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An updated model providing long-term data sets of energetic electron precipitation, including zonal dependence
16 September, 2018 by Mark Clilverd
In this study 30‐ to 1,000‐keV energetic electron precipitation (EEP) data from low Earth orbiting National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and MetOp Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites were processed in two…Critical Southern Ocean climate model biases traced to atmospheric model cloud errors
11 September, 2018 by Andrew Meijers, Thomas Bracegirdle
The Southern Ocean is a pivotal component of the global climate system yet it is poorly represented in climate models, with significant biases in upper-ocean temperatures, clouds and winds. Combining…Read more on Critical Southern Ocean climate model biases traced to atmospheric model cloud errors
Isotopic niches of sympatric Gentoo and Chinstrap Penguins: evidence of competition for Antarctic krill?
1 September, 2018
As climate change, among other factors, is increasingly affecting Antarctic marine systems, competition for prey may increase between predators, particularly in the Antarctic Peninsula which has warmed more than elsewhere.…The reproductive ecology of the Antarctic bivalve Aequiyoldia eightsii (Protobranchia: Sareptidae) follows neither Antarctic nor taxonomic patterns
1 September, 2018 by Lloyd Peck
The accepted paradigm for reproduction in Antarctic marine species is one where oogenesis takes 18 months to 2 years, and a bimodal egg-size distribution where two cohorts of eggs are…Plasticity in the foraging behavior of male Southern Rockhopper Penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome) during incubation in the Falkland/Malvinas Islands
1 September, 2018 by Norman Ratcliffe
Environmental changes often affect the persistence of species or populations at different spatial and temporal scales. Thus, species must either adapt to these changes or experience negative impacts at the…A Multidisciplinary approach for generating globally consistent data on Mesophotic, Deep-Pelagic, and Bathyal Biological Communities
1 September, 2018 by Katrin Linse
Approaches to measuring marine biological parameters remain almost as diverse as the researchers who measure them. However, understanding the patterns of diversity in ocean life over different temporal and geographic…Cellular stress responses to chronic heat shock and shell damage in temperate Mya truncata
1 September, 2018 by Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark, Victoria Sleight
Acclimation, via phenotypic flexibility, is a potential means for a fast response to climate change. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underpinning phenotypic flexibility can provide a fine-scale cellular understanding of how…High benthic methane flux in low sulfate oceans: Evidence from carbon isotopes in Late Cretaceous Antarctic bivalves
1 September, 2018 by Alistair Crame, Jane Francis
The shell material of marine benthic bivalves provides a sensitive archive of water chemistry immediately above the sediment–water interface, which in turn is affected by sedimentary geochemistry and redox reactions.…Can the optimisation of pop-up agriculture in remote communities help feed the world?
1 September, 2018 by Beatrix Schlarb-Ridley, Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey
Threats to global food security have generated the need for novel food production techniques to feed an ever-expanding population with ever-declining land resources. Hydroponic cultivation has been long recognised as…Read more on Can the optimisation of pop-up agriculture in remote communities help feed the world?
Investigating the distribution of magmatism at the onset of Gondwana breakup with novel strapdown gravity and aeromagnetic data
1 September, 2018 by Tom Jordan
Massive volumes of mafic magmatism forming the Karoo-Ferrar Large Igneous Province (LIP) in Southern Africa and Antarctica preceded Jurassic breakup of the Gondwana Supercontinent. This widespread LIP magmatism is attributed…Revisiting the Relationship among Metrics of Tropical Expansion
1 September, 2018 by Alison Ming
There is mounting evidence that the width of the tropics has increased over the last few decades, but there are large differences in reported expansion rates. This is, likely, in…Read more on Revisiting the Relationship among Metrics of Tropical Expansion
Realistic worst case for a severe space weather event driven by a fast solar wind stream
1 September, 2018 by Mark Phillips, Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
Satellite charging is one of the most important risks for satellites on orbit. Satellite charging can lead to an electrostatic discharge resulting in component damage, phantom commands, and loss of…Radiation belt slot-region filling events: sustained energetic precipitation into the mesosphere
1 September, 2018 by Andrew Kavanagh, Neil Cobbett, Peter Kirsch
Precipitation of energetic electrons to the atmosphere is both a loss mechanism for radiation belt particles and a means by which the geospace environment influences the Earth's atmosphere; thus it…How will vessels be inspected to meet emerging biofouling regulations for the prevention of marine invasions?
1 September, 2018 by Gail Ashton
International and national guidelines and regulations to limit the inadvertent transfer of non-native species on the submerged surfaces of vessels and mobile infrastructure are progressing. However, methods to assess compliance…Precipitation instruments at Rothera Station, Antarctic Peninsula: a comparative study
1 September, 2018 by Rosey Grant, John Law, Mairi Simms, Steve Colwell
Direct measurement of precipitation in the Antarctic using ground-based instruments is important to validate the results from climate models, reanalyses and satellite observations. Quantifying precipitation in Antarctica faces many unique…Read more on Precipitation instruments at Rothera Station, Antarctic Peninsula: a comparative study
Interhemispheric survey of polar cap aurora
1 September, 2018 by Andrew Kavanagh, Jade Reidy, Jade Reidy
This study investigates the interhemispheric nature of polar cap auroras via ultraviolet imaging, combined with particle data, to determine whether they occur on open or closed field lines. Data from…International Polar Week as an educational activity to boost science–educational links: Portugal as a case study
1 September, 2018
International Polar Week is an educational activity that has been carried out since the International Polar Year 2007–2008 (known then as International Polar Days). This event, which brings together educators…Geothermal heat flux reveals the Iceland hotspot track underneath Greenland
28 August, 2018 by David Vaughan, Tom Jordan, Yasmina Martos-Martin
Curie depths beneath Greenland are revealed by spectral analysis of data from the World Digital Magnetic Anomaly Map 2. A thermal model of the lithosphere then provides a corresponding geothermal…Read more on Geothermal heat flux reveals the Iceland hotspot track underneath Greenland
Basal melt and freezing rates from first noble gas samples beneath an ice shelf
28 August, 2018 by Keith Nicholls, Peter Davis
A climatically‐induced acceleration in ocean‐driven melting of Antarctic ice shelves would have consequences for both the discharge of continental ice into the ocean and thus global sea level, and for…Read more on Basal melt and freezing rates from first noble gas samples beneath an ice shelf
Salinity control of thermal evolution of late summer melt ponds on Arctic sea ice
28 August, 2018 by Jeremy Wilkinson
The thermal evolution of melt ponds on Arctic sea ice was investigated through a combination of autonomous observations and two‐dimensional high‐resolution fluid dynamics simulations. We observed one relatively fresh pond…Read more on Salinity control of thermal evolution of late summer melt ponds on Arctic sea ice
Vertical Structure of Diurnal Englacial Hydrology Cycle at Helheim Glacier, East Greenland
28 August, 2018 by Keith Nicholls
The interior dynamics of Helheim Glacier were monitored using an autonomous phase‐sensitive radio‐echo sounder (ApRES) during two consecutive summers. The return signals from all observational sites exhibited strong non‐tidal, depth‐dependent…Mechanisms of dissolved and labile particulate iron supply to shelf waters and phytoplankton blooms off South Georgia, Southern Ocean
22 August, 2018 by Sophie Fielding
The island of South Georgia is situated in the iron (Fe) depleted Antarctic Circumpolar Current of the Southern Ocean. Iron emanating from its shelf system fuels large phytoplankton blooms downstream…Oceanic fronts control the distribution of dissolved barium in the Southern Ocean
20 August, 2018 by Hugh Venables, Michael Meredith
The globally-observed relationship between oceanic barium and the macronutrient silicic acid results from the shared influence of large-scale ocean circulation and mixing on the two elements, and the inherent link…Read more on Oceanic fronts control the distribution of dissolved barium in the Southern Ocean
Radiation effects on satellites during extreme space weather events
18 August, 2018 by Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert
High‐energy trapped electrons in the Van Allen belts pose a threat to the survivability of orbiting spacecraft. Two key radiation effects are total ionising dose (TID) and displacement damage dose…Read more on Radiation effects on satellites during extreme space weather events
The springtime influence of natural tropical Pacific variability on the surface climate of the Ross Ice Shelf, West Antarctica: implications for ice shelf thinning
10 August, 2018 by Andrew Orr, James Pope
Observational records starting in the 1950s show West Antarctica is amongst the most rapidly warming regions on the planet. Together with increased intrusions of warm circumpolar deep water (CDW) onto…UK Global Ocean GO6 and GO7: a traceable hierarchy of model resolutions
10 August, 2018 by Pierre Mathiot
Versions 6 and 7 of the UK Global Ocean configuration (known as GO6 and GO7) will form the ocean components of the Met Office GC3.1 coupled model and UKESM1 earth…Read more on UK Global Ocean GO6 and GO7: a traceable hierarchy of model resolutions
Remote sensing of penguin populations: development and application of a satellite-based method
8 August, 2018 by Jennifer Brown
Five penguin species breed in Antarctica: emperors, Adélies, chinstraps, gentoos and macaronis. These are important Antarctic mid-trophic level predators and under predicted climate change are believed threatened. Accurate monitoring of…Microplastics in marine sediments near Rothera Research Station, Antarctica
7 August, 2018 by Kevin Hughes, Marlon Clark, Sarah Reed
Antarctica and surrounding waters are often considered pristine, but may be subject to local pollution from tourism, fishing and governmental research programme activities. In particular, the quantification of microplastic pollution…Read more on Microplastics in marine sediments near Rothera Research Station, Antarctica
Strong whistler mode waves observed in the vicinity of Jupiter’s moons
7 August, 2018 by Emma Woodfield, Richard Horne
Understanding of wave environments is critical for the understanding of how particles are accelerated and lost in space. This study shows that in the vicinity of Europa and Ganymede, that…Read more on Strong whistler mode waves observed in the vicinity of Jupiter’s moons
Sedimentary processes on the continental slope off Kvitøya and Albertini troughs north of Nordaustlandet, Svalbard – The importance of structural-geological setting in trough-mouth fan development
1 August, 2018 by Kelly Hogan
New marine-geophysical data were analyzed to investigate the sedimentary processes operating on the continental slope north of Nordaustlandet, Svalbard. Kvitøya Trough terminates in a trough-mouth fan (TMF) on the slope,…The role of meltwater in high-latitude trough-mouth fan development: the Disko Trough-Mouth Fan, West Greenland
1 August, 2018 by Kelly Hogan
The Disko Trough-Mouth Fan (TMF) is a major submarine sediment fan located along the central west Greenland continental margin offshore of Disko Trough. The location of the TMF at the…Life in the intertidal: cellular responses, methylation and epigenetics
1 August, 2018 by Lloyd Peck, Michael Thorne, Michelle King, Melody Clark
1.Phenotypic plasticity is essential for the persistence of organisms under changing environmental conditions but the control of the relevant cellular mechanisms including which genes are involved and the regulation of…Read more on Life in the intertidal: cellular responses, methylation and epigenetics
SAR imagery for detecting sea surface slicks: performance assessment of polarization-dependent parameters
1 August, 2018 by Brent Minchew
Remote sensing technology is an essential link in the global monitoring of the ocean surface, and radars are efficient sensors for detecting marine pollution. When used operationally by authorities, a…Managing for change: Using vertebrate at sea habitat use to direct management efforts
1 August, 2018 by Philip Trathan
To understand and predict current and future distributions of animals under a changing climate it is essential to establish historical ranges as baselines against which distribution shifts can be assessed.…Read more on Managing for change: Using vertebrate at sea habitat use to direct management efforts
The accuracy of climate variability and trends across Arctic Fennoscandia in four reanalyses
1 August, 2018 by Gareth Marshall, Rebecca Vignols
Arctic Fennoscandia has undergone significant climate change over recent decades. Reanalysis data sets allow us to understand the atmospheric processes driving such changes. Here we evaluate four reanalyses against observations…Intense winter surface melt on an Antarctic ice shelf
1 August, 2018 by Andrew Orr, Ella Gilbert, John King
The occurrence of surface melt in Antarctica has hitherto been associated with the austral summer season, when the dominant source of melt energy is provided by solar radiation. We use…Read more on Intense winter surface melt on an Antarctic ice shelf
nrDNA:mtDNA copy number ratios as a comparative metric for evolutionary and conservation genetics
1 August, 2018 by Will Goodall-Copestake
Identifying genetic cues of functional relevance is key to understanding the drivers of evolution and increasingly important for the conservation of biodiversity. This study introduces nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) to…Time-lapse cameras reveal latitude and season influence breeding phenology durations in penguins
1 August, 2018 by Stephanie Winnard
Variation in the phenology of avian taxa has long been studied to understand how a species reacts to environmental changes over both space and time. Penguins (Sphenicidae) serve as an…EMIC wave events during the four GEM QARBM challenge intervals
1 August, 2018 by Richard Horne
This paper presents observations of EMIC waves from multiple data sources during the four GEM challenge events in 2013 selected by the GEM “Quantitative Assessment of Radiation Belt Modeling” focus…Read more on EMIC wave events during the four GEM QARBM challenge intervals
RAD sequencing and a hybrid Antarctic fur seal genome assembly reveal rapidly decaying linkage disequilibrium, global population structure and evidence for inbreeding
1 August, 2018 by Jaume Forcada
Recent advances in high throughput sequencing have transformed the study of wild organisms by facilitating the generation of high quality genome assemblies and dense genetic marker datasets. These resources have…Estimating nest-level phenology and reproductive success of colonial seabirds using time-lapse cameras
1 August, 2018 by Philip Trathan
1.Collecting spatially extensive data on phenology and reproductive success is important for seabird conservation and management, but can be logistically challenging in remote regions. Autonomous time‐lapse camera systems offer an…Managing fishery development in sensitive ecosystems: Identifying penguin habitat use to direct management in Antarctica
1 August, 2018 by Eugene Murphy, Emma Young, Philip Trathan, Victoria Warwick-Evans
In the Southern Ocean, the at‐sea distributions of most predators of Antarctic krill are poorly known, primarily because tracking studies have only been undertaken on a restricted set of species,…Processes controlling the downstream evolution of ice rheology in glacier shear margins: case study on Rutford Ice Stream, West Antarctica
1 August, 2018 by Brent Minchew, Hilmar Gudmundsson
Ice rheology governs how glaciers flow and respond to environmental change. The rheology of glacier ice evolves in response to a variety of mechanisms, including damage, heating, melting and the…Resolving the internal and basal geometry of ice masses using imaging phase-sensitive radar
1 August, 2018 by Keith Nicholls, Tun Jan Young
The phase-sensitive radio-echo sounder (pRES) is a powerful new instrument that can measure the depth of internal layers and the glacier bed to millimetre accuracy. We use a stationary 16-antenna…Glacier change along West Antarctica’s Marie Byrd Land Sector and links to inter-decadal atmosphere–ocean variability
26 July, 2018 by Hamish Pritchard
Over the past 20 years satellite remote sensing has captured significant downwasting of glaciers that drain the West Antarctic Ice Sheet into the ocean, particularly across the Amundsen Sea Sector.…Varying depth and swarm dimensions of open-ocean Antarctic krill Euphausia superba Dana, 1850 (Euphausiacea) over diel cycles
24 July, 2018 by Geraint Tarling, Sally Thorpe, Sophie Fielding
Diel vertical migration (DVM) behaviour in swarms of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba Dana, 1850) is notoriously variable, with swarms being found at a range of depths and in different shapes,…Holocene dynamics of the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds and possible links to CO2 outgassing
23 July, 2018 by Bianca Perren, Dominic Hodgson, Louise Sime, Stephen Roberts
The Southern Hemisphere westerly winds (SHW) play an important role in regulating the capacity of the Southern Ocean carbon sink. They modulate upwelling of carbon-rich deep water and, with sea…Deglaciation and future stability of the Coats Land ice margin, Antarctica
20 July, 2018 by Andy Smith, Claire Allen, Dominic Hodgson, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith, James Smith, Kelly Hogan, Peter Fretwell, Robert Larter, Victoria Peck
The East Antarctic Ice Sheet discharges into the Weddell Sea via the Coats Land ice margin. We have used geophysical data to determine the changing ice sheet configuration in this…Read more on Deglaciation and future stability of the Coats Land ice margin, Antarctica
Dynamic response of Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet to potential collapse of Larsen C and George VI ice shelves
19 July, 2018
Ice shelf break-up and disintegration events over the past 5 decades have led to speed-up, thinning, and retreat of upstream tributary glaciers and increases to rates of global sea-level rise.…
Distinct oceanic microbiomes from viruses to protists located near the Antarctic Circumpolar Current
17 July, 2018 by Sally Thorpe
Microbes occupy diverse ecological niches and only through recent advances in next generation sequencing technologies have the true microbial diversity been revealed. Furthermore, lack of perceivable marine barriers to genetic…New magnetic anomaly map of the Antarctic
16 July, 2018 by Fausto Ferraccioli, Tom Jordan
The second generation Antarctic magnetic anomaly compilation (ADMAP‐2) for the region south of 60oS includes some 3.5 million line‐km of aeromagnetic and marine magnetic data that more than doubles the…Mesospheric nitric acid enhancements during energetic electron precipitation events simulated by WACCM‐D
16 July, 2018 by Mark Clilverd
While observed mesospheric polar nitric acid enhancements have been attributed to energetic particle precipitation through ion cluster chemistry in the past, this phenomenon is not reproduced in current whole-atmosphere chemistry-climate…Nitrous oxide variability at sub-kilometre resolution in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean
6 July, 2018 by Sophie Fielding
The Southern Ocean is an important region for global nitrous oxide (N2O) cycling. The contribution of different source and sink mechanisms is, however, not very well constrained due to a…Transcriptional profiling of shell calcification in bivalves
5 July, 2018 by Tejaswi Yarra
Mollusc shells are unique adaptations that serve to protect the organisms that make them, and are a defining feature of the phylum. However the molecular underpinnings of shell forming processes…Read more on Transcriptional profiling of shell calcification in bivalves
The formation and Late Quaternary palaeoenvironmental history of sediment mounds in the Amundsen Sea, West Antarctica
5 July, 2018
This thesis presents the first high-resolution palaeoceanographic study of environmental changes in the Amundsen Sea sector of the West Antarctic continental margin during the Late Quaternary. This part of the…Modelling the age-depth and temperature profiles of deep ice cores from the Antarctic Peninsula and the Weddell Sea region
5 July, 2018 by Ashleigh Massam
Three deep ice cores, obtained from Fletcher Promontory, Berkner Island, and James Ross Island across the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) and Weddell Sea region, preserve a climate record that can yield…Do CMIP5 models reproduce observed low-frequency North Atlantic jet variability?
5 July, 2018 by Hua Lu, Thomas Bracegirdle
The magnitude of observed multi‐decadal variations in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is at the upper end of the range simulated by climate models and a clear explanation for this…Read more on Do CMIP5 models reproduce observed low-frequency North Atlantic jet variability?
Episodicity within a mid-Cretaceous magmatic flare-up in West Antarctica: U-Pb ages of the Lassiter Coast intrusive suite, Antarctic Peninsula and correlations along the Gondwana margin
1 July, 2018 by Alex Burton-Johnson, Teal Riley
Long-lived continental margin arcs are characterized by episodes of large-volume magmatism (or flare-ups) that can persist for ∼30 m.y. before steady-state arc conditions resume. Flare-up events are characterized by the…The importance of understanding annual and shorter-term temperature patterns and variation in the surface levels of polar soils for terrestrial biota
1 July, 2018 by Roger Worland, Peter Convey
Ground temperatures in the top few centimetres of the soil profile are key in many biological processes yet remain very poorly documented, especially in the polar regions or over longer…Age-related variation in non-breeding foraging behaviour and carry-over effects on fitness in an extremely long-lived bird
1 July, 2018 by Richard Phillips, Thomas Clay, Thomas Clay
1.Senescence has been widely documented in wild vertebrate populations, yet the proximate drivers of age‐related declines in breeding success, including allocation trade‐offs and links with foraging performance, are poorly understood.…Geochemical fingerprints of glacially eroded bedrock from West Antarctica: detrital thermochronology, radiogenic isotope systematics and trace element geochemistry in Late Holocene glacial-marine sediments
1 July, 2018 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
Geochemical provenance studies of glacial-marine sediments provide a powerful approach to describe subglacial geology, sediment transport pathways, and past ice sheet dynamics. The marine-based West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is…Distribution and patterns of migration of a tropical seabird community in the eastern Indian Ocean
1 July, 2018 by Richard Phillips
We present the first detailed data on the distribution and migration patterns of four pelagic seabird species in the Eastern Indian Ocean—the Lesser Noddy (Anous tenuirostris melanops), Brown Noddy (Anous…Growth of microalgae using nitrate-rich brine wash from the water industry
1 July, 2018 by Beatrix Schlarb-Ridley
Safe and accepted limits for nitrates in drinking water are exceeded in around one-third of the groundwater bodies in Europe. Whilst anion exchange (AEX) is an effective technology to strip…Read more on Growth of microalgae using nitrate-rich brine wash from the water industry
Observations and modelling of increased nitric oxide in the Antarctic polar middle atmosphere associated with geomagnetic storm driven energetic electron precipitation
1 July, 2018 by Andrew Kavanagh, David Newnham, Mark Clilverd
Nitric oxide (NO) produced in the polar middle and upper atmosphere by energetic particle precipitation depletes ozone in the mesosphere and, following vertical transport in the winter polar vortex, in…Hydrological features above a Southern Ocean seamount inhibit larval dispersal and promote speciation: evidence from the bathyal mytilid Dacrydium alleni sp. nov. (Mytilidae: Bivalvia)
1 July, 2018 by Katrin Linse
The Maud Rise seamount (65°07.80′S 2°39.60′E), a distinct habitat in the Southern Ocean, was studied during the ANDEEP-SYSTCO expedition in 2007–2008 to describe its unique benthic assemblage, characterised by higher…Climate and surface mass balance of coastal West Antarctica resolved by regional climate modelling
1 July, 2018 by Liz Thomas, Rebecca Tuckwell, Robert Mulvaney
West Antarctic climate and surface mass balance (SMB) records are sparse. To fill this gap, regional atmospheric climate modelling is useful, providing that such models are employed at sufficiently high…Ocean access beneath the southwest tributary of Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica
1 July, 2018 by Hugh Corr
The catchments of Pine Island Glacier and Thwaites Glacier in the Amundsen Sea Embayment are two of the largest, most rapidly changing, and potentially unstable sectors of the West Antarctic…Read more on Ocean access beneath the southwest tributary of Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica
A horizontal ice core from Taylor Glacier, its implications for Antarctic climate history, and an improved Taylor Dome ice core time scale
1 July, 2018 by Robert Mulvaney
Ice core records from Antarctica show mostly synchronous temperature variations during the last deglacial transition, an indication that the climate of the entire continent reacted as one unit to the…The state of the polar oceans 2018: making sense of our changing world
1 July, 2018 by Andrew Meijers, Eugene Murphy, Geraint Tarling, Jamie Oliver, Jeremy Wilkinson, John Turner, Layla Batchellier, Linda Capper, Mark Belchier, Michael Meredith, Paul Holland, Philip Trathan, Simeon Hill
The vast frozen worlds of the Polar Regions are a major component of the Earth’s global climate system. The polar oceans are amongst the least understood environments on our planet.…Read more on The state of the polar oceans 2018: making sense of our changing world
Observed propagation route of VLF transmitter signals in the magnetosphere
1 July, 2018 by Richard Horne
Signals of powerful ground transmitters at various places have been detected by satellites in near‐Earth space. The study on propagation mode, ducted or nonducted, has attracted much attentions for several…Read more on Observed propagation route of VLF transmitter signals in the magnetosphere
A 120-year record of resilience to environmental change in brachiopods
28 June, 2018 by Emma Cross, Lloyd Peck
The inability of organisms to cope in changing environments poses a major threat to their survival. Rising carbon dioxide concentrations, recently exceeding 400 μatm, are rapidly warming and acidifying our…Read more on A 120-year record of resilience to environmental change in brachiopods
Acantharian cysts: high flux occurrence in the bathypelagic zone of the Scotia Sea, Southern Ocean
25 June, 2018 by Anna Belcher, Clara Manno, Geraint Tarling, Sally Thorpe
The abundance and flux of acantharian cysts were recorded for a period of 12 months from December 2012 to 2013 in a sediment trap deployed at 1500 m in the…Palaeoclimate constraints on the impact of 2 °C anthropogenic warming and beyond
25 June, 2018 by Emilie Capron, Max Holloway
Over the past 3.5 million years, there have been several intervals when climate conditions were warmer than during the preindustrial Holocene. Although past intervals of warming were forced differently than…Read more on Palaeoclimate constraints on the impact of 2 °C anthropogenic warming and beyond
Benthic biodiversity in the South Orkney Islands Southern Shelf Marine Protected Area
20 June, 2018 by Alexander Tate, Hilary Blagbrough, Huw Griffiths, Katrin Linse, Oliver Hogg, Peter Enderlein, Philip Trathan, Susie Grant
The South Orkney Islands Southern Shelf (SOISS) Marine Protected Area (MPA) was the first MPA to be designated entirely within the high seas and is managed under the Commission for…Read more on Benthic biodiversity in the South Orkney Islands Southern Shelf Marine Protected Area
The South Sandwich Islands – a community of meta-populations across all trophic levels
18 June, 2018 by Peter Convey
The South Sandwich Islands are a relatively pristine volcanic archipelago in the Southern Ocean that experience high levels of natural disturbance. The archipelago spans the biological transition between the sub-Antarctic…Read more on The South Sandwich Islands – a community of meta-populations across all trophic levels
Sea ice versus storms: what controls sea salt in Arctic ice cores?
16 June, 2018 by Xin Yang
The sea ice surface is thought to be a major source of sea salt aerosol, suggesting that sodium records of polar ice cores may trace past sea ice extent. Here…Read more on Sea ice versus storms: what controls sea salt in Arctic ice cores?
Bathymetric controls on calving processes at Pine Island Glacier
15 June, 2018 by Robert Larter
Pine Island Glacier is the largest current Antarctic contributor to sea level rise. Its ice loss has substantially increased over the last 25 years through thinning, acceleration and grounding line…Read more on Bathymetric controls on calving processes at Pine Island Glacier
Spread of Antarctic vegetation by the kelp gull: comparison of two maritime Antarctic regions
14 June, 2018 by Peter Convey
In the present paper, we compare how the kelp gull, Larus dominicanus, utilizes various nest building materials, particularly vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens and other components, in the Fildes Peninsula area…Surface impacts of the Quasi Biennial Oscillation
13 June, 2018 by Hua Lu
Teleconnections between the Quasi Biennial Oscillation (QBO) and the Northern Hemisphere zonally averaged zonal winds, mean sea level pressure (mslp) and tropical precipitation are explored. The standard approach that defines…Read more on Surface impacts of the Quasi Biennial Oscillation
A new bathymetry for the southeastern Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf: implications for modern oceanographic processes and glacial history
8 June, 2018 by Alex Brisbourne, Andy Smith, Hugh Corr, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Keith Nicholls, Paul Anker, Peter Davis, Sebastian Rosier
The Filchner‐Ronne Ice Shelf, the ocean cavity beneath it and the Weddell Sea that bounds it, form an important part of the global climate system by modulating ice discharge from…Molecular data suggest long-term in situ Antarctic persistence within Antarctica’s most speciose plant genus, Schistidium
5 June, 2018 by Elisabeth Biersma, Jennifer Jackson, Katrin Linse, Peter Convey
From glacial reconstructions it is clear that Antarctic terrestrial life must have been extremely limited throughout Quaternary glacial periods. In contrast, recent biological studies provide clear evidence for long-term in…Long term movements and activity patterns of an Antarctic marine apex predator: the Leopard Seal
5 June, 2018 by Iain Staniland, Jaume Forcada, Norman Ratcliffe, Philip Trathan
Leopard seals are an important Antarctic apex predator that can affect marine ecosystems through local predation. Here we report on the successful use of micro geolocation logging sensor tags to…On the ecological relevance of landscape mapping and its application in the spatial planning of very large marine protected areas
1 June, 2018 by Huw Griffiths, Katrin Linse, Oliver Hogg
In recent years very large marine protected areas (VLMPAs) have become the dominant form of spatial protection in the marine environment. Whilst seen as a holistic and geopolitically achievable approach…In situ measurements of snow accumulation in the Amundsen Sea Embayment during 2016
1 June, 2018 by Joanne Johnson, Liz Thomas
Measurements of snow accumulation are critical for reliable prediction of future ice mass loss and hence projections of sea level change. However, there are currently very few published in situ…Read more on In situ measurements of snow accumulation in the Amundsen Sea Embayment during 2016
Framework for mapping key areas for marine megafauna to inform Marine Spatial Planning: the Falkland Islands case study
1 June, 2018 by Iain Staniland, Philip Trathan, Richard Phillips
Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is becoming a key management approach throughout the world. The process includes the mapping of how humans and wildlife use the marine environment to inform the…‘Business as usual’: drilling predation across the K-Pg mass extinction event in Antarctica
1 June, 2018 by Alistair Crame
A survey of 759 predatory drill holes in Late Cretaceous and Paleogene molluscan and serpulid worm prey from Seymour Island (Antarctica) has allowed exploration of the effects of the K-Pg…Evidences of strong sources of DFe and DMn in Ryder Bay, Western Antarctic Peninsula
1 June, 2018 by Hugh Venables, Alexander Brearley, Michael Meredith
The spatial distribution, biogeochemical cycling and external sources of dissolved iron and dissolved manganese (DFe and DMn) were investigated in Ryder Bay, a small coastal embayment of the West Antarctic…Read more on Evidences of strong sources of DFe and DMn in Ryder Bay, Western Antarctic Peninsula
Nonlinear and synergistic effects of ULF Pc5, VLF chorus, and EMIC waves on relativistic electron flux at geosynchronous orbit
1 June, 2018 by Mark Clilverd
Using data covering the years 2005‐2009, we study the linear and nonlinear responses of log10 relativistic electron flux measured at geosynchronous orbit to ULF Pc5, VLF lower band chorus, and…Icebergs, sea ice, blue carbon and Antarctic climate feedbacks
1 June, 2018 by Andrew Fleming, Chester Sands, David Barnes
Sea ice, including icebergs, has a complex relationship with the carbon held within animals (blue carbon) in the polar regions. Sea-ice losses around West Antarctica's continental shelf generate longer phytoplankton…Read more on Icebergs, sea ice, blue carbon and Antarctic climate feedbacks
The marine system of the West Antarctic Peninsula: status and strategy for progress
1 June, 2018 by Michael Meredith
The West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP; figure 1) is one of the most climatically sensitive regions on Earth and one of the most variable. The strong climatic variability gives us the…Read more on The marine system of the West Antarctic Peninsula: status and strategy for progress
Macronutrient and carbon supply, uptake and cycling across the Antarctic Peninsula shelf during summer
1 June, 2018 by Hugh Venables, Michael Meredith, Sabrina Heiser
The West Antarctic Peninsula shelf is a region of high seasonal primary production which supports a large and productive food web, where macronutrients and inorganic carbon are sourced primarily from…