT, the …Iceland Greenland seas Project
PI: Ian Renfrew (University of East Anglia) CO-I’s: Tom Bracegirdle, Tom Lachlan-Cope, Alexandra Weiss PDRA’s: Andrew Elvidge (University of East Anglia), James Pope NERC Grant: NE/N009924/1 Project Partners: Robert Pickart …
ACSIS
Major changes are occurring across the North Atlantic climate system: in the ocean and atmosphere temperatures and circulation, in sea ice thickness and extent, and in key atmospheric constituents such …
Britain’s Arctic Research Station celebrates 30 years of science and monitoring climate change
28 September, 2021
The Arctic Station in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard in Norway, the UK’s permanent Arctic research facility, celebrates its 30 years anniversary this week (Tuesday 28 September) as it continues to undertake critical …
BAS celebrates International Day of Women and Girls in Science
11 February, 2022 by Melody Clark
Today, 11 February, is International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a global initiative led by UNESCO and UN-Women. To celebrate, we have asked some of our female staff …
Emerging Technologies and Approaches for In Situ, Autonomous Observing in the Arctic
1 December, 2022 by Jeremy Wilkinson
Understanding and predicting Arctic change and its impacts on global climate requires broad, sustained observations of the atmosphere-ice-ocean system, yet technological and logistical challenges severely restrict the temporal and spatial…Read more on Emerging Technologies and Approaches for In Situ, Autonomous Observing in the Arctic
Survivors and colonizers: Contrasting biogeographic histories reconciled in the Antarctic freshwater copepod Boeckella poppei
1 December, 2022 by Elisabeth Biersma, Jennifer Jackson, Peter Convey
Two main hypotheses have been proposed to explain the contemporary distribution of Antarctic terrestrial biota. We assess whether the current distribution of maritime Antarctic populations of the freshwater copepod Boeckella…Can current reanalyses accurately portray changes in Southern Annular Mode structure prior to 1979?
1 December, 2022 by Gareth Marshall, John Turner
Early reanalyses are less than optimal for investigating the regional effects of ozone depletion on Southern Hemisphere (SH) high-latitude climate because the availability of satellite sounder data from 1979 significantly…Benthic diatoms modify riverine silicon export to a marine zone in a hypertidal estuarine environment
1 December, 2022 by Kate Hendry
Riverine dissolved silicon (DSi) and biogenic silica (BSi) are modulated along the estuarine gradient by several biotic and abiotic processes governed by physical forcings. An important area controlling silicon transport…Crustal block origins of the South Scotia Ridge
1 December, 2022 by Alex Burton-Johnson, Kelly Hogan, Philip Leat, Teal Riley
The Cenozoic development of the Scotia Sea and opening of Drake Passage evolved in a complex tectonic setting with sea-floor spreading accompanied by the dispersal of continental fragments and the…Read more on Crustal block origins of the South Scotia Ridge
Microcystin production by oscillatorialean cyanobacteria isolated from cryopreserved Antarctic mats
1 December, 2022 by Peter Convey
Twenty cyanobacterial strains of eight morphospecies isolated from deep-frozen (-15 °C) mat samples originally collected on Ross Island, in Victoria Land, and on the McMurdo Ice Shelf were screened for…New evidence for preservation of contemporary marine organic carbon by iron in Arctic shelf sediments
30 November, 2022 by Kate Hendry
The protection of organic carbon through association with iron minerals (FeR) is an important factor in its stabilisation, long-term storage, and burial efficiency in marine sediments. However, large uncertainties still…Horizon scanning for potential invasive non-native species across the United Kingdom Overseas Territories
28 November, 2022 by David Barnes, Jonathan Shanklin, Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey
Invasive non-native species (INNS) are recognized as a major threat to island biodiversity, ecosystems, and economies globally. Preventing high-risk INNS from being introduced is the most cost-effective way to avoid…Cryptic fungal diversity revealed by DNA metabarcoding in historic wooden structures at Whalers Bay, Deception Island, maritime Antarctic
26 November, 2022 by Peter Convey
We provide the first assessment of fungal diversity associated with historic wooden structures at Whalers Bay (Heritage Monument 71), Deception Island, maritime Antarctic, using DNA metabarcoding. We detected a total…Benthic dissolved silicon and iron cycling at glaciated Patagonian fjord heads
25 November, 2022 by Kate Hendry
Glacier meltwater supplies silicon (Si) and iron (Fe) sourced from weathered bedrock to downstream ecosystems. However, the extent to which these nutrients reach the ocean is regulated by the nature…Read more on Benthic dissolved silicon and iron cycling at glaciated Patagonian fjord heads
Temperature as a likely driver shaping global patterns in mineralogical composition in bryozoans: implications for marine calcifiers under global change
25 November, 2022 by Huw Griffiths
The Southern Ocean is showing one of the most rapid responses to human-induced global change, thus acting as a sentinel of the effects on marine species and ecosystems. Ocean warming…Internal tsunamigenesis and ocean mixing driven by glacier calving in Antarctica
23 November, 2022 by Dave Munday, Alexander Brearley, Laura Gerrish, Michael Meredith
Ocean mixing around Antarctica exerts key influences on glacier dynamics and ice shelf retreats, sea ice, and marine productivity, thus affecting global sea level and climate. The conventional paradigm is…Read more on Internal tsunamigenesis and ocean mixing driven by glacier calving in Antarctica
Food falls in the deep northwestern Weddell Sea
17 November, 2022 by Huw Griffiths
When pelagic organisms die and fall onto the deep-sea floor they create food falls, parcels of organic enrichment that subsidize deep benthic scavenging communities. The diversity and quantities of food…Read more on Food falls in the deep northwestern Weddell Sea
Metabolic pathway of phenol degredation of a cold-adapted Antarctic bactera, Arthrobacter sp.
12 November, 2022 by Peter Convey
Phenol is an important pollutant widely discharged as a component of hydrocarbon fuels, but its degradation in cold regions is challenging due to the harsh environmental conditions. To date, there…Experimental warming increases fungal alpha diversity in an oligotrophic maritime Antarctic soil
10 November, 2022 by Kevin Newsham, Marta Misiak
The climate of maritime Antarctica has altered since the 1950s. However, the effects of increased temperature, precipitation and organic carbon and nitrogen availability on the fungal communities inhabiting the barren…Carbon and nutrient cycling in Antarctic landfast sea ice from winter to summer
10 November, 2022 by Hugh Venables, Mairi Fenton, Michael Meredith
Seasonal cycling in carbon, alkalinity, and nutrients in landfast sea ice in Hangar Cove, Adelaide Island, West Antarctic Peninsula, were investigated during winter, spring, and summer 2014–2015. Temporal dynamics were…Read more on Carbon and nutrient cycling in Antarctic landfast sea ice from winter to summer
Potential for redistribution of post‐moult habitat for Eudyptes penguins in the Southern Ocean under future climate conditions
8 November, 2022 by Norman Ratcliffe
Anthropogenic climate change is resulting in spatial redistributions of many species. We assessed the potential effects of climate change on an abundant and widely distributed group of diving birds, Eudyptes…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
5 November, 2022 by Liz Thomas
Here we examine the water stable-isotope data from the Roosevelt Island Climate Evolution (RICE) ice core. Roosevelt Island is an independent ice rise located at the northeastern margin of the…Temperature and pH Profiling of Extracellular Amylase from Antarctic and Arctic Soil Microfungi
3 November, 2022 by Peter Convey
While diversity studies and screening for enzyme activities are important elements of understanding fungal roles in the soil ecosystem, extracting and purifying the target enzyme from the fungal cellular system…Complete distribution of the genus Laevilitorina (Littorinimorpha: Littorinidae) in the Southern Hemisphere: remarks and natural history
2 November, 2022 by Peter Convey
Littorinid snails are present in most coastal areas globally, playing a significant role in the ecology of intertidal communities. Laevilitorina is a marine gastropod genus distributed exclusively in the Southern…
