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, …
Fieldwork starts on Thwaites Glacier
13 December, 2022
Nearly 60 scientists and support staff are on their way to Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica. It’s part of an ambitious international effort to understand the glacier and surrounding ocean …
Oldest marine DNA discovered in Antarctic sediments
14 October, 2022
Scientists have discovered one million year old marine DNA in deep-sea sediments of the Scotia Sea, north of the Antarctic continent. This is the oldest DNA recovered of this kind …
Ice age valleys give clues to future ice sheet change
5 October, 2022
Deep valleys buried under the seafloor of the North Sea record how the ancient ice sheets that used to cover the UK and Europe expelled water to stop themselves from …
Seafloor images explain Thwaites Glacier retreat
5 September, 2022
New high resolution images of the the seafloor in West Antarctica show past retreat of Thwaites Glacier. They reveal that at times in its past, retreat of the massive Thwaites …
Drilling of oldest ice on Earth completed
18 February, 2022
The first ice core drilling campaign of Beyond Epica-Oldest Ice has been successfully completed at the remote Little Dome C site in Antarctica – one of the most extreme places …
Abundance of life discovered beneath an Antarctic ice shelf
20 December, 2021
Far beneath the ice shelves of the Antarctic, there is more marine life than expected, finds a recent study in the journal Current Biology, published this week (20 December 2021). …
‘MRI’ scan reveals spectacular ice age landscapes beneath the North Sea
9 September, 2021
Spectacular ice age landscapes beneath the North Sea have been discovered using 3D seismic reflection technology. Similar to MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) the images reveal in unprecedented detail huge seafloor …
IPCC: Polar scientists welcome Climate Change Assessment
9 August, 2021
CAMBRIDGE: British Antarctic Survey welcomes the publication of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group 1 component of its Sixth Assessment Report. This assessment brings together the latest advances in …
Scientists reconstruct past history of largest ice shelf on Antarctic Peninsula
19 May, 2021
For the first time, geological records have been used to reconstruct the history of Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica. The ice shelf is the largest remaining remnant of a …
Underwater robot reveals how Thwaites Glacier is melting
19 April, 2021
For the first time, researchers have collected data from underneath the remote Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica using an underwater robot.
Southern Hemisphere westerly winds likely to intensify as climate warms
9 December, 2020
Polar climate scientists have created the most high resolution past record of the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds. The results, published this week (9 December) in the journal Communications Earth and …
Deep channels link ocean to Antarctic glacier
9 September, 2020
Newly discovered deep seabed channels beneath Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica may be the pathway for warm ocean water to melt the underside of the ice. Data from two research …
Past evidence supports complete loss of Arctic sea-ice by 2035
10 August, 2020
A new study, published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change, supports predictions that the Arctic could be free of sea ice by 2035. High temperatures in the Arctic …
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. …
Blog: Hunting for microplastics in the high Arctic
23 August, 2022 by Huw Griffiths
Huw Griffiths works in the Biodiversity Team at British Antarctic Survey. As he completes fieldwork in the Canadian Arctic with colleagues Cath Waller (University of Hull) and Steve Roberts (BAS), …
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 …
The Palmer ice core as a candidate Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Anthropocene series
16 March, 2023 by Dieter Tetzner, Jack Humby, Liz Thomas
The remote Antarctic continent, distant from human industrial activity, should be one of the last places on Earth to capture Anthropogenic change. Hence, stratigraphic evidence of pollution and nuclear activity…How predictable are mass extinction events?
15 March, 2023 by Rowan Whittle
Many modern extinction drivers are shared with past mass extinction events, such as rapid climate warming, habitat loss, pollution and invasive species. This commonality presents a key question: can the…Suppressed basal melting in the eastern Thwaites Glacier grounding zone
16 February, 2023 by Irena Vankova, James Smith, Keith Makinson, Keith Nicholls, Paul Anker, Peter Davis, Robert Arthern
Thwaites Glacier is one of the fastest-changing ice–ocean systems in Antarctica1,2,3. Much of the ice sheet within the catchment of Thwaites Glacier is grounded below sea level on bedrock that…Read more on Suppressed basal melting in the eastern Thwaites Glacier grounding zone
Heterogeneous melting near the Thwaites Glacier grounding line
16 February, 2023 by Catrin Thomas, David Vaughan, James Smith, James Wake, Keith Makinson, Keith Nicholls, Paul Anker, Peter Davis, Catrin Thomas
Thwaites Glacier represents 15% of the ice discharge from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and influences a wider catchment. Because it is grounded below sea level, Thwaites Glacier is thought…Read more on Heterogeneous melting near the Thwaites Glacier grounding line
Planktic foraminifera iodine/calcium ratios from plankton tows
2 February, 2023 by Victoria Peck
Planktic foraminifera test iodine to calcium ratios represent an emerging proxy method to assess subsurface seawater oxygenation states. Several core-top studies show lower planktic foraminifera I/Ca ratios in locations with…Read more on Planktic foraminifera iodine/calcium ratios from plankton tows
Geomorphological record of a former ice stream to ice shelf lateral transition zone in Northeast Greenland
23 January, 2023 by James Smith
Understanding ice stream dynamics over decadal to millennial timescales is crucial for improving numerical model projections of ice sheet behaviour and future ice loss. In marine-terminating settings, ice shelves play…The South Shetland Islands, Antarctica: unified lithostratigraphy and geological map
12 January, 2023 by Dieter Tetzner, Teal Riley
Over the last few decades, numerous geological studies have been carried out in the South Shetland Islands, which have greatly contributed to a better understanding of its geological evolution. However,…Read more on The South Shetland Islands, Antarctica: unified lithostratigraphy and geological map
The impact of Holocene deglaciation and glacial dynamics on the landscapes and geomorphology of Potter Peninsula, King George Island (Isla 25 Mayo), NW Antarctic Peninsula
4 January, 2023 by Bianca Perren, Stephen Roberts
The timing and impact of deglaciation and Holocene readvances on the terrestrial continental margins of the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) have been well-studied but are still debated. Potter Peninsula on King…Anomalously high heat flow regions beneath the Transantarctic Mountains and Wilkes Subglacial Basin in East Antarctica inferred from Curie depth
3 January, 2023 by Maximilian Lowe, Robert Larter, Tom Jordan
The Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) separate the warmer lithosphere of the Cretaceous-Tertiary West Antarctic rift system and the colder and older provinces of East Antarctica. Low velocity zones beneath the TAM…Animal survival strategies in Neoproterozoic ice worlds
1 January, 2023 by Huw Griffiths, Rowan Whittle
The timing of the first appearance of animals is of crucial importance for understanding the evolution of life on Earth. Although the fossil record places the earliest metazoans at 572–602 Ma,…Read more on Animal survival strategies in Neoproterozoic ice worlds
An age scale for new climate records from Sherman Island, West Antarctica [in review]
23 December, 2022 by Dieter Tetzner, Robert Mulvaney
Few ice cores from the Amundsen and Bellingshausen Sea sectors of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) extend back in time further than a few hundred years. The WAIS is…Read more on An age scale for new climate records from Sherman Island, West Antarctica [in review]
Anthropogenic and internal drivers of wind changes over the Amundsen Sea, West Antarctica, during the 20th and 21st centuries
22 December, 2022 by James Smith, Kaitlin Naughten, Paul Holland, Pierre Dutrieux, Thomas Bracegirdle
Ocean-driven ice loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is a significant contributor to sea-level rise. Recent ocean variability in the Amundsen Sea is controlled by near-surface winds. We combine…Late Eocene signals of oncoming Icehouse conditions and changing ocean circulation, Antarctica
15 December, 2022 by Robert Larter
The end of the Eocene greenhouse world was the most dramatic phase in the long-term Cenozoic cooling trend. Here we use 75,000 km of multi/single channel seismic reflection data from…New 10Be ages improve Holocene ice sheet thinning history near the grounding line of Pope Glacier, Antarctica
6 December, 2022 by Jonathan Adams, Joanne Johnson, Stephen Roberts
Evidence for the timing and pace of past grounding line retreat of the Thwaites Glacier system in the Amundsen Sea embayment (ASE) of Antarctica provides constraints for models that are…Viability of chemical and water isotope ratio measurements of RAID ice chippings from Antarctica
5 December, 2022 by Dieter Tetzner, Eric Wolff, Julius Rix, Robert Mulvaney
The British Antarctic Survey's (BAS) Rapid Access Isotope Drill (RAID), designed for rapid drilling to survey prospective ice core sites, has been deployed at multiple Antarctic locations over 6 years.…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
Drainage and refill of an Antarctic Peninsula subglacial lake reveal an active subglacial hydrological network
30 November, 2022 by Dominic Hodgson, Peter Fretwell, Tom Jordan, Teal Riley
The presence of subglacial lakes and subglacial hydrological networks under the East and West Antarctic ice sheets is now relatively well understood, whilst their influence on ice dynamics is the…A long-term mass-balance reconstruction (1974–2021) and a decadal in situ mass-balance record (2011–2021) of Rikha Samba Glacier, central Himalaya
1 November, 2022 by James Kirkham
Despite their importance for regional water resource planning and as indicators of climate change, records of in situ glacier mass balance remain short and spatially sparse in the Himalaya. Here,…Tunnel valley formation beneath deglaciating mid-latitude ice sheets: Observations and modelling
5 October, 2022 by James Kirkham, Kelly Hogan, Robert Larter
The geological record of landforms and sediments produced beneath deglaciating ice sheets offers insights into inaccessible glacial processes. Large subglacial valleys formed by meltwater erosion of sediments (tunnel valleys) are…
Palaeo Environments, Ice Sheets and Climate Change team
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