Ice Dynamics and Palaeoclimate team
Our ambition
A priority for this team is to develop a deeper understanding of climate change and the response of the ice sheets so that we can improve our ability to explain the risk of future Antarctic and Greenland ice sheet loss and its impact on sea level.
By investigating the interplay between ice dynamics and the climate we aim to predict the future of the polar ice sheets. Observation and modelling of the mass balance of the ice sheets in response to present climate change is critical to our understanding of future change. By applying our expertise in the fields of ice core research we are enhancing knowledge of past climate and the links between the climate and the atmosphere. The team undertakes fundamental research that underpins several of the Antarctic grand challenges: the stability of the WAIS remains a fundamental unknown for predicting future sea level rise; the stability of the Ronne-Filchner ice shelf and the glaciers feeding into the Weddell Sea is poorly understood. By combining this ice core research with studies of ice sheet flow and stability, and by working in partnership with the international glaciological community we can contribute to the global effort to understand climate change – one of the greatest challenges facing society today.
Team priorities
Science
- Investigate the current mass balance and glacier response to climate change. To mount research expeditions to Pine Island and Thwaites glacial basins, which are both known to have thinned in recent decades, to understand the drivers of the current change in mass balance
- Sea level rise and the ice sheet stability. To determine vulnerability to future warming and the potential future sea level rise by analysis and comparison of past ice loss from the West Antarctic Ice and Greenland ice sheets during and after the Last Interglacial around 125,000 years ago
- Antarctica in a warmer world. To work in partnership with colleagues from the UK university sector and the German Alfred Wegener Institute create realistic projections of the amount of sea-level rise likely to be generated from the Filchner Ice Shelf and its tributary ice streams. Projections will be made, for the middle of this century, of the amount of global sea-level rise from this sector
- Identifying changes in the Earth’s climate system by acquiring and analysing the world’s oldest ice. To work in partnership with the international glaciological community, to prepare for a major new effort to obtain an ice core containing a 1.5 Million year long record of global climate and atmospheric composition
Technology, innovation and training
- Deploy a mixture of remote sensing, ice sheet and climate modelling, as well as traditional glaciological field work techniques using radar, seismics, GPS survey and ice cores to understand the dynamics and mass balance of the polar ice sheets
- Using our key skills in radar, seismics and rapid access ice drilling, take a lead in the international search for a site likely to produce world’s longest ice core climate record
- Develop new innovations in ice core technology and analytical techniques to recover centennial to millennial scale records of climate change from glaciated regions
- Through PhD programmes and grant-funded post-doctoral research positions, train the next generation of glaciologists and ice core scientists.
Influencing and leading international programmes
- Play a strong leadership role and make relevant contributions to the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR) Research Programmes (Past Antarctic Ice Sheet Dynamics – PAIS), Themes (Antarctica and Climate; Ice Sheet & Under the Ice) and the Standing Science Group on Physical Sciences (IPICS, ISMASS)
- Work with leading UK and international partners who conduct Arctic and Antarctic research, including those that are involved with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
- Take a leading role in the International Partnership for Ice Core Sciences (IPICS) and the EU funded ‘Beyond EPICA’ project to recover the world’s oldest ice core
Stakeholder engagement
- Produce policy briefings and presentations for UK Government departments including the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)
- Produce science updates and briefings on the impact and relevance of our research for our funders, including NERC (Natural Environment Research Council)
- Support the Antarctic Treaty system by provision of research and expert advice on environmental change via the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Polar Regions Department
Public engagement in research
- Work with the BAS Communications Team to explain our science and its relevance for environmental stewardship to a wide range of public audiences.
- Collaborate with Cambridge University Institute for Sustainable Leadership to inform senior business leaders from a wide range of industries about climate change
- Provide visitors to BAS with the chance to experience climate research at first hand with visits to the ice core laboratories and cold room, guided by experienced scientists
- Maintain displays of climate research at the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum and seek further similar publicly accessible displays
Brunt Ice Shelf movement
British Antarctic Survey is monitoring cracks on the Brunt Ice Shelf. Find out how here
SubICE – Sub-Antarctic Ice Coring Expedition
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 …
Impact of Melt on Ice Shelf Dynamics and Stability (MIDAS)
Project MIDAS (Impact of Melt on Ice Shelf Dynamics And Stability) is a UK-based Antarctic research project, investigating the effects of a warming climate on the Larsen C ice shelf …
Seismic investigation of a subglacial lake
Field Team includes: Alex Brisbourne (BAS), Andrés Rivera (CECs), Rodrigo Zamora (CECs), Field Guide (BAS). Antarctic subglacial lakes contain unique records of ice sheet history and microbial life; they may …
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 …
Bedmap2
understanding whats beneath the ice, opens new opportunities for detailed modelling of the past and future evolution of the Antarctic ice sheets
Bedmap Himalayas
Bedmap Himalayas is an ongoing BAS core-funded and grant-funded programme that aims to measure how much water much is stored as glacier ice in High Mountain Asia. In warm weather, …
Past Westerly Winds
The behaviour of the westerly wind belt (see Figure 1a) over the Southern Ocean during cold glacial periods has been debated for many years. These winds matter because explanations of …
Weddell Sea ice sheet and climate
In the south of the Weddell Sea lies the Ronne and Filchner Ice Shelves. During the coldest part of the last glacial period about 25,000 years ago, the ice in …
RAID: Rapid Access Isotope Drill
Ice cores take a long time to collect. The 3.4 km- ice core drilled at Dome Concordia (Antarctica) took 5 years to collect and encloses the oldest ice drilled so …
Ocean-driven ice-shelf thinning in Antarctica
By exploiting advances in ice sheet modelling, and new Antarctic-wide datasets, this project aims to predict how far and how fast the observed ocean-driven thinning of floating ice shelves will …
Dating and modelling fast ice-sheet grounding-line retreat in Antarctica
This project aims to exploit the peculiar way in which ice flows to provide new constraints on the retreat of the grounding line – the line that separates grounded ice …
Ice Sheet Modelling
The research of the ice sheet modelling group focuses on integrating observational data with dynamical models that describe how the ice flows in order to improve our representation of how …
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 …
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 …
West Antarctica wind strength and atmospheric circulation
Changes in wind strength and circulation patterns above the Antarctic Peninsula are linked to its warming and increased upwelling of warm circumpolar deep water, resulting in accelerated melting and thinning …
Filchner Ice Shelf System, Antarctica
Understanding the contribution that polar ice sheets make to global sea-level rise is recognised internationally as urgent. The mission of this five-year project is to capture new observations and data …
iSTAR – Stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
Science on the move - the mission to understand the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
iSTAR-C Dynamical control on the response of Pine Island Glacier
iStar-C - strives to understand the dynamical control and response to change of Pine Island Glacier
iStar-D The contribution to sea-level rise from the Amundsen Sea sector of Antarctica
iStar-D will identify the potential contribution to sea-level rise, from ice locked in the Amundsen Sea sector of Antarctica
Polar Zero: visual arts take centre stage at COP26
29 June, 2021
Immersive science-art ice core research exhibition to be displayed at Glasgow Science Centre during COP26
Antarctica wasn’t as cold during the last ice age as previously thought, new study shows
4 June, 2021
A study of two alternative methods for reconstructing ancient temperatures has given climate researchers a better understanding of how cold it was in Antarctica during the last Ice Age, around …
The world’s largest iceberg
21 May, 2021
An enormous iceberg has calved from the western side of the Ronne Ice Shelf, in Antarctica. The iceberg, newly named A-76, measures around 4320 sq km in size and is …
Synchronous timing of past abrupt climate changes
21 August, 2020
New research has revealed that climate changes associated with past episodes of abrupt warming in Greenland occurred synchronously across a region extending from the Arctic to the Southern Hemisphere subtropics. …
Drilling projects set to break new ground
29 April, 2020
Two new research projects – in partnership with British Antarctic Survey engineers – will drill deeper than ever before in Antarctica and in space. The first project, called INCISED, is …
Earth Day 2020: The Song of the Ice
22 April, 2020
*Did you miss the live event on 22 April? The recording is now available to watch below, or on Youtube via: https://youtu.be/8r3xdrp5GGI* Online launch of The Song of the Ice …
Scientists drill for first time on remote Antarctic Glacier
28 January, 2020
Teams from the US and UK have successfully completed scientific fieldwork in one of the most remote and hostile areas of West Antarctica – coinciding with the 200th anniversary of …
Ice core inspired art installation opens in London
26 November, 2019
A new climate change artwork – Ice Floor, a new Phase 2 by Wayne Binitie, opens this week at Arup’s Fitzroy Street offices in London. The work was developed in …
New mission for 1.5 million year climate record
9 April, 2019
This week a team of European researchers announces its plans for an ambitious mission to find the oldest ice on Earth (9 April 2019). Antarctica’s ice has the potential to …
Arctic sea ice loss in past linked to abrupt climate events
12 February, 2019
A new study on ice cores shows that reductions in sea ice in the Arctic in the period between 30-100,000 years ago led to major climate events. During this period, …
Scientists drill to record depths in West Antarctica
24 January, 2019
A team of scientists and engineers has for the first time successfully drilled over two kilometres through the ice sheet in West Antarctica using hot water. This research will help …
Scientists complete remote ice core drilling mission
10 January, 2019
A team of scientists and engineers from British Antarctic Survey and the University of Cambridge has successfully drilled over 650 metres in to an Antarctic ice cap to obtain an …
Increased snowfall in Antarctica buffers sea-level rise
10 December, 2018
A new study of snowfall across Antarctica provides vital information in the study of future sea-level rise. A team of scientists from NASA and British Antarctic Survey (BAS), describes how …
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 …
Measuring glaciers in the Himalayan mountains
11 October, 2018
Technology pioneered in Antarctica could soon be providing much-needed data on the amount of ice in the glaciers of High Mountain Asia thanks to an ingenious helicopter-mounted, low-frequency radar developed …
New study reveals increased snowfall in Antarctica over last two centuries
9 April, 2018
The first comprehensive study of snowfall across Antarctica provides vital information in the study of future sea-level rise. Presenting this week (Monday 9 April 2018) at the European Geosciences Union …
Tiny ice losses at Antarctica’s fringes can accelerate ice loss far away
11 December, 2017
A thinning of small areas of floating ice at Antarctica’s coast can accelerate the movement of ice grounded on rocks hundreds of kilometres away, a new study involving scientists from …
Maps reveal landscape beneath Antarctica’s weak underbelly
20 November, 2017
A UK team of researchers has produced high-resolution maps of the bed beneath a major glacier in West Antarctica, which will help them predict future sea-level rise from this region. …
Halley Research Station will not winter in 2018
31 October, 2017
British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has decided, for safety reasons, that it will close its Halley VI Research Station during the 2018 Antarctic winter. This will be the second time that …
Impact of giant Antarctic iceberg – update on Larsen-C
2 August, 2017
The largest remaining ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula lost 10% of its area when an iceberg four times the size of London broke free earlier this month. Since …
FEATURED PAPER: Winds and sea ice
23 March, 2017
It is thought that wind changes over the Southern Ocean may have been critical in driving changes in CO2 between cold ice-world and warm-world climates. Because of inconsistencies between the …
Giant iceberg set to calve from Larsen C Ice Shelf
6 January, 2017
A huge iceberg, roughly the size of Norfolk, looks set to break away from the Larsen C ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula. Larsen C is more than twice the size …
Quest begins for oldest ice on Earth
14 November, 2016
First phase of project to collect 1.5 million years of climate data in Antarctica A team of European scientists heads to East Antarctica this month to locate the oldest ice …
FEATURED PAPER: Sea-ice reduction
18 October, 2016
A team of British climate scientists comparing today’s environment with the warm period before the last ice age has discovered a 65% reduction of Antarctic sea ice around 128,000 years …
FEATURED PAPER: Tidal controls on ice streams
18 October, 2016
The often large ocean tides around Antarctica can greatly affect the flow of ice streams even long distances upstream of their grounding lines. Observing and modelling this interaction serves as …
Ancient ice inspires Royal College of Art glass artist
8 October, 2016
Data as art captivates a London audience
New interactive game ‘Ice Flows’ launches today
23 August, 2016
Researchers and games developers have joined forces to explain how climate change is affecting Antarctica. A new game called ‘Ice Flows’ launches today (Tuesday 23 August) at an international science meeting in Malaysia.
New Antarctic ice discovery aids future climate predictions
16 August, 2016
A team of British climate scientists comparing today’s environment with the warm period before the last ice age has discovered a 65% reduction of Antarctic sea ice around 128,000 years …
Polar ice reveals secrets of carbon-climate feedbacks
26 July, 2016
An international team of scientists have used air bubbles in polar ice from pre-industrial times to measure the sensitivity of the Earth’s land biosphere to changes in temperature.
FEATURED PAPER: Improved modelling of ice-ocean processes
19 May, 2016
Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica is currently one of the single biggest contributors to sea-level rise with an estimated volume loss of 1.2mm sea-level equivalent per decade. The loss …
FEATURED PAPER: Recent snowfall increase
16 December, 2015
This paper reveals that the amount of snowfall in coastal West Antarctica has increased during the 20th century, with annual snow accumulation since the 1990s the highest we have observed …
PRESS RELEASE: New season – ambitious science
23 November, 2015
New season tackles ambitious science and logistical challenges The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) 2015/16 field season is underway with dozens of scientists and support staff – together with planes and tonnes …
FEATURED PAPER: Improving climate predictions
19 November, 2015
The Earth’s climate was warmer than today by at least 1°C during the Last Interglacial (between 129,000 and 116,000 years ago). Thus, the Last Interglacial represents an invaluable case study …
NEWS STORY: Sea-level rise from Antarctic collapse
19 November, 2015
Sea-level rise from Antarctic collapse may be slower than suggested A new study by scientists in the UK and France has found that Antarctic ice sheet collapse will have serious …
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 …
FEATURED PAPER: Glacier response to ice shelf collapse
12 August, 2015
In February 2002, satellite images from a remote location in Antarctica revealed how an immense volume of floating ice, up to 1km thick, suddenly collapsed. Over the course of a …
NEWS STORY: New iSTAR season starts
11 November, 2014
Scientists head to Pine Island Glacier for new research season A team of twelve scientists and support staff has arrived on Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica in the second …
NEWS STORY: Ice shelf break up explained
12 September, 2014
Antarctic Team Discovers Mechanism for Massive Ice Shelf Collapse New research has found that the cataclysmic break-up of a large floating ice shelf in the early 2000’s was primarily the …
NEWS STORY: Sea levels rising faster in Antarctica
1 September, 2014
Antarctic sea-level rising faster than global rate A new study of satellite data from the last 19 years reveals that fresh water from melting glaciers has caused the sea-level around …
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 …
PRESS RELEASE: Glacier’s thinning charted
20 February, 2014
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 …
NEWS STORY: First phase of glacier mission ends
10 February, 2014
First leg of Antarctic iSTAR mission accomplished A team of British scientists has returned from a gruelling 1500km journey across the ice of West Antarctica after successfully completing the first …
NEWS STORY: Glacier thinning at point of no return
14 January, 2014
Focus on Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica Pine Island Glacier, on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is the largest single contributor to sea-level rise in Antarctica. The stability of the …
NEWS STORY: Climate records from ice cores
5 December, 2013
New ice core record shows climate variability in West Antarctica A 308-year ice core record provides new data on climate variability in coastal West Antarctica and shows that a clear …
NEWS STORY: “Stripes” hinder ice flow
8 November, 2013
Tiger stripes’ under Antarctic glacier slow the flow Narrow stripes of dirt and rock beneath massive Antarctic glaciers create friction zones that slow the flow of ice toward the sea, …
NEWS STORY: Ice melt rates measured
13 September, 2013
Antarctic research details ice melt below massive glacier An expedition of international scientists to the far reaches of Antarctica’s remote Pine Island Glacier has yielded exact measurements of an undersea …
NEWS STORY: Mission to Pine Island Glacier
9 September, 2013
Ambitious science mission sets off for Antarctica A team of British scientists is making final preparations for an ambitious Antarctic science mission. They aim to discover what’s causing the recent …
NEWS STORY: Measuring icequakes
28 August, 2013
Icequakes unlock secrets of icestreams Measuring tiny icequakes is helping British Antarctic Survey scientists investigate ice streams despite the challenging environment they have to work in. The work of Emma …
PRESS RELEASE: Increase in melt rates on Antarctic Peninsula
14 April, 2013
New insight into accelerating summer ice melt on the Antarctic Peninsula A new 1000-year Antarctic Peninsula climate reconstruction shows that summer ice melting has intensified almost ten-fold, and mostly since …
NEWS STORY: Royal Society accolade for expert
20 March, 2013
Top scientist receives Royal Society Research Professorship to fund long-term UK research A Royal Society Research Professorship has been awarded to one of British Antarctic Survey’s leading climate scientists Professor …
NEWS STORY: Greenland ice shows past trends
23 January, 2013
Greenland ice core reveals warm past temperatures British Antarctic Survey scientists have contributed to a new study published in Nature (Thursday 24 January) that provides surprising details on changes in …
PRESS RELEASE: Assessing potential sea level rise
16 January, 2013
New Antarctic geological timeline aids future sea-level predictions Radiocarbon dates of tiny fossilised marine animals found in Antarctica’s seabed sediments offer new clues about the recent rapid ice loss from …
NEWS STORY: Sea level rise calculated
30 November, 2012
British Antarctic Survey researchers part of landmark study to improve projections for future sea level An international team of satellite experts including researchers at British Antarctic Survey has produced the …
NEWS STORY: Surfaces of glaciers studied
29 October, 2012
The effects of microbial life on glaciers and ice sheets Around 10% of the Earth’s surface is covered by glacial ice (glaciers and ice sheets), some of which melt as …
PRESS RELEASE: Ice sheet behaviour analysed
17 October, 2012
Ice sheet retreat controlled by the landscape Ice-sheet retreat can halt temporarily during long phases of climate warming, according to scientists. A UK team led by Durham University has found …
PRESS RELEASE: Antarctica’s climate timeline
22 August, 2012
New climate history adds to understanding of recent Antarctic Peninsula warming Results published this week by a team of polar scientists from Britain, Australia and France adds a new dimension …
NEWS STORY: Assessing potential sea level rise
10 May, 2012
New studies improve scientists’ understanding of the potential contribution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet to global sea level rise Three peer-reviewed papers in Nature and Nature Geoscience published in recent …
PRESS RELEASE: Study of largest glacier
5 December, 2011
Scientist on BBC Frozen Planet investigates how world’s largest glacier is contributing to sea-level rise A team of scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is to survey the largest glacier …
PRESS RELEASE: Greenland drilling progress
2 August, 2010
Greenland Ice Core Team Reaches Bedrock Bedrock has been reached Tuesday July 27 2010 at the deep ice core drilling site North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling (NEEM) on the Greenland …
PRESS RELEASE: Ice thinning captured by satellites
23 September, 2009
Lasers from space show thinning of Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets The most comprehensive picture of the rapidly thinning glaciers along the coastline of both the Antarctic and Greenland ice …
PRESS RELEASE: 3D map aids ice flow estimates
20 July, 2009
New research provides insight into ice sheet behaviour A new study published this week takes scientists a step further in their quest to understand how Antarctica’s vast glaciers will contribute …
Satellite spies on doomed Antarctic ice shelf
19 March, 2002
PRESS RELEASE 19 March 2002 PR Number 5/2002 Satellite images have revealed the collapse of Larsen B ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula fulfilling predictions made by British Antarctic Survey …
PODCAST – Iceworld, Episode 3 – Ice Cores
19 February, 2020 by Robert Taylor
In Episode 3, Isobel Rowell and Dieter Tetzner have just returned from several weeks in the field, drilling for ice alongside Dr Robert Mulvaney and field guides Sarah Crowsley and …
SCIENCE ON THE ICE – Part 1: The search for the oldest ice continues
23 November, 2017 by Robert Mulvaney
BAS glaciologist Dr Robert Mulvaney journeys deep into Antarctica where he and the team continue their search for the oldest ice record of atmosphere and climate – hopefully stretching back 1.5 million years.
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.
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Journey to the Polar plateau
20 December, 2016 by Holly Winton
Our journey to the Antarctic Polar Plateau, where we will be spending the next few weeks as part of the ISOL-ICE research project, began on 7 December. We boarded a …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Polar guide tackles the long wait #6
4 January, 2016 by Ashly Fusiarski
Life in Antarctica can be difficult but strangely the more difficult it is, the easier it becomes. Life starts to be simple. One only has to do whatever it takes. The …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Polar guide reaches the ice – #3
10 November, 2015 by Ashly Fusiarski
The FISS project is huge on a logistical scale. Drilling through an eight hundred meter ice shelf and providing support and equipment for several seismic, radar and instrument inputs and …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: The journey South is long – #2
6 November, 2015 by Ashly Fusiarski
“Goodbyes” get harder each time so I avoid them by saying “See you later” as if I’m just going to the shop. The journey South is long and for me …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Tales from a polar guide – #1
26 October, 2015 by Ashly Fusiarski
It’s four AM and I’m wide awake, staring at the deep blue and black shadows on the ceiling of my bedroom. I allow myself just this once to indulge in …
BLOG: A New Frontier – exploring the Himalaya
9 September, 2015 by Michael McCarthy
Earlier this year I spent two months doing fieldwork in the Hindu-Kush Himalaya mountain region in South and Central Asia. It hosts the largest volume of ice and snow outside the polar regions and, for this reason, …
Radio-echo sounding and waveform modeling reveal abundant marine ice in former rifts and basal crevasses within Crary Ice Rise, Antarctica
1 August, 2021 by Carlos Martin Garcia
Crary Ice Rise formed after the Ross Ice Shelf re-grounded ~1 kyr BP. We present new ice-penetrating radar data from two systems operating at center frequencies of 7 and 750…Downhole distributed acoustic seismic profiling at Skytrain Ice Rise, West Antarctica
23 July, 2021 by Alex Brisbourne, Andy Smith, Sofia-Katerina Kufner
Antarctic ice sheet history is imprinted in the structure and fabric of the ice column. At ice rises, the signature of ice flow history is preserved due to the low…Read more on Downhole distributed acoustic seismic profiling at Skytrain Ice Rise, West Antarctica
Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) for natural microseismicity studies: A case study from Antarctica
16 July, 2021 by Alex Brisbourne, Andy Smith, Sofia-Katerina Kufner
Icequakes, microseismic earthquakes at glaciers, offer insights into the dynamics of ice sheets. For the first time in the Antarctic, we explore the use of fiber optic cables as Distributed…Reconstructing atmospheric circulation and sea-ice extent in the West Antarctic over the past 200 years using data assimilation
13 July, 2021 by Liz Thomas
The West Antarctic climate has witnessed large changes during the second half of the twentieth century including a strong and widespread continental warming, important regional changes in sea-ice extent and…Continuous flow analysis methods for sodium, magnesium and calcium detection in the Skytrain ice core
9 July, 2021 by Jack Humby, Julius Rix, Liz Thomas, Rebecca Tuckwell, Robert Mulvaney
Dissolved and particulate sodium, magnesium and calcium are analyzed in ice cores to determine past changes in sea ice extent, terrestrial dust variability and atmospheric aerosol transport efficiency. They are…No support for carbon storage of > 1,000 GtC in northern peatlands.
1 July, 2021 by Thomas Bauska
Northern peatlands store large amounts of carbon: 500 ± 100 GtC, according to a consolidated estimate from a diversity of methods1,2,3,4,5,6. However, Nichols and Peteet7 presented an estimate of 1,055 GtC, exceeding previous estimates…Read more on No support for carbon storage of > 1,000 GtC in northern peatlands.
Crevasse and rift detection in Antarctica from TerraSAR-X satellite imagery
1 July, 2021 by Oliver Marsh
Surface crevasses covered by snow bridges can be mapped remotely on ice sheets and glaciers using active microwave synthetic aperture radar. They are highlighted against the surrounding snow due to…Read more on Crevasse and rift detection in Antarctica from TerraSAR-X satellite imagery
Timing, pace and controls on ice sheet retreat: An introduction to the BRITICE‐CHRONO transect reconstructions of the British–Irish Ice Sheet
1 July, 2021 by Richard Hindmarsh, Richard Hindmarsh
Motivated to help improve the robustness of predictions of sea level rise, the BRITICE-CHRONO project advanced knowledge of the former British–Irish Ice Sheet, from 31 to 15 ka, so that…Recent progress on combining geomorphological and geochronological data with ice sheet modelling, demonstrated using the last British–Irish Ice Sheet
21 June, 2021 by Richard Hindmarsh, Richard Hindmarsh
Palaeo-ice sheets are important analogues for understanding contemporary ice sheets, offering a record of ice sheet behaviour that spans millennia. There are two main approaches to reconstructing palaeo-ice sheets. Empirical…
Global data gaps in our knowledge of the terrestrial cryosphere
14 June, 2021 by Hamish Pritchard
The IPCC Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate identified major gaps in our knowledge of snow and glacier ice in the terrestrial cryosphere. These gaps are…Read more on Global data gaps in our knowledge of the terrestrial cryosphere
Antarctic surface temperature and elevation during the Last Glacial Maximum
4 June, 2021 by Carlos Martin Garcia, Hugh Corr
Water-stable isotopes in polar ice cores are a widely used temperature proxy in paleoclimate reconstruction, yet calibration remains challenging in East Antarctica. Here, we reconstruct the magnitude and spatial pattern…Read more on Antarctic surface temperature and elevation during the Last Glacial Maximum
Improved estimates of preindustrial biomass burning reduce the magnitude of aerosol climate forcing in the Southern Hemisphere.
28 May, 2021 by Robert Mulvaney
Fire plays a pivotal role in shaping terrestrial ecosystems and the chemical composition of the atmosphere and thus influences Earth’s climate. The trend and magnitude of fire activity over the…
Ice drilling on Skytrain Ice Rise and Sherman Island, Antarctica
21 May, 2021 by Carlos Martin Garcia, Julius Rix, Rebecca Tuckwell, Robert Mulvaney, Scott Polfrey
To understand the long-term climate and glaciological evolution of the ice sheet in the region bordering the Weddell Sea, the British Antarctic Survey has undertaken a series of successful ice…Read more on Ice drilling on Skytrain Ice Rise and Sherman Island, Antarctica
Comparison of the oxygen isotope signatures in speleothem records and iHadCM3 model simulations for the last millennium
5 May, 2021 by Louise Sime
Improving the understanding of changes in the mean and variability of climate variables as well as their interrelation is crucial for reliable climate change projections. Comparisons between general circulation models… Stratospheric carbon isotope fractionation and tropospheric histories of CFC-11, CFC-12, and CFC-113 isotopologues.
5 May, 2021 by Robert Mulvaney
We present novel measurements of the carbon isotope composition of CFC-11 (CCl3F), CFC-12 (CCl2F2), and CFC-113 (CF2ClCFCl2), three atmospheric trace gases that are important for both stratospheric ozone depletion and…Exploring novel ice-core proxies for paleoclimate reconstruction in the sub-Antarctic
1 May, 2021 by Amy King, Dieter Tetzner
New ice-core records are being developed from the sub-Antarctic, a region previously lacking in paleoclimate archives. These records capture marine-sourced organic compounds that act as proxies for sea-ice concentration, and…Read more on Exploring novel ice-core proxies for paleoclimate reconstruction in the sub-Antarctic
Brief Communication: New radar constraints support presence of ice older than 1.5 Ma at Little Dome C.
19 April, 2021 by Carlos Martin Garcia, Robert Mulvaney
The area near Dome C, East Antarctica, is thought to be one of the most promising targets for recovering a continuous ice-core record spanning more than a million years. The…DEEPER: The Drill for Extensive Exploration of Planetary Environments Using Robots
15 April, 2021 by Julius Rix
Landed missions which seek to explore ever-greater depths beneath planetary subsurfaces must manage the risks associated with this challenging task. When developing the most appropriate mission architecture, the designer must…Read more on DEEPER: The Drill for Extensive Exploration of Planetary Environments Using Robots
Measuring changes in snowpack SWE continuously on a landscape scale using lake water pressure
1 April, 2021 by Hamish Pritchard, Steve Colwell
The seasonal snowpack is a globally important water resource that is notoriously difficult to measure. Existing instruments make measurements of falling or accumulating snow water equivalent (SWE) that are susceptible…
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