Information Services team
The Information Services group consists of the Archives Service, the BAS Library, the Polar Data Centre (PDC) and the Web and Applications team. These teams are jointly responsible for the management of over 70 years worth of scientific and corporate data and information.
The overarching aim of the group is to make data and information available and accessible to anyone who wishes to reuse it.
The component teams all have their own specific remits and aims and they can be seen in the links in the sidebar.
Age‐depth stratigraphy of Pine Island Glacier inferred from airborne radar and ice‐core chronology
28 April, 2021 by David Vaughan, Julien Bodart
Understanding the contribution of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) to past and future sea level has been a major scientific priority over the last three decades. In recent years,…
The International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean Version 4.0
7 July, 2020 by Alexander Tate, Alice Fremand
Bathymetry (seafloor depth), is a critical parameter providing the geospatial context for a multitude of marine scientific studies. Since 1997, the International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean (IBCAO) has…Read more on The International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean Version 4.0
Thirty years of marine debris in the Southern Ocean: annual surveys of two island shores in the Scotia Sea
1 March, 2020 by Claire Waluda, Iain Staniland, Kevin Hughes, Mari Whitelaw, Michael Dunn, Sally Thorpe
We report on three decades of repeat surveys of beached marine debris at two locations in the Scotia Sea, in the Southwest Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. Between October…
Geochronology and geochemistry of the northern Scotia Sea: a revised interpretation of the North and West Scotia ridge junction
15 July, 2019 by Alexander Tate, Alex Burton-Johnson, Philip Leat, Teal Riley
Understanding the tectonic evolution of the Scotia Sea is critical to interpreting how ocean gateways developed during the Cenozoic and their influence on ocean circulation patterns and water exchange between…
Morphological and geological features of Drake Passage, Antarctica, from a new digital bathymetric model
3 July, 2019 by Alexander Tate, Elanor Gowland, Philip Leat, Robert Larter, Teal Riley
The Drake Passage is an oceanic gateway of about 850 km width located between South America and the Antarctic Peninsula that connects the southeastern Pacific Ocean with the southwestern Atlantic Ocean.…
Subglacial hydrological control on flow of an Antarctic Peninsula palaeo-ice stream
5 June, 2019 by Alexander Tate, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith, James Kirkham, Kelly Hogan, Robert Larter, Zoe Roseby
Basal hydrological systems play an important role in controlling the dynamic behaviour of ice streams. Data showing their morphology and relationship to geological substrates beneath modern ice streams are, however,…Read more on Subglacial hydrological control on flow of an Antarctic Peninsula palaeo-ice stream
Can the optimisation of pop-up agriculture in remote communities help feed the world?
1 September, 2018 by Beatrix Schlarb-Ridley, Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey
Threats to global food security have generated the need for novel food production techniques to feed an ever-expanding population with ever-declining land resources. Hydroponic cultivation has been long recognised as…Read more on Can the optimisation of pop-up agriculture in remote communities help feed the world?
Radiation belt slot-region filling events: sustained energetic precipitation into the mesosphere
1 September, 2018 by Andrew Kavanagh, Neil Cobbett, Peter Kirsch
Precipitation of energetic electrons to the atmosphere is both a loss mechanism for radiation belt particles and a means by which the geospace environment influences the Earth's atmosphere; thus it…Growth of microalgae using nitrate-rich brine wash from the water industry
1 July, 2018 by Beatrix Schlarb-Ridley
Safe and accepted limits for nitrates in drinking water are exceeded in around one-third of the groundwater bodies in Europe. Whilst anion exchange (AEX) is an effective technology to strip…Read more on Growth of microalgae using nitrate-rich brine wash from the water industry
Benthic biodiversity in the South Orkney Islands Southern Shelf Marine Protected Area
20 June, 2018 by Alexander Tate, Hilary Blagbrough, Huw Griffiths, Katrin Linse, Oliver Hogg, Peter Enderlein, Phil Trathan, Susie Grant
The South Orkney Islands Southern Shelf (SOISS) Marine Protected Area (MPA) was the first MPA to be designated entirely within the high seas and is managed under the Commission for…Read more on Benthic biodiversity in the South Orkney Islands Southern Shelf Marine Protected Area
Long term variability in the diet and reproductive performance of penguins at Bird Island, South Georgia
1 March, 2017 by Claire Waluda, Helen Peat, Phil Trathan, Simeon Hill
Inter-annual variability in diet during crèche (December to February) over 22 years (1989–2010) was examined for gentoo penguins Pygoscelis papua breeding at Bird Island, South Georgia (54°00′S, 38°03′W). Overall, diets…KRILLBASE: a circumpolar database of Antarctic krill and salp numerical densities, 1926–2016
1 March, 2017 by Geraint Tarling, Helen Peat, Laura Gerrish, Peter Fretwell, Peter Ward, Simeon Hill, Sophie Fielding
Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) and salps are major macroplankton contributors to Southern Ocean food webs and krill are also fished commercially. Managing this fishery sustainably, against a backdrop of rapid…Bathymetry and geological setting of the South Sandwich Islands volcanic arc
1 August, 2016 by Alexander Tate, Peter Fretwell, Philip Leat, Robert Larter
The South Sandwich Islands and associated seamounts constitute the volcanic arc of an active subduction system situated in the South Atlantic. We introduce a map of the bathymetry and geological…Read more on Bathymetry and geological setting of the South Sandwich Islands volcanic arc
Growth and shrinkage in Antarctic krill Euphausia superba is sex-dependent
1 April, 2016 by Geraint Tarling, Helen Peat, Simeon Hill, Sophie Fielding
The ability of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba Dana to withstand the overwintering period is critical to their success. Laboratory evidence suggests that krill may shrink in body length during this…Read more on Growth and shrinkage in Antarctic krill Euphausia superba is sex-dependent
Increasing accuracy: a new design and algorithm for automatically measuring weights, travel direction and radio frequency identification (RFID) of penguins.
20 April, 2015 by Helen Peat, Jeremy Robst, Michael Dunn, Mark Preston, Steven Bremner, Stacey Adlard, Vsevolod Afanasyev
A fully automated weighbridge using a new algorithm and mechanics integrated with a Radio Frequency Identification System is described. It is currently in use collecting data on Macaroni penguins (Eudyptes…