Palaeo Environments, Ice Sheets and Climate Change team
Our ambition
is to improve understanding of the mechanisms of past change in ice sheets, oceans and global climate. Our aim is to reduce uncertainty in predictions of future climate and sea level change, informing Government strategy for mitigating against the risks of these changes. We specialise in providing detailed past and contemporary records of climate and environmental change from high latitude regions.
Team priorities
Science
To develop our understanding of the past response of polar ice sheets and ice shelves to environmental changes. Our aim is to improve forecasts of global sea levels and ice mass loss by providing data against which ice sheet models can be tested.
To investigate the history of the Southern Hemisphere Westerly Winds and their role in ice sheet dynamics and the global CO2 budget. We aim to detect when human impacts exceed the natural ranges of variability in the Earth system by studying climate signals in marine and terrestrial sediments.
To study changes in the production and export of Antarctic Bottom Water, the circulation of Southern Ocean deep- and bottom-water masses, and the role of sea ice, melt water and biological productivity in controlling past, and future, climate changes.
To improve understanding of the transition between greenhouse and icehouse climate states and the wider impact of global climate changes on the environment. We will study the physical environment, terrestrial and marine palaeobiology and community analysis from the geological past.
Technology, innovation and training
- Lead development of the science case and infrastructure requirement for the new UK Polar Research Vessel
- Utilise new and existing technologies to sample subglacial sediments to obtain records of past change; such as evidence for West Antarctic Ice Sheet loss and past ice shelf stability, and changes in subglacial hydrology and biology
- Apply and test novel dating techniques, and temperature and sea-ice proxies
- Train the next generation of polar scientists
Influencing and leading international programmes
- Play a strong leadership role and contribute to Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR) Research Programmes (PAIS, AntEco), the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP-PAGES), and Antarctic International Ocean Discovery Programme
- Participate in drilling initiatives including the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) and MeBo
Stakeholder engagement
- Produce policy briefings and presentations for UK Government departments including the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Foreign Office Polar Regions Department (FCO)
- Produce science updates and briefings on the impact and relevance of our research for our funders, including NERC
- Serve as Contributing Authors to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and UN Framework Conventions on Climate Change and the Law of the Sea
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
The role of Antarctic sea-ice in global climate
Sea-ice is frequently cited as a likely driver and propagator of abrupt climate change because of the rapid and far-reaching impact of its feedbacks. However, numerical climate models are still …
The role of the Southern Ocean in regulating atmospheric CO2 on glacial-interglacial timescales
The cause of the variability in atmospheric CO2 over glacial-interglacial timescales has been a puzzle since its discovery in the early 1980s. It is widely believed to be related to …Impact of Southern Westerly Winds and Circumpolar Deep Water on climate and marine ecology
The Antarctic Peninsula has warmed ~3°C over the last 50 years, approximately 6 times faster than the global average. Mechanisms for this accelerated rate of warming have been linked with …
Identification of glacial-time sources for Antarctic deep- and bottom-water masses
Over the past few millions of years, the Earth’s climate has switched between (cold) glacial and (warm) interglacial states many times. Although driven by long term changes in the Earth’s …
Improving estimates of Antarctica’s contribution to sea level
This research aims to improve estimates of Antarctica’s contribution to sea level. Sea level is currently rising at approximately 3mm/yr. If we are to understand why it is rising and …
Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Sea-Surface
In order to assess the impact of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) on the oceans today we are investigating the effect of decreasing upper ocean pH on calcifying zooplankton. Pteropods, …
Impact of global disturbances on evolution of polar life
Why does global biodiversity show such a steep increase just as climates were deteriorating?
Late Quaternary changes in the Westerly Winds over the Southern Ocean
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 …
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 …
Mass extinction and biological responses to Cenozoic environmental change
Modern Antarctic sea floor communities are unusual as many shelf areas are dominated by suspension feeding organisms such as sea lilies, feather stars and brittle stars, with few crushing predators …
Depositional patterns and records in sediment drifts off the Antarctic Peninsula and West Antarctica
The biggest uncertainty in predictions of sea-level rise is what the contribution will be from the great ice sheets on Antarctica and Greenland as climate warms. The West Antarctic Ice …IMCONet
IMCONet is an international Research Network that follows an interdisciplinary approach to understand the consequences of Climate Change in coastal Western Antarctica. A Network for Staff Exchange and Training, IMCONet …
Role of oceanic forcing in West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat
Ocean temperature has been identified as a key driver of current ice sheet retreat in the Amundsen Sea sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), yet its long-term history …
BEAMISH: Basal Conditions on Rutford Ice Stream
The polar ice sheets play a major role in controlling Earth’s sea level and climate, but our understanding of their history and motion is poor. The biggest uncertainty in predicting …
ANiSEED – AmuNdsen Sea Embayment Exposure Dating
This project will reconstruct millennial-scale ice sheet change in the western Amundsen Sea Embayment, Antarctica, using high-precision exposure dating.
Geological History Constraints on the Magnitude of Grounding Line Retreat in the Thwaites Glacier System
GHC (“Geological History Constraints”) 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 …
Stability and Instability – Records of External Drivers and Resulting Behaviour of Thwaites Glacier
THOR is a ship-based and ice-based project that will examine sedimentary record both offshore from the glacier and beneath the ice shelf, together with glacial landforms on the sea bed, …
Traces of rainforests found in West Antarctica
1 April, 2020
An international team of researchers has provided a new and unprecedented perspective on the climate history of Antarctica. From a sediment core collected from the seafloor in West Antarctica, they …
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 …
Scientists head to Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier
14 November, 2019
Nearly 100 scientists and support staff depart this week (13 November 2019) for the most ambitious mission to date for Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica. In the second year of …
Marine life recovery following the dinosaurs’ extinction
19 June, 2019
A new study shows how marine life around Antarctica returned after the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs. A team led by British Antarctic Survey studied just under 3000 …
Seals to act as sentinels of remote Antarctic glacier
29 January, 2019
Scientists will use two species of seals to investigate a huge glacier in West Antarctica that is at risk of collapse. A team of over 20 polar scientists from the …
International research expedition heads to West Antarctica
28 January, 2019
An international team of scientists is travelling to the Amundsen Sea – one of the most vulnerable sectors of the Antarctic Ice Sheet – to answer vital scientific questions about …
Ice sheets growing from the base
7 November, 2018
Fresh water freezing onto the bottom of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets leads to the formation of spectacular plume-shaped features, according to new research published today (7th November) in …
Increases in winds weaken Southern Ocean carbon sink
23 July, 2018
A new study of lake sediments from the sub-Antarctic reveals for the first time that increases in westerly winds are likely to reduce the ability of the Southern Ocean to …
New maps show why glacier ice front suddenly shrank
15 June, 2018
Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica is one of the fastest-flowing glaciers in Antarctica. Over the last eleven years, four major icebergs have broken off from its floating ice shelf. …
Major shift in marine life occurred 33 million years later
17 May, 2018
A new study of marine fossils from Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand and South America reveals that one of the greatest changes to the evolution of life in our oceans occurred …
Giant West Antarctic iceberg disintegrates
29 November, 2017
An animation of the giant iceberg that calved off the Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica just over two months ago shows an unexpected break up. Satellite images revealed a …
‘Scars’ left by icebergs record West Antarctic ice retreat
25 October, 2017
Thousands of marks on the Antarctic seafloor, caused by icebergs which broke free from glaciers more than ten thousand years ago, show how part of the Antarctic Ice Sheet retreated …
FEATURED PAPER: Wind, warm water and ice-sheet loss
5 October, 2017
Wind-driven incursions of warm, deep water forced the retreat of West Antarctic glaciers from the end of the last ice age until 7,500 years ago and since the 1940s. These …
Large iceberg breaks off Pine Island Glacier
27 September, 2017
Latest satellite images reveal a new 100-square-mile iceberg emerging from Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier. The calving event did not come as a complete surprise, but is a troubling sign with …
Team discovers sub-glacial lake from over 20,000 years ago
20 June, 2017
Researchers have provided new evidence that large sub-glacial lakes existed under the West Antarctic Ice Sheet during the last glacial period – around 20,000 years ago – a period when …
New atlas provides highest-resolution imagery of the Polar Regions seafloor
25 April, 2017
The most comprehensive and high-resolution atlas of the seafloor of both Polar Regions is presented this week (Tuesday 25 April) at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly (EGU) in Vienna.
Penguin colony repeatedly decimated by volcanic eruptions
11 April, 2017
One of Antarctica’s biggest gentoo penguin colonies was repeatedly decimated by eruptions of the Deception Island volcano in recent millennia.
Ice cap once covered sub-antarctic island of South Georgia
17 March, 2017
A new study reveals the sub-antarctic island of South Georgia – famous for its wildlife – was covered by a massive ice cap during the last ice age. The results …
New study shows when Pine Island Glacier retreat began
23 November, 2016
New study reveals when West Antarctica’s largest glacier started retreating Reporting this week (Wednesday 23 November) in the journal Nature an international team led by British Antarctic Survey (BAS) explains …
NEWS STORY: Oxygen depletion in the upper waters of the Southern Ocean during glacial periods
31 March, 2016
Research published this week by an international team of scientists, including the British Antarctic Survey, provides new insights into how carbon dioxide changed in the oceans surrounding Antarctica during glacial …
NEWS STORY: Lake drainage affected climate
17 February, 2016
The catastrophic release of fresh water from a vast South American lake at the end of the last Ice Age was significant enough to change circulation in the Pacific Ocean …
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 …
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 …
FEATURED PAPER: Ocean upwelling and increasing winds
2 September, 2015
As the southern westerly winds drive the Antarctic circumpolar current around Antarctica, deep waters are forced up to the surface south of the polar front. Changes in the intensity with …
NEWS STORY: Predicting polar ice loss
28 August, 2015
Most comprehensive ice loss model A new international study is the first to use a high-resolution, large-scale computer model to estimate how much ice the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could …
PRESS RELEASE: Ice shelf at double risk
13 May, 2015
New study shows Antarctic ice shelf is thinning from above and below A decade-long scientific debate about what’s causing the thinning of one of Antarctica’s largest ice shelves is settled …
NEWS STORY: IPCC climate report published today
27 September, 2013
The Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is published today. The report entitled Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis, presents a synthesis of …
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 …
PRESS RELEASE: Ocean currents driving ice loss
25 April, 2012
Warm ocean currents cause majority of ice loss from Antarctica Reporting this week (Thursday 26 April) in the journal Nature, an international team of scientists led by British Antarctic Survey …
PRESS RELEASE: Ozone hole anniversary
5 May, 2010
25th Anniversary of the Discovery of Ozone Hole This week British Antarctic Survey (BAS) commemorates the 25th anniversary of one of its most dramatic scientific discoveries — the ozone hole. …
A new drill site in the Amundsen Sea
27 March, 2019 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
Dr Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand is aboard the drill ship JOIDES Resolution as part of the 8-week International Ocean Discovery (IODP) Expedition 379. This is the final entry in a series of …
“Core on deck” – Analysis begins
18 March, 2019 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
Dr Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand tells us more about what happens once a sediment core has been recovered from the seafloor.
“Core on deck” – a welcome announcement
14 March, 2019 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
Dr Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand describes what it’s like drilling sediment cores on International Ocean Discovery (IODP) Expedition 379 in the Amundsen Sea, West Antarctica. Since the 31st of January we have …
Another research expedition but this time quite different
19 February, 2019 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
Dr Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand is a marine geologist at British Antarctic Survey (BAS). He is one of two UK scientists participating in International Ocean Discovery (IODP) Expedition 379 to the Amundsen …
SCIENCE AT SEA: Surveys and Sediments
27 March, 2018 by Matthew Chadwick
Matthew Chadwick is a member of the science team from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) currently aboard the RRS Discovery. Read on to gain an insight into what the team have …
SCIENCE AT SEA: Setting off for the Scotia Sea
15 March, 2018 by Zoe Roseby
Zoë Roseby is a member of the science team from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) currently aboard the RRS Discovery. Read on to discover what the team will be investigating in …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Extreme Geology #11
12 February, 2016 by Joanne Johnson
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 …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Extreme Geology #9
29 January, 2016 by Iain Rudkin
January the twenty sixth. My pre-deployment brief suggested that I should currently be partaking of all the luxuries Rothera Research Station has to offer. Enjoying that period of self-satisfaction which …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Extreme Geology #8
27 January, 2016 by Joanne Johnson
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 …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Extreme Geology #7
27 January, 2016 by Joanne Johnson
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 …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Extreme Geology #6
11 January, 2016 by Joanne Johnson
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 …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Extreme Geology #5
5 January, 2016 by Joanne Johnson
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 …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Extreme Geology #4
12 December, 2015 by Joanne Johnson
Geologist Jo Johnson waits patiently to go deep-field
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Extreme Geology #3
19 November, 2015 by Joanne Johnson
Being a parent working in Antarctica
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Extreme Geology #2
12 November, 2015 by Joanne Johnson
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 …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Extreme Geology #1
7 October, 2015 by Joanne Johnson
Science team goes deep field to Marie Byrd Land
ARCTIC BLOG: It’s not all plain sailing at the top of the World
21 August, 2015 by Kelly Hogan
A scientist’s view from Petermann Fjord, NW Greenland Three-and-a-bit days is what it takes to get from London to Thule air base in northwest Greenland. A quick flight to Copenhagen …
Deglaciation & relative sea-level change on the Antarctic Peninsula in the last 10 000 years.
30 June, 2020 by Dominic Hodgson, Stephen Roberts
The recent disintegration of Antarctic Peninsula ice-shelves and the associated accelerated discharge and retreat of continental glaciers has highlighted the need to provide a longer-term perspective for present ice mass…
Late Quaternary sedimentary processes in the central Arctic Ocean inferred from geophysical mapping
17 June, 2020 by Lara Perez
Cryospheric events in the Arctic Ocean have been largely studied through the imprints of ice sheets, ice shelves and icebergs in the seafloor morphology and sediment stratigraphy. Subglacial morphologies have…Chapter 5 – Tracing the deglaciation since the Last Glacial Maximum
16 June, 2020 by Stephen Roberts
The pre-last glacial maximum (LGM) Antarctic landscape with inherited preglacial topography (Sugden and Jamieson, 2018) was significantly overprinted by multiple ice advances and retreats driven by Milankovitch’s orbital forcing parameters…Chapter 6 – Relative sea level changes in the Antarctic coastal zone
16 June, 2020 by Dominic Hodgson
Changes in relative sea level (RSL) underpin the geomorphology and biology of the Antarctic coastal zone. They are a product of changes in regional ice dynamics, glacio-isostacy and eustatic sea…Mg/Ca-Temperature Calibration of Polar Benthic foraminifera species for reconstruction of bottom water temperatures on the Antarctic shelf
4 June, 2020 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith
Benthic foraminifera Mg/Ca is a well-established bottom water temperature (BWT) proxy used in paleoclimate studies. The relationship between Mg/Ca and BWT for numerous species has been determined using core-top and…
The geochemical and mineralogical fingerprint of West Antarctica’s weak underbelly: Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers
3 May, 2020 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
The marine-based West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is considered the most unstable part of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, with particular vulnerability in the Amundsen Sea sector where glaciers are melting…
A global database of Holocene paleotemperature records
14 April, 2020 by Stephen Roberts
A comprehensive database of paleoclimate records is needed to place recent warming into the longer-term context of natural climate variability. We present a global compilation of quality-controlled, published, temperature-sensitive proxy… Temperate rainforests near the South Pole during peak Cretaceous warmth
1 April, 2020 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith, Jane Francis, Robert Larter
The mid-Cretaceous period was one of the warmest intervals of the past 140 million years1,2,3,4,5, driven by atmospheric carbon dioxide levels of around 1,000 parts per million by volume6. In…
Geomorphology of Ona Basin, southwestern Scotia Sea (Antarctica): Decoding the spatial variability of bottom-current pathways
1 April, 2020 by Lara Perez
Ona Basin, the westernmost oceanic basin in the southern Scotia Sea, is affected by the opposite flows of Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) and Weddell Sea Deep Water (WSDW); thus, it…Stable water isotopes and accumulation rates in the Union Glacier region, Ellsworth Mountains, West Antarctica, over the last 35 years
9 March, 2020 by Dieter Tetzner, Emily Ludlow, Liz Thomas, Rebecca Tuckwell
ntarctica is well known to be highly susceptible to atmospheric and oceanic warming. However, due to the lack of long-term and in situ meteorological observations, little is known about the… I/Ca in epifaunal benthic foraminifera: A semi-quantitative proxy for bottom water oxygen in a multi-proxy compilation for glacial ocean deoxygenation
1 March, 2020 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
The decline in dissolved oxygen in global oceans (ocean deoxygenation) is a potential consequence of global warming which may have important impacts on ocean biogeochemistry and marine ecosystems. Current climate…
Early glacial maximum and deglaciation at sub-Antarctic Marion Island from cosmogenic 36Cl exposure dating
1 March, 2020 by Dominic Hodgson
Southern Hemisphere glacial chronologies can provide valuable insights into interactions between glaciation and past climate changes, but are not well constrained on most sub-Antarctic islands. We present the first cosmogenic…Preliminary Evidence for the Role Played by South Westerly Wind Strength on the Marine Diatom Content of an Antarctic Peninsula Ice Core (1980–2010)
26 February, 2020 by Claire Allen, Dieter Tetzner, Emily Ludlow, Hilary Blagbrough, Liz Thomas, Richard Warren, Thomas Bracegirdle
Winds in the Southern Ocean drive exchanges of heat and carbon dioxide between the ocean and atmosphere. Wind dynamics also explain the dominant patterns of both basal and surface melting…
Early Last Interglacial ocean warming drove substantial ice mass loss from Antarctica
25 February, 2020 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
The future response of the Antarctic ice sheet to rising temperatures remains highly uncertain. A useful period for assessing the sensitivity of Antarctica to warming is the Last Interglacial (LIG)…
Glacial sedimentation, fluxes and erosion rates associated with ice retreat in Petermann Fjord and Nares Strait, north-west Greenland
28 January, 2020 by Kelly Hogan
Petermann Fjord is a deep (>1000 m) fjord that incises the coastline of north-west Greenland and was carved by an expanded Petermann Glacier, one of the six largest outlet glaciers draining…
Highly branched isoprenoids reveal onset of deglaciation followed by dynamic sea-ice conditions in the western Amundsen Sea, Antarctica
15 January, 2020 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith
The Amundsen Sea drainage sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is widely regarded as a candidate for triggering potential WAIS collapse. The grounded ice sheet drains into the…New gravity-derived bathymetry for the Thwaites, Crosson and Dotson ice shelves revealing two ice shelf populations [in review]
10 January, 2020 by Kelly Hogan, Robert Larter, Tom Jordan
Ice shelves play a critical role in the long-term stability of ice sheets through their buttressing effect. The underlying bathymetry and cavity thickness are key inputs for modelling future ice…
Analysing the timing of peak warming and minimum winter sea-ice extent in the Southern Ocean during MIS 5e
1 January, 2020 by Claire Allen, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Louise Sime, Matthew Chadwick
The peak of the Last Interglacial, Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e (130–116 ka), provides a valuable ‘process analogue’ for validating the climatic feedbacks and forcings likely active under future anthropogenic…The marine geological imprint of Antarctic ice shelves
10 December, 2019 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith
Reductions in the thickness and extent of Antarctic ice shelves are triggering increased discharge of marine-terminating glaciers. While the impacts of recent changes are well documented, their role in modulating…Past ice sheet-seabed interactions in the northeastern Weddell Sea Embayment, Antarctica. [in review]
6 December, 2019 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith, Robert Larter
The Antarctic Ice Sheet extent in the Weddell Sea Embayment (WSE) during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; ca. 19–25 calibrated kiloyears before present, cal. ka BP) and its subsequent retreat…
