Our publications

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Population abundance of recovering humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and other baleen whales in the Scotia Arc, South Atlantic

14 October, 2021 by Eugene Murphy, Jennifer Jackson, Philip Trathan, Sophie Fielding

Following the cessation of whaling, South Atlantic populations of humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) and some other baleen whale species are recovering, but there has been limited monitoring of their recovery in…

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Southern Ocean food web modelling: Progress, prognoses, and future priorities for research and policy makers

14 October, 2021 by Eugene Murphy, Nadine Johnston, Simeon Hill

Globally important services are supported by Southern Ocean ecosystems, underpinned by the structure, function, and dynamics of complex interconnected and regionally distinctive food webs. These food webs vary in response…

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Atmospheric tomography using the Nordic Meteor Radar Cluster and Chilean Observation Network De Meteor Radars: Network details and 3D-Var retrieval

8 October, 2021

Ground-based remote sensing of atmospheric parameters is often limited to single station observations by vertical profiles at a certain geographic location. This is a limiting factor for investigating gravity wave…

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The discovery and preliminary geological and faunal descriptions of three new Steinahóll vent Sites, Reykjanes Ridge, Iceland

5 October, 2021 by Katrin Linse

During RV MS Merian expedition MSM75, an international, multidisciplinary team explored the Reykjanes Ridge from June to August 2018. The first area of study, Steinahóll (150–350 m depth), was chosen…

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From data to marine ecosystem assessments of the Southern Ocean: Achievements, challenges, and lessons for the future

5 October, 2021 by Huw Griffiths

Southern Ocean ecosystems offer numerous benefits to human society and the global environment, and maintaining them requires well-informed and effective ecosystem-based management. Up to date and accurate information is needed…

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Developing resilience to climate change impacts in Antarctica: An evaluation of Antarctic Treaty System protected area policy

1 October, 2021 by John Turner, Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey

Antarctica is increasingly vulnerable to climate change impacts, with the continent predicted to warm by ∼4 °C by 2100 under a ‘business as usual’ greenhouse gas emission scenario. Simultaneously, human…

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Exploring the plant environmental DNA diversity in soil from two sites on Deception Island (Antarctica, South Shetland Islands) using metabarcoding

1 October, 2021 by Peter Convey

The few Antarctic studies to date to have applied metabarcoding in Antarctica have primarily focused on microorganisms. In this study, for the first time, we apply high-throughput sequencing of environmental…

Read more on Exploring the plant environmental DNA diversity in soil from two sites on Deception Island (Antarctica, South Shetland Islands) using metabarcoding

Geochronology and geochemistry of the South Scotia Ridge: Miocene island arc volcanism of the Scotia Sea

1 October, 2021 by Alex Burton-Johnson, Kelly Hogan, Philip Leat, Teal Riley

The ancestral South Sandwich arc (ASSA) records evidence of Oligocene – Miocene intra-oceanic island arc volcanism in the central Scotia Sea and potentially formed an important topographic barrier to deep…

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Editorial: ‘No continent is immune, including Antarctica’, but National Antarctic Programmes acted collectively to avert disaster

1 October, 2021 by Jane Francis

The global reach of the COVID-19 pandemic threatened Antarctic activities, even though the continent is isolated and remote. Members of the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP) quickly…

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Drift orbit bifurcations and cross-field transport in the outer radiation belt: Global MHD and integrated test-particle simulations

30 September, 2021 by Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert

Energetic particle fluxes in the outer magnetosphere present a significant challenge to modeling efforts as they can vary by orders of magnitude in response to solar wind driving conditions. In…

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Pragmatic assignment of species groups based on primary species hypotheses: the case of a dominant component of the Southern Ocean benthic fauna

30 September, 2021 by Chester Sands

Ecological studies that enhance our understanding of the structure and function of the natural world rely heavily on accurate species identification. With rapid sample accumulation and declining taxonomic expertise, cladistics,…

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Otolith-derived field metabolic rates of myctophids (Family Myctophidae) from the Scotia Sea (Southern Ocean)

30 September, 2021 by Anna Belcher, Gabriele Stowasser, Ryan Saunders

Myctophids (Family Myctophidae, commonly known as the lanternfishes) are critical components of open ocean food webs and an important part of the ocean biological carbon pump, as many species actively…

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Standing stock of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba Dana, 1850) (Euphausiacea) in the Southwest Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean, 2018–19

22 September, 2021 by Eugene Murphy, Philip Trathan, Sophie Fielding

Estimates of the distribution and density of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba Dana, 1850) were derived from a large-scale survey conducted during the austral summer in the Southwest Atlantic sector of…

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Multiyear trend in reproduction underpins interannual variation in gametogenic development of an Antarctic urchin

22 September, 2021 by Lloyd Peck, Rebecca De Leij

Ecosystems and their biota operate on cyclic rhythms, often entrained by predictable, small-scale changes in their natural environment. Recording and understanding these rhythms can detangle the effect of human induced…

Read more on Multiyear trend in reproduction underpins interannual variation in gametogenic development of an Antarctic urchin

Interhemispheric differences of mesosphere-lower thermosphere winds and tides investigated from three whole-atmosphere models and meteor radar observations

17 September, 2021

Long-term and continuous observations of mesospheric-lower thermospheric winds are rare, but they are important to investigate climatological changes at these altitudes on timescales of several years, covering a solar cycle…

Read more on Interhemispheric differences of mesosphere-lower thermosphere winds and tides investigated from three whole-atmosphere models and meteor radar observations

Climatology of quasi-2-day wave structure and variability at middle latitudes in the northern and southern hemispheres.

15 September, 2021 by Tracy Moffat-Griffin

Climatological structure of the quasi-2-day wave (Q2DW) at middle latitudes in temperature and horizontal winds in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) was compared between the northern and southern hemispheres.…

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Sweepstake reproductive success and collective dispersal produce chaotic genetic patchiness in a broadcast spawner

10 September, 2021 by Lloyd Peck, Michael Meredith, Melody Clark

A long-standing paradox of marine populations is chaotic genetic patchiness (CGP), temporally unstable patterns of genetic differentiation that occur below the geographic scale of effective dispersal. Several mechanisms are hypothesized…

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Societal importance of Antarctic negative feedbacks on climate change: blue carbon gains from sea ice, ice shelf and glacier losses.

7 September, 2021 by Chester Sands, David Barnes, Nadescha Zwerschke

Diminishing prospects for environmental preservation under climate change are intensifying efforts to boost capture, storage and sequestration (long-term burial) of carbon. However, as Earth’s biological carbon sinks also shrink, remediation…

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External Morphology of Larvae of Belgica antarctica Jacobs, 1900 (Diptera, Chironomidae) Obtained from Two Locations in Maritime Antarctica

3 September, 2021 by Peter Convey

The external morphology of the fourth-instar larva of the Antarctic endemic chironomid midge Belgica antarctica is described. Larvae were collected from Jougla Point (Wiencke Island) and an un-named island close…

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A new percussion hammer mechanism for a borehole deployable subglacial sediment corer

1 September, 2021 by Andy Smith, Dominic Hodgson, Daniel Ashurst, James Smith, Keith Makinson, Paul Anker, Peter Davis

Subglacial sediments have the potential to reveal information about the controls on glacier flow, changes in ice-sheet history and characterise life in those environments. Retrieving sediments from beneath the ice,…

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Strong quasi-stationary wintertime atmospheric surface pressure anomalies drive a dipole pattern in the Subantarctic Mode Water formation

1 September, 2021 by Andrew Meijers

The deepest wintertime (Jul-Sep) mixed layers associated with Subantarctic Mode Water (SAMW) formation develop in the Indian and Pacific sectors of the Southern Ocean. In these two sectors the dominant…

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Utilising IPCC assessments to support the ecosystem approach to fisheries management within a warming Southern Ocean

1 September, 2021 by Eugene Murphy, John Turner, Michael Meredith, Philip Hollyman, Philip Trathan, Rachel Cavanagh, Simeon Hill, Susie Grant

Southern Ocean marine ecosystems are highly vulnerable to climate-driven change, the impacts of which must be factored into conservation and management. The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living…

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Regime behavior in the upper stratosphere as a precursor of stratosphere-troposphere coupling in the northern winter

1 September, 2021 by Hua Lu, John King, Thomas Bracegirdle

A new regime index is constructed to capture the seasonal development of the stratospheric polar vortex in the northern winter, based on the standard deviation of Ertel’s potential vorticity in…

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Future sea level change under Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 and 6 scenarios from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets

28 August, 2021 by Thomas Bracegirdle

Projections of the sea level contribution from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets rely on atmospheric and oceanic drivers obtained from climate models. The Earth System Models participating in the…

Read more on Future sea level change under Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 and 6 scenarios from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets

Frequency-dependent modulation of whistler-mode waves by density irregularities during the recovery phase of a geomagnetic storm

28 August, 2021 by Richard Horne

Density irregularities near the plasmapause are commonly observed and play an important role in whistler-mode wave excitation and propagation. In this study, we report a frequency-dependent modulation event of whistler-mode…

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Rapid and accurate polarimetric radar measurements of ice crystal fabric orientation at the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide ice core site

27 August, 2021 by Carlos Martin Garcia

The crystal orientation fabric (COF) of ice sheets records the past history of ice sheet deformation and influences present-day ice flow dynamics. Though not widely implemented, coherent ice-penetrating radar is…

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Seasonal Arctic sea ice forecasting with probabilistic deep learning

26 August, 2021 by Dani Jones, Emily Shuckburgh, James Byrne, Scott Hosking, Jeremy Wilkinson, Tony Phillips, Tom Andersson

Anthropogenic warming has led to an unprecedented year-round reduction in Arctic sea ice extent. This has far-reaching consequences for indigenous and local communities, polar ecosystems, and global climate, motivating the…

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EUREC4A

25 August, 2021 by Thomas Lachlan-Cope

The science guiding the EUREC4A campaign and its measurements is presented. EUREC4A comprised roughly 5 weeks of measurements in the downstream winter trades of the North Atlantic – eastward and…

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Interplanetary shock‐induced magnetopause motion: Comparison between theory and global magnetohydrodynamic simulations

18 August, 2021 by Mervyn Freeman, Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne

The magnetopause marks the outer edge of the Earth’s magnetosphere and a distinct boundary between solar wind and magnetospheric plasma populations. In this letter, we use global magnetohydrodynamic simulations to…

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Intermediate ice scour disturbance is key to maintaining a peak in biodiversity within the shallows of the Western Antarctic Peninsula

18 August, 2021 by Ben Robinson, David Barnes, Simon Morley

Climate-related disturbance regimes are changing rapidly with profound consequences for ecosystems. Disturbance is often perceived as detrimental to biodiversity; however, the literature is divided on how they influence each other.…

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Using forecasting methods to incorporate social, economic, and political considerations into Marine Protected Area planning

13 August, 2021 by Philip Trathan

As the global environmental crisis grows in scale and complexity, conservation professionals and policymakers are increasingly called upon to make decisions despite high levels of uncertainty, limited resources, and insufficient…

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Impacts of UV Irradiance and Medium-Energy Electron Precipitation on the North Atlantic Oscillation during the 11-Year Solar Cycle.

11 August, 2021 by Mark Clilverd

Observational studies suggest that part of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) variability may be attributed to the spectral ultra-violet (UV) irradiance variations associated to the 11-year solar cycle. The observed…

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Latitudinal patterns in intertidal ecosystem structure in West Greenland suggest resilience to climate change

5 August, 2021 by Jakob Thyrring, Lloyd Peck

Climate change has ecosystem‐wide cascading effects. Little is known, however, about the resilience of Arctic marine ecosystems to environmental change. Here we quantify and compare large‐scale patterns in rocky intertidal…

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Global connectivity of Southern Ocean ecosystems

4 August, 2021 by Chester Sands, David Barnes, Eugene Murphy, Geraint Tarling, Jennifer Jackson, Kevin Hughes, Nadine Johnston, Philip Trathan, Richard Phillips, Rachel Cavanagh, Ryan Saunders, Sally Thorpe

Southern Ocean ecosystems are globally important. Processes in the Antarctic atmosphere, cryosphere, and the Southern Ocean directly influence global atmospheric and oceanic systems. Southern Ocean biogeochemistry has also been shown…

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The effects of combined ocean acidification and nanoplastic exposures on the embryonic development of Antarctic krill

3 August, 2021 by Clara Manno, Emily Rowlands, Sally Thorpe, Victoria Peck

In aquatic environments, plastic pollution occurs concomitantly with anthropogenic climate stressors such as ocean acidification. Within the Southern Ocean, Antarctic krill (Euphausia Superba) support many marine predators and play a…

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Multi-scale assessment of distribution and density of procellariiform seabirds within the Northern Antarctic Peninsula marine ecosystem

1 August, 2021 by Philip Trathan, Victoria Warwick-Evans

The Antarctic Peninsula is one of the most rapidly warming regions on earth, and it is likely that the abundance and distribution of marine predators will change as a result.Procellariiform…

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Cephalopod fauna of the Pacific Southern Ocean using Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni) as biological samplers and fisheries bycatch specimens

1 August, 2021

Cephalopods are an important component of Southern Ocean food webs but studies analysing their habitat and trophic ecology are scarce. Here, we use the Antarctic toothfish Dissostichus mawsoni as a…

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Variability in tissue-specific trophic discrimination factors (∆13C and ∆15N) between Antarctic krill Euphausia superba and free-ranging Pygoscelis penguins

1 August, 2021

For top consumers in marine environments, trophic discrimination factors (∆13C and ∆15N) between food and consumers’ tissues are expected to be similar among related species. However, few studies conducted in…

Read more on Variability in tissue-specific trophic discrimination factors (∆13C and ∆15N) between Antarctic krill Euphausia superba and free-ranging Pygoscelis penguins

Experimental determination of reflectance spectra of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) in the Scotia Sea

1 August, 2021 by Anna Belcher, Geraint Tarling, Gabriele Stowasser, Louise Ireland, Peter Fretwell, Sophie Fielding

Antarctic krill are the dominant metazoan in the Southern Ocean in terms of biomass; however, their wide and patchy distribution means that estimates of their biomass are still uncertain. Most…

Read more on Experimental determination of reflectance spectra of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) in the Scotia Sea