Showing 13455 items
24 October, 2019 by Peter Convey
Biological invasions represent significant economic and conservation challenges, though it is widely acknowledged that their impacts are often poorly documented and difficult to predict. In the Antarctic, one non-native vascular…18 October, 2019 by Anna Belcher, Geraint Tarling, Simeon Hill
Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) are swarming, oceanic crustaceans, up to two inches long, and best known as prey for whales and penguins – but they have another important role. With…Read more on The importance of Antarctic krill in biogeochemical cycles
17 October, 2019 by Jennifer Jackson, Peter Fretwell
We test the ability of Very High Resolution satellite (VHR) imagery to detect stranded whales using both manual and automated methods. We use the 2015 mass mortality event in the…16 October, 2019 by Jennifer Jackson
The recovery of whale populations from centuries of exploitation will have important management and ecological implications due to greater exposure to anthropogenic activities and increasing prey consumption. Here, a Bayesian…Read more on Assessing the recovery of an Antarctic predator from historical exploitation
9 October, 2019 by Katrin Linse
Hydrothermal vents at the East Scotia Ridge (ESR) were the first vents to be visually confirmed and surveyed in the Southern Ocean. A trochoid snail was recovered from low diffuse…2 October, 2019 by Hugh Venables, Alexander Brearley, Michael Meredith, Sophie Fielding
The OceanGliders program started in 2016 to support active coordination and enhancement of global glider activity. OceanGliders contributes to the international efforts of the Global Ocean Observation System (GOOS) for…Read more on OceanGliders: a component of the integrated GOOS
2 October, 2019 by Claire Waluda, Norman Ratcliffe, Philip Trathan
There is growing evidence that microplastic pollution (Read more on Microplastics in gentoo penguins from the Antarctic region
2 October, 2019 by Keith Nicholls
Thinning rates of ice shelves vary widely around Antarctica, and basal melting is a major component of ice shelf mass loss. In this study, we present records of basal melting…2 October, 2019 by Keith Nicholls
The buttressing potential of ice shelves is modulated by changes in subshelf melting, in response to changing ocean conditions. We analyze the temporal variability in subshelf melting using an autonomous…1 October, 2019 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
About 400 subglacial lakes are known from Antarctica. The question of whether life unique of subglacial lakes exists has been paramount since their discovery. Despite frequent evidence of microbial life…1 October, 2019 by Philip Trathan
The study of systematics in wide-ranging seabirds can be challenging due to the vast geographic scales involved, as well as the possible discordance between molecular, morphological and behavioral data. In…
1 October, 2019 by Peter Convey
In this study, two cyanobacterial strains (morphologically identified as Microcystis novacekii BA005 and Nostoc paludosum BA033) were exposed to different Mn concentrations: 7.0, 10.5, 15.7, 23.6 and 35.4 mg L−1 for BA005;…1 October, 2019 by Iain Staniland
Understanding how changes in oceanographic conditions affect predators and their prey is fundamental for interpreting variability in natural marine ecosystems. At South Georgia, Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella are known…1 October, 2019 by Jaume Forcada
Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella colonies are found on sub-Antarctic islands around the continent. These islands experience a range of conditions in terms of physical and biological habitat, creating a…Read more on Prey differences drive local genetic adaptation in Antarctic fur seals
1 October, 2019 by Liz Thomas
The progress of science is tied to the standardization of measurements, instruments, and data. This is especially true in the Big Data age, where analyzing large data volumes critically hinges…Read more on PaCTS 1.0: A Crowdsourced Reporting Standard for Paleoclimate Data
1 October, 2019 by Iain Staniland
South American fur seals (Arctocephalus australis) are widely distributed, yet surprisingly little is known about their ecology. In particular, population data are sparse and outdated for many breeding locations, including…
30 September, 2019 by Jeremy Wilkinson
Snow thickness measurements over relatively smooth Arctic first-year sea ice, obtained near Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada (2014, 2016 and 2017) and near Elson Lagoon, Alaska, USA (2003 and 2006), are…
18 September, 2019 by Simon Morley
The dynamics of microfilament (Read more on Dynamics of marine debris ingestion by profitable fishes along the estuarine ecocline
18 September, 2019 by Richard Phillips
Penguins (Sphenisciformes) are a remarkable order of flightless wing-propelled diving seabirds distributed widely across the southern hemisphere. They share a volant common ancestor with Procellariiformes close to the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary…Read more on High-coverage genomes to elucidate the evolution of penguins
15 September, 2019 by Alex Brisbourne
We present a shear wave model of the West Antarctic upper mantle to ∼200 km depth with enhanced regional resolution from the 2016-2018 UK Antarctic Seismic Network. The model is…
10 September, 2019 by Adrian Jenkins, Paul Holland
Variability in the heat delivery by Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) is responsible for modulating the basal melting of the Amundsen Sea ice shelves. However, the mechanisms controlling the CDW inflow…Read more on Wind-driven processes controlling oceanic heat delivery to the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica
6 September, 2019 by Jaume Forcada
The Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella) is an abundant Antarctic otariid. Here, we present the complete mitochondrial DNA sequence of this species, which includes 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA…Read more on Complete mitochondrial genome of the Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella)
5 September, 2019 by Mark Clilverd
Particle observations from low Earth orbiting satellites are used to undertake superposed epoch analysis around clusters of substorms, in order to investigate radiation belt dynamical responses to mild geomagnetic disturbances.…
4 September, 2019 by Eugene Murphy, Geraint Tarling, Ryan Saunders, Simeon Hill
Myctophid fish are the most abundant and diverse mesopelagic fishes in the Southern Ocean. They are a conduit of energy between primary consumers and higher marine predators, and between the…2 September, 2019 by Andrew Meijers, Povl Abrahamsen, Michael Meredith
The lower limb of the Atlantic overturning circulation is resupplied by the sinking of dense Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) that forms via intense air–sea–ice interactions next to Antarctica, especially in…
2 September, 2019 by Victoria Peck
Rapid changes in ocean circulation and climate have been observed in marine-sediment and ice cores over the last glacial period and deglaciation, highlighting the non-linear character of the climate system…Read more on Consistently dated Atlantic sediment cores over the last 40 thousand years
1 September, 2019 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Alexander Brearley, Michael Meredith
The Weddell Gyre (WG) is one of the main oceanographic features of the Southern Ocean south of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current which plays an influential role in global ocean circulation…Read more on The Weddell Gyre, Southern Ocean: present knowledge and future challenges
1 September, 2019 by Alex Brisbourne, Thomas Hudson, Thomas Hudson
Icequakes at or near the bed of a glacier have the potential to allow us to investigate theinteraction of ice with the underlying till or bedrock. Understanding this interaction is…Read more on Automated detection of basal icequakes and discrimination from surface crevassing
1 September, 2019 by Jacob Opher, Alexander Brearley, Michael Meredith
Biogeochemical cycling in high-latitude regions has a disproportionate impact on global nutrient budgets. Here, we introduce a holistic, multi-disciplinary framework for elucidating the influence of glacial meltwaters, shelf currents, and…Read more on The biogeochemical impact of glacial meltwater from Southwest Greenland
1 September, 2019 by Susan Gregory
Sympatry can lead to higher competition under climate change and other environmental pressures, including in South Georgia, Antarctica, where the two most common octopod species, Adelieledone polymorpha and Pareledone turqueti,…
1 September, 2019
The Humboldt Current System presents high interannual variability, influenced by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), whose implications in wildlife are not fully understood. We studied the isotopic niche of…
1 September, 2019 by John Turner
Between 2014 and 2016 the annual mean total extent of Antarctic sea ice decreased by a record, unprecedented amount of 1.6 3 106 km2, the largest in a record starting…1 September, 2019 by Paul Holland
Observed changes in Antarctic sea ice are poorly understood, in part due to the complexity of its interactions with the atmosphere and ocean. A highly simplified, coupled sea ice—ocean mixed…Read more on Sea ice – ocean feedbacks in the Antarctic shelf seas
1 September, 2019 by David Pearce
The considerable microbial diversity of soils and key role in biogeochemical cycling have led to growing interest in their global distribution and the impact that environmental change might have at…Read more on Biogeographical patterns in soil bacterial communities across the Arctic region
1 September, 2019 by Richard Phillips
We present the first objective quantitative assessment of the threats to all 359 species of seabirds, identify the main challenges facing them, and outline priority actions for their conservation. We…
30 August, 2019 by Anna Jones, Neil Brough
We present first observations of OH and (HO2 + RO2) carried out in Antarctica outside the summer season. Measurements were made over 23 days in spring at the coastal Antarctic…30 August, 2019 by Michael Meredith, Victoria Peck
The West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) exhibits strong spatial and temporal oceanographic variability, resulting in highly heterogeneous biological productivity. Calcifying organisms that live in the waters off the WAP respond to…
28 August, 2019 by Amy King, Liz Thomas, Sarah Jackson
Investigation of organic compounds in ice cores can potentially unlock a wealth of new information in these climate archives. We present results from the first ever ice core drilled on…Read more on Organic compounds in a sub-Antarctic ice core: A potential suite of sea-ice markers
28 August, 2019 by Michael Meredith
Global climate is critically sensitive to physical and biogeochemical dynamics in the subpolar Southern Ocean, since it is here that deep, carbon-rich layers of the world ocean outcrop and exchange…Read more on Reframing the carbon cycle of the subpolar Southern Ocean
28 August, 2019 by Ingrid Cnossen
We simulated the effects of the 21 August 2017 total solar eclipse on the ionosphere‐thermosphere system with the Global Ionosphere Thermosphere Model (GITM). The simulations demonstrate that the horizontal neutral…Read more on The response of the ionosphere-thermosphere system to the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse
28 August, 2019 by Kira Rehfeld
Marine sediment cores offer a great number of proxies for reconstructions of past environmental conditions, such as ocean temperature, salinity, primary productivity, stratification of the upper water column and continental…26 August, 2019 by Mark Clilverd
Relativistic electron microbursts are an important electron loss process from the radiation belts into the atmosphere. These precipitation events have been shown to significantly impact the radiation belt fluxes and…Read more on Characteristics of relativistic microburst intensity from SAMPEX observations
22 August, 2019 by Emilie Capron
The penultimate deglaciation (PDG, ∼138–128 thousand years before present, hereafter ka) is the transition from the penultimate glacial maximum (PGM) to the Last Interglacial (LIG, ∼129–116 ka). The LIG stands out as…22 August, 2019 by David Vaughan, Lloyd Peck
The view from the south is, more than ever, dominated by ominous signs of change. Antarctica and the Southern Ocean are intrinsic to the Earth system, and their evolution is…Read more on Sustained Antarctic Research: A 21st Century Imperative
16 August, 2019 by Tracy Moffat-Griffin
The Utah State University (USU) Advanced Mesospheric Temperature Mapper (AMTM) was deployed at the Amundsen‐Scott South Pole Station in 2010 to measure OH temperature at ~87 km as part of…
16 August, 2019 by Thomas Bracegirdle
Many general circulation models fail to capture the observed frequency of atmospheric blocking events in the Northern Hemisphere; however, few studies have examined models in the Southern Hemisphere and those…
15 August, 2019 by Peter Convey, Peter Fretwell
Effective monitoring of changes in the geographic distribution of cryospheric vegetation requires high-resolution and accurate baseline maps. The rationale of the present study is to compare multiple feature extraction approaches…12 August, 2019 by Adrian Jenkins, Paul Holland, Thomas Bracegirdle
Recent ice loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has been caused by ocean melting of ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea. Eastward wind anomalies at the shelf break enhance…8 August, 2019 by Alexander Lozinski, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
The recent introduction of all‐electric propulsion on geosynchronous satellites enables lower‐cost access to space by replacing chemical propellant. However, the time period required to initially raise the satellite to geostationary…
8 August, 2019 by Jeremy Wilkinson
Rapid Arctic warming drives profound change in the marine environment that have significant socio-economic impacts within the Arctic and beyond, including climate and weather hazards, food security, transportation, infrastructure planning…
8 August, 2019 by Andrew Meijers, Michael Meredith
The Southern Ocean is disproportionately important in its effect on the Earth system, impacting climatic, biogeochemical and ecological systems, which makes recent observed changes to this system cause for global…
8 August, 2019 by Thomas Bauska
New ice cores retrieved from the Taylor Glacier (Antarctica) blue ice area contain ice and air spanning the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5–4 transition, a period of global cooling and…
7 August, 2019 by Robert Arthern
Changes in firn properties affect the shape of pulse-limited radar altimeter echoes acquired over the polar ice sheets. We apply a waveform deconvolution model to CryoSat-2 low-resolution mode echoes to…
5 August, 2019 by James Robbins
Cooperative feeding is often observed among predators with strong social bonds; however, it is unexpected in solitary predators. During 2016, several mass predation events were witnessed in St Andrews Bay…Read more on A rare observation of group prey processing in wild leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx)
2 August, 2019
Within the context of global climate change and overfishing of fish stocks, there is some evidence that cephalopod populations are benefiting from this changing setting. These invertebrates show enhanced phenotypic…Read more on Global patterns of species richness in coastal cephalopods
1 August, 2019 by Bianca Perren, Dominic Hodgson, Stephen Roberts
Unicellular free-living microbial eukaryotes of the order Arcellinida (Tubulinea; Amoebozoa) and Euglyphida (Cercozoa; SAR), commonly termed testate amoebae, colonise almost every freshwater ecosystem on Earth. Patterns in the distribution and…1 August, 2019 by Richard Phillips
Speciation through homoploid hybridization (HHS) is considered extremely rare in animals. This is mainly because the establishment of reproductive isolation as a product of hybridization is uncommon. Additionally, many traits…1 August, 2019 by Andrew Wood, Deborah Pardo, Richard Phillips, Thomas Clay, Thomas Clay
1.Incidental mortality (bycatch) in fisheries remains the greatest threat to many large marine vertebrates and is a major barrier to fisheries sustainability. Robust assessments of bycatch risk are crucial for…
1 August, 2019 by Adrian Jenkins, Dave Munday, Kaitlin Naughten, Keith Nicholls, Paul Holland, Ruth Mugford
Open-ocean polynyas in the Weddell Sea of Antarctica are the product of deep convection, which transports Warm Deep Water (WDW) to the surface and melts sea ice or prevents its…Read more on Modeling the influence of the Weddell Polynya on the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf cavity
1 August, 2019 by Keith Nicholls, Peter Davis
Increased ocean‐driven basal melting beneath Antarctic ice shelves causes grounded ice to flow into the ocean at an accelerated rate, with consequences for global sea level. The turbulent transfer of…Read more on Turbulence observations beneath Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica
1 August, 2019 by Robert Arthern, Rebecca Tuckwell, Robert Mulvaney
Surface mass balance (SMB) is the net input of mass on a glacier's upper surface, composed of snow deposition, melt and erosion processes, and is a major contributor to the…
1 August, 2019 by Kira Rehfeld
Multidecadal surface temperature changes may be forced by natural as well as anthropogenic factors, or arise unforced from the climate system. Distinguishing these factors is essential for estimating sensitivity to…
1 August, 2019 by Mervyn Freeman
Substorms are a highly variable process, which can occur as an isolated event or as part of a sequence of multiple substorms (compound substorms). In this study we identify how…Read more on Substorm ‐ Ring Current Coupling: A comparison of isolated and compound substorms
1 August, 2019 by Hugh Corr
We propose an algorithm to evaluate the direction of arrival (DoA) estimation in the cross-track dimension of an airborne pulsed ice-sounding synthetic aperture radar (SAR), formed by a non-linear array.…Read more on Direction of arrival assessment in airborne ice-sounding synthetic aperture radar
29 July, 2019 by Peter Convey
Background. The study of altitudinal gradients provides insights about species diversity, distribution patterns and related drivers. The Magellanic sub-Antarctic ecoregion has a steep elevational gradient, peaking at around 1,000 m…
29 July, 2019 by Leyre Villota Nieva, Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark
Marine encrusting communities play vital roles in benthic ecosystems and have major economic implications with regards to biofouling. However, their ability to persist under projected warming scenarios remains poorly understood…
28 July, 2019 by Mervyn Freeman, Rob Shore
We obtain current densities from the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE), alongside By and Bz from the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) for March 2010. For each AMPERE…Read more on Timescales of Birkeland Currents driven by the IMF
24 July, 2019 by Erik Mackie
The Southern Ocean is a climatically important region, and its large-scale circulation influences climate and climate change globally. Through the uptake of carbon and heat from the atmosphere, and through…
24 July, 2019 by Geraint Tarling, Simeon Hill
Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, have a circumpolar distribution but are concentrated within the south-west Atlantic sector, where they support a unique food web and a commercial fishery. Within this sector,…Read more on Habitat partitioning in Antarctic krill: Spawning hotspots and nursery areas
23 July, 2019 by Emma Woodfield, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
Electron acceleration at Saturn due to whistler mode chorus waves has previously been assumed to be ineffective; new data closer to the planet shows it can be very rapid (factor…23 July, 2019 by Mervyn Freeman, Rob Shore
We analyse the spatial variation in the response of the surface geomagnetic field (or the equivalent ionospheric current) to variations in the solar wind. Specifically, we regress a reanalysis of…22 July, 2019 by Jaume Forcada
Numerous studies have reported correlations between the heterozygosity of genetic markers and fitness. These heterozygosity–fitness correlations (HFCs) play a central role in evolutionary and conservation biology, yet their mechanistic basis…19 July, 2019 by Irena Vankova
Iceberg calving is a major contributor to Greenland’s ice mass loss. Pro-glacial mélange (a mixture of sea ice, icebergs, and snow) may be tightly packed in the long, narrow fjords…Read more on Rapid iceberg calving following removal of tightly packed pro-glacial mélange
18 July, 2019 by Richard Phillips
Marine vertebrates show a diversity of migration strategies, including sex differences. This may lead to differential demography, but the consequences of such between-sex variation are little understood. Here, we studied…
17 July, 2019 by James Kirkham, Kelly Hogan, Robert Larter
Outburst floods from subglacial lakes beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet modulate ice flow velocities over periods of months to years. Although subglacial lake drainage events have been observed from satellite…Read more on Past water flow beneath Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, West Antarctica
16 July, 2019 by Anna Jones
We present a technique that utilises a segmented flow coil equilibrator coupled to a proton-transferreaction mass spectrometer to measure a broad range of dissolved volatile organic compounds. Thanks to its…16 July, 2019 by Richard Horne
In this study, we use the observations of electromagnetic waves by DEMETER satellite to investigate propagation characteristics of low altitude ionospheric hiss. In an event study, intense hiss wave power…Read more on Statistical characteristics of ionospheric hiss waves
16 July, 2019 by Fausto Ferraccioli, Tom Jordan
The East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) is underlain by a series of low‐lying subglacial sedimentary basins. The extent, geology and basal topography of these sedimentary basins are important boundary conditions…Read more on Subglacial geology and geomorphology of the Pensacola‐Pole Basin, East Antarctica
16 July, 2019 by Katrin Linse
The recently discovered hydrothermal vent ecosystems in the Southern Ocean host a suite of vent-endemic species, including lepetodrilid limpets dominating in abundance. Limpets were collected from the chimneys, basalts and…16 July, 2019 by Alex Burton-Johnson
New geochemical data are presented for the composite units of the Mount Kinabalu granitoid intrusion of Borneo and explore discrimination between crustal- and mantlederived granitic magmas. The geochemical data demonstrate…16 July, 2019 by Johnathan Ross, Mark Clilverd, Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
Signals from very low frequency (VLF) transmitters can leak from the Earth‐ionosphere wave guide into the inner magnetosphere, where they propagate in the whistler mode and contribute to electron dynamics…Read more on Effects of VLF transmitter waves on the inner belt and slot region
16 July, 2019 by James Kirkham
Seasonal snow is an important component of the Himalayan hydrological system, but a lack of observations at high altitude hampers understanding and forecasting of water availability in this region. Here,…Read more on Near real-time measurement of snow water equivalent in the Nepal Himalayas.
16 July, 2019 by Chester Sands
Life traits such as reproductive strategy can be determining factors of species evolutionary history and explain the resulting diversity patterns. This can be investigated using phylogeographic analyses of genetic units.…
15 July, 2019 by Alex Burton-Johnson, Peter Fretwell
Mt. Michael is an active stratovolcano on Saunders Island in the South Sandwich Islands; a remote, oceanic island arc in the southern Atlantic Ocean, bordering the Southern Ocean. The arc…
15 July, 2019 by Joanne Johnson
The glacial history of the westernmost Weddell Sea sector of Antarctica since the Last Glacial Maximum is virtually unknown, and yet it has been identified as critical for improving reliability…Read more on Abrupt mid-Holocene ice loss in the western Weddell Sea Embayment of Antarctica
15 July, 2019 by Alexander Tate, Alex Burton-Johnson, Philip Leat, Teal Riley
Understanding the tectonic evolution of the Scotia Sea is critical to interpreting how ocean gateways developed during the Cenozoic and their influence on ocean circulation patterns and water exchange between…15 July, 2019 by Johnathan Ross, Mark Clilverd, Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne
Signals from man‐made Very Low Frequency (VLF) transmitters, used for communications with submarines, can leak into space and contribute to the dynamics of energetic electrons in the inner radiation belt…10 July, 2019 by Clara Manno, Victoria Peck
The potential for preservation of thecosome pteropods is thought to be largely governed by the chemical stability of their delicate aragonitic shells in seawater. However, sediment trap studies have found…
9 July, 2019 by Keith Nicholls
Increasing ocean and air temperatures have contributed to the removal of floating ice shelves from several Greenland outlet glaciers; however, the specific contribution of these external forcings remains poorly understood.…