Our publications

A synergistic approach for evaluating climate model output for ecological applications

26 September, 2017 by Claire Waluda, Eugene Murphy, Iain Staniland, Jennifer Jackson, John Turner, Nadine Johnston, Rachel Cavanagh, Thomas Bracegirdle

Increasing concern about the impacts of climate change on ecosystems is prompting ecologists and ecosystem managers to seek reliable projections of physical drivers of change. The use of global climate…

Ice and ocean velocity in the Arctic marginal ice zone: Ice roughness and momentum transfer

21 September, 2017 by Jeremy Wilkinson

The interplay between sea ice concentration, sea ice roughness, ocean stratification, and momentum transfer to the ice and ocean is subject to seasonal and decadal variations that are crucial to…

Latitudinal trends in shell production cost from the tropics to the poles

20 September, 2017 by Lloyd Peck, Simon Morley

The proportion of body mass devoted to skeleton in marine invertebrates decreases along latitudinal gradients from large proportions in the tropics to small proportions in polar regions. A historical hypothesis—that…

Synchronous volcanic eruptions and abrupt climate change ∼17.7 ka plausibly linked by stratospheric ozone depletion

19 September, 2017 by Robert Mulvaney

Glacial-state greenhouse gas concentrations and Southern Hemisphere climate conditions persisted until ∼17.7 ka, when a nearly synchronous acceleration in deglaciation was recorded in paleoclimate proxies in large parts of the…

Testing Munk’s hypothesis for submesoscale eddy generation using observations in the North Atlantic

18 September, 2017 by Christian Buckingham

A high-resolution satellite image that reveals a train of coherent, submesoscale (6 km) vortices along the edge of an ocean front is examined in concert with hydrographic measurements in an…

The characteristics of the lower stratospheric gravity wave field above Halley (75°S, 26°W), Antarctica, from radiosonde observations

16 September, 2017 by Steve Colwell, Tracy Moffat-Griffin

Daily radiosonde observations between 2003 and 2013 from Halley research station, Antarctica (75°S, 26°W) are used to determine climatologies of gravity wave properties in the lower stratosphere (between 15 km…

Characteristics of mesospheric gravity waves over Antarctica observed by Antarctic Gravity Wave Instrument Network imagers using 3-D spectral analyses

16 September, 2017 by Tracy Moffat-Griffin

We have obtained horizontal phase velocity distributions of the gravity waves around 90 km from four Antarctic airglow imagers, which belong to an international airglow imager/instrument network known as ANGWIN…

Accumulation in coastal West Antarctic ice core records and the role of cyclone activity

16 September, 2017 by Scott Hosking, Liz Thomas, Tony Phillips

Cyclones are an important component of Antarctic climate variability, yet quantifying their impact on the polar environment is challenging. We assess how cyclones which pass through the Bellingshausen Sea affect…

Deep crustal melt plumbing of Bárðarbunga volcano, Iceland

16 September, 2017 by Alex Brisbourne, Thomas Hudson, Thomas Hudson

Understanding magmatic plumbing within the Earth's crust is important for understanding volcanic systems and improving eruption forecasting. We discuss magma plumbing under Bárðarbunga volcano, Iceland, over a 4 year period…

Linking extreme interannual changes in prey availability to foraging behaviour and breeding investment in a marine predator, the macaroni penguin

14 September, 2017 by Catharine Horswill, Norman Ratcliffe, Philip Trathan

Understanding the mechanisms that link prey availability to predator behaviour and population change is central to projecting how a species may respond to future environmental pressures. We documented the behavioural…

Escaping the oligotrophic gyre? The year-round movements, foraging behaviour and habitat preferences of Murphy’s petrels

14 September, 2017 by Richard Phillips, Thomas Clay, Thomas Clay

The South Pacific Gyre is the world’s largest expanse of oligotrophic ocean and supports communities of endemic gadfly petrels Pterodroma spp., yet little is known about their foraging ecology in…

More losers than winners in a century of future Southern Ocean seafloor warming

4 September, 2017 by Andrew Meijers, Huw Griffiths, Thomas Bracegirdle

The waters of the Southern Ocean are projected to warm over the coming century, with potential adverse consequences for native cold-adapted organisms. Warming waters have caused temperate marine species to…

Inferences of ocean currents from seismic streamer position data

1 September, 2017

This paper describes the first attempt to infer ocean currents from the shapes of seismic streamers using real data. It demonstrates that it is feasible to infer the ocean currents,…

Stratospheric response to the 11-year solar cycle: Breaking planetary waves, internal reflection and resonance

1 September, 2017 by Hua Lu, Ian White, Thomas Bracegirdle

Breaking planetary waves (BPWs) affect stratospheric dynamics by reshaping the waveguides, causing internal wave reflection and preconditioning sudden stratospheric warmings. This study examines observed changes in BPWs during the northern…

Contrasting drivers of reproductive ageing in albatrosses

1 September, 2017 by Andrew Wood, Richard Phillips

1. Age-related variation in reproductive performance is ubiquitous in wild vertebrate populations and has important consequences for population and evolutionary dynamics. 2. The ageing trajectory is shaped by both within-individual…

Neogene to Quaternary stratigraphic evolution of the Antarctic Peninsula, Pacific Margin offshore of Adelaide Island: transitions from a non-glacial, through glacially-influenced to a fully glacial state

1 September, 2017 by Robert Larter

A detailed morphologic and seismic stratigraphic analysis of the continental margin offshore of Adelaide Island on the Pacific Margin of the Antarctic Peninsula (PMAP) is described based on the study…

Extraction and characterization of collagen from Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic squid and its potential application in hybrid scaffolds for tissue engineering

1 September, 2017

Collagen is the most abundant protein found in mammals and it exhibits a low immunogenicity, high biocompatibility and biodegradability when compared with others natural polymers. For this reason, it has…

High occurrence of jellyfish predation by black-browed and Campbell albatross identified by DNA metabarcoding

1 September, 2017 by Richard Phillips

Gelatinous zooplankton are a large component of the animal biomass in all marine environments, but are considered to be uncommon in the diet of most marine top predators. However, the…

An assessment of recent and future temperature change over the Sichuan Basin, China, using CMIP5 climate models

1 September, 2017 by Daniel Bannister, Scott Hosking

The Sichuan basin is one of the most densely populated regions of China, making the area particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts associated with future climate change. As such, climate…

Warming by 1°C drives species and assemblage level responses in Antarctica’s marine shallows

1 September, 2017 by David Barnes, Gail Ashton, Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark, Simon Morley

Forecasting assemblage-level responses to climate change remains one of the greatest challenges in global ecology [1 , 2 ]. Data from the marine realm are limited because they largely come…

Complete genome of Arthrobacter alpinus strain R3.8: biorediation potential unraveled with genomic analysis

1 September, 2017 by David Pearce, Peter Convey

Arthrobacter alpinus R3.8 is a psychrotolerant bacterial strain isolated from a soil sample obtained at Rothera Point, Adelaide Island, close to the Antarctic Peninsula. Strain R3.8 was sequenced in order…

Biology and ecology of the world’s largest invertebrate, the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni): a short review

1 September, 2017

The colossal squid Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni (Robson 1925) is the largest (heaviest) living invertebrate and although it is preyed upon by many top predators, its basic biology and ecology remain one…

Non-operative management of a patella fracture: environmental considerations in the Subantarctic

1 September, 2017

Injuries occurring in the remote environment present particular challenges to healthcare professionals, and decisions need to be carefully made on an individual basis. This report describes the successful management of…

High-resolution sub-ice-shelf seafloor records of twentieth century ungrounding and retreat of Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica

1 September, 2017 by Adrian Jenkins, David Vaughan

Pine Island Glacier Ice Shelf (PIGIS) has been thinning rapidly over recent decades, resulting in a progressive drawdown of the inland ice and an upstream migration of the grounding line.…

Solution of the Fokker-Planck equation with a logarithmic potential and mixed eigenvalue spectrum

1 September, 2017 by Woosok Moon

Motivated by a problem in climate dynamics, we investigate the solution of a Bessel-like process with a negative constant drift, described by a Fokker-Planck equation with a potential V(x) =…

High-latitude ocean ventilation and its role in Earth’s climate transitions

1 September, 2017 by Andrew Meijers

The processes regulating ocean ventilation at high latitudes are re-examined based on a range of observations spanning all scales of ocean circulation, from the centimetre scales of turbulence to the…

The microphysics of clouds over the Antarctic Peninsula – Part 2: modelling aspects within Polar WRF

31 August, 2017 by Constantino Listowski, Thomas Lachlan-Cope

The first intercomparisons of cloud microphysics schemes implemented in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) mesoscale atmospheric model (version 3.5.1) are performed in the Antarctic Peninsula using the polar version…

Multi-colony tracking reveals spatio-temporal variation in carry-over effects between breeding success and winter movements in a pelagic seabird

31 August, 2017 by Richard Phillips

Carry-over effects, whereby events in one season have consequences in subsequent seasons, have important demographic implications. Although most studies examine carry-over effects across 2 seasons in single populations, the effects…

Methods for detecting and quantifying individual specialisation in movement and foraging strategies of marine predators

31 August, 2017 by Iain Staniland, Richard Phillips

There is increasing realisation that individuals in many animal populations differ substantially in resource, space or habitat use. Differences that cannot be attributed to any a priori way of classifying…

DNA metabarcoding as a marine conservation and management tool: A circumpolar examination of fishery discards in the diet of threatened albatrosses

31 August, 2017 by Richard Phillips

Almost all of the world's fisheries overlap spatially and temporally with foraging seabirds, with impacts that range from food supplementation (through scavenging behind vessels), to resource competition and incidental mortality.…

Robust wavebuoys for the marginal ice zone: Experiences from a large persistent array in the Beaufort Sea

21 August, 2017 by Andrew Tait, Jeremy Robst, Jeremy Wilkinson, Mark Preston

An array of novel directional wavebuoys was designed and deployed into the Beaufort Sea ice cover in March 2014, as part of the Office of Naval Research Marginal Ice Zone…

High resolution boundary conditions of an old ice target near Dome C, Antarctica

14 August, 2017 by Hugh Corr

A high resolution (1 km line spacing) aerogeophysical survey was conducted over a region near the East Antarctic Ice Sheet's Dome C that may hold a 1.5 million year old climate…

Sea ice as a source of sea salt aerosol to Greenland ice cores: a model-based study

7 August, 2017 by Markus Frey, Xin Yang

Growing evidence suggests that the sea ice surface is an important source of sea salt aerosol and this has significant implications for polar climate and atmospheric chemistry. It also offers…

Can acclimation of thermal tolerance, in adults and across generations, act as a buffer against climate change in tropical marine ectotherms?

1 August, 2017 by Lloyd Peck, Simon Morley

Thermal acclimation capacity was investigated in adults of three tropical marine invertebrates, the subtidal barnacle Striatobalanus amaryllis, the intertidal gastropod Volegalea cochlidium and the intertidal barnacle Amphibalanus amphitrite. To test…

A comparison of annual layer thickness model estimates with observational measurements using the Berkner Island ice core, Antarctica

1 August, 2017 by Ashleigh Massam, Robert Mulvaney

A model to estimate the annual layer thickness of deposited snowfall at a deep ice core site, compacted by vertical strain with respect to depth, is assessed using ultra-high-resolution laboratory…

Consistent variation in individual migration strategies of brown skuas

1 August, 2017 by Richard Phillips

Seabirds show remarkable variability in migration strategies among individuals and populations. In this study, we analysed 47 migrations of 28 brown skuas Catharacta antarctica lonnbergi breeding on King George Island…

Early last glacial intra-interstadial climate variability recorded in a Sardinian speleothem

1 August, 2017 by Emilie Capron

Chemical and physical proxy data from a precisely dated early last glacial (∼113–110 ka, MIS5d) Sardinian stalagmite reveal a sub-millennial-scale, cool-dry climate event centered at 112.0 +0.52/-0.59 ka, followed by…

Identification of C 25 highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) alkenes in diatoms of the genus Rhizosolenia in polar and sub-polar marine phytoplankton.

1 August, 2017 by Claire Allen, Gabriele Stowasser

We report the identification of a range of C25 highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) alkenes and certain sterols in filtered phytoplankton samples obtained from western Svalbard (Arctic) and near South Georgia…

Seafloor geomorphology and glacimarine sedimentation associated with fast-flowing ice sheet outlet glaciers in Disko Bay, West Greenland

1 August, 2017 by Kelly Hogan

Fast-flowing outlet glaciers currently drain the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS), delivering ice, meltwater and debris to the fjords around Greenland. Although such glaciers strongly affect the ice sheet's mass balance,…

Ice sheet retreat and glacio-isostatic adjustment in Lützow Holm Bay, East Antarctica

1 August, 2017 by Dominic Hodgson, Stephen Roberts

The East Antarctic Ice Sheet has relatively few field data to constrain its past volume and contribution to global sea-level change since the Last Glacial Maximum. We provide new data…

Under the sea ice: Exploring the relationship between sea ice and the foraging behaviour of southern elephant seals in East Antarctica

1 August, 2017 by Jean-Baptiste Sallee

Investigating ecological relationships between predators and their environment is essential to understand the response of marine ecosystems to climate variability and change. This is particularly true in polar regions, where…

The transient response of ice-shelf melting to ocean change

1 August, 2017 by Paul Holland

Idealised modelling studies have shown that the melting of ice shelves varies as a quadratic function of ocean temperature. However, this result is the equilibrium response, derived from steady ice—…

Evaluating trace element bioavailability and potential transfer into marine food chains using immobilised diatom model species Phaeodactylum tricornutum , on King George Island, Antarctica

1 August, 2017 by Kevin Hughes

In order to evaluate trace element bioavailability and potential transfer into marine food chains in human impacted areas of the Fildes Peninsula (King George Island, South Shetland Islands Archipelago), element…

Ecology of moss banks on Signy Island (maritime Antarctic)

1 August, 2017 by Roger Worland, Peter Convey

Mosses are dominant components of high-latitude environments, and Signy Island (maritime Antarctic) provides a representative example of polar cryptogam-dominated terrestrial ecosystems. In 2011, we mapped all moss banks, their characteristics…

Demographic consequences of fisheries interaction within a killer whale (Orcinus orca) population

1 August, 2017 by Deborah Pardo

Individual heterogeneity in foraging behavior has been widely documented within predator populations. In highly social apex predators such as killer whales (Orcinus orca), specialization may occur at the matriline level.…

Inter-specific niche partitioning and overlap in albatrosses and petrels: dietary divergence and the role of fishing discards

1 August, 2017 by Richard Phillips

Although fisheries discards are recognized as a key food source for many seabirds, there have been few thorough assessments of their importance relative to natural prey, and of their influence…

Midlatitude ionospheric D region: height, sharpness and solar zenith angle

1 August, 2017 by Mark Clilverd

VLF radio amplitude and phase measurements are used to find the height and sharpness of the D region of the ionosphere at a mid- to high geomagnetic dip latitude of…

Impacts of the Larsen-C Ice Shelf calving event

1 August, 2017 by Hilmar Gudmundsson

Causes and consequences of individual variability and specialization in foraging and migration strategies of seabirds

1 August, 2017 by Richard Phillips

Technological advances in recent years have seen an explosion of tracking and stable isotope studies of seabirds, often involving repeated measures from the same individuals. This wealth of new information…

The magnetic local time distribution of energetic electrons in the radiation belt region

1 August, 2017 by Hayley Allison, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert

Using 14 years of electron flux data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Polar Operational Environmental Satellites, a statistical study of the magnetic local time (MLT) distribution of the…

Individuality in northern lapwing migration and its link to timing of breeding

1 August, 2017

We tracked eight adult northern lapwings Vanellus vanellus (six females and two males) from a Dutch breeding colony by light-level geolocation year-round, three of them for multiple years. We show…

The Euphausia superba transcriptome database, SuperbaSE: An online, open resource for researchers

1 August, 2017 by Geraint Tarling

Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is a crucial component of the Southern Ocean ecosystem, acting as the major link between primary production and higher trophic levels with an annual predator demand…

Long-term geomagnetically induced current observations in New Zealand: Earth return corrections and geomagnetic field driver

1 August, 2017 by Mark Clilverd

Transpower New Zealand Limited has measured DC currents in transformer neutrals in the New Zealand electrical network at multiple South Island locations. Near-continuous archived DC current data exist since 2001,…

Occurrence characteristics of relativistic electron microbursts from SAMPEX observations

1 August, 2017 by Mark Clilverd

We study the occurrence of relativistic microbursts observed by the Solar Anomalous Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX) satellite. An algorithm is used to identify 193,694 relativistic microbursts in the > 1.05…

Regional climate of the Larsen B embayment 1980–2014

1 August, 2017 by Steve Colwell

Understanding the climate response of the Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet is vital for accurate predictions of sea-level rise. However, since climate models are typically too coarse to capture spatial variability…

Effects of chronic crude oil exposure on early developmental stages of the Northern krill (Meganyctiphanes norvegica)

1 August, 2017 by Geraint Tarling

Rising oil and gas activities in northern high latitudes have led to an increased risk of petroleum pollution in these ecosystems. Further, seasonal high UV radiation at high latitudes may…

Advances in understanding the Southern Ocean’s role in global climate: the ORCHESTRA and SOCCOM programs

1 August, 2017 by Michael Meredith

Restricted regions of enhanced growth of Antarctic krill in the circumpolar Southern Ocean

31 July, 2017 by Eugene Murphy, Geraint Tarling, Jonathan Watkins, Sally Thorpe, Sophie Fielding

Food webs in high-latitude oceans are dominated by relatively few species. Future ocean and sea-ice changes affecting the distribution of such species will impact the structure and functioning of whole…

Observations and fine-scale model simulations of gravity waves over Davis, East Antarctica (69°S, 78°E)

27 July, 2017 by Andrew Orr

Large vertical velocities were observed throughout the troposphere at Davis, East Antarctica, on 18 February 2014 by a VHF wind-profiling radar. Simulations using the Met Office Unified Model at 2.2,…

A cautionary tale: A study of a methane enhancement over the North Sea

27 July, 2017 by James France

Airborne measurements of a methane (CH4) plume over the North Sea from August 2013 are analyzed. The plume was only observed downwind of circumnavigated gas fields, and three methods are…

Explicit and parametrised representation of under ice shelf seas in a z* coordinate ocean model NEMO 3.6

26 July, 2017 by Adrian Jenkins, Pierre Mathiot

Ice shelf/ocean interactions are a major source of fresh water on the Antarctic continental shelf and have a strong impact on ocean properties, ocean circulation and sea ice. However, climate…

Winter-to-summer transition of Arctic sea ice breakup and floe size distribution in the Beaufort Sea

26 July, 2017 by Jeremy Wilkinson

Breakup of the near-continuous winter sea ice into discrete summer ice floes is an important transition that dictates the evolution and fate of the marginal ice zone (MIZ) of the…

Limited grounding-line advance onto the West Antarctic continental shelf in the easternmost Amundsen Sea Embayment during the last glacial period

25 July, 2017 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith

Precise knowledge about the extent of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; c. 26.5–19 cal. ka BP) is important in order to 1) improve…

Deglacial changes in flow and frontal structure through the Drake Passage

24 July, 2017 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Victoria Peck

The oceanic gateways of the Drake Passage and the Agulhas Current are critical locations for the inflow of intermediate-depth water masses to the Atlantic, which contribute to the shallow return…

Revealing higher than expected meiofaunal diversity in Antarctic sediments: a metabarcoding approach

21 July, 2017 by Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark

An increasing number of studies are showing that Antarctic mega- and macrofauna are highly diverse, however, little is known about meiofaunal biodiversity in sediment communities, which are a vital part…

Solve Antarctica’s sea-ice puzzle

19 July, 2017 by John Turner

On the dynamics of flow past a cylinder: Implications for CTD package motions and measurements

17 July, 2017 by Dave Munday, Michael Meredith

During the collection of ship-based observations, heaving of the vessel may lead to variation in the descent rate of a CTD package. This can result in the package being pulled…

Comparison of elevation change detection methods from ICESat altimetry over the Greenland Ice Sheet

17 July, 2017 by Hamish Pritchard

Estimation of the surface elevation change of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is essential for understanding its response to recent and future climate change. Laser measurements from the NASA's Ice,…

Unprecedented springtime retreat of Antarctic sea ice in 2016

16 July, 2017 by Gareth Marshall, James Pope, Scott Hosking, John Turner, Pranab Deb, Thomas Bracegirdle, Tony Phillips

During Austral spring 2016 Antarctic sea ice extent (SIE) decreased at a record rate of 75 × 103 km2 day-1, which was 46% faster than the mean rate and 18% faster than in any…

Holocene black carbon in Antarctica paralleled Southern Hemisphere climate

16 July, 2017 by Robert Mulvaney

Black carbon (BC) and other biomass-burning (BB) aerosols are critical components of climate forcing but quantification, predictive climate modeling, and policy decisions have been hampered by limited understanding of the…

The impact of atmospheric storminess on the sensitivity of Southern Ocean circulation to wind stress changes

15 July, 2017 by Dave Munday

The influence of changing the mean wind stress felt by the ocean through alteration of the variability of the atmospheric wind, as opposed to the mean atmospheric wind, on Southern…

Modelling channelized surface drainage of supraglacial lakes

10 July, 2017 by Jonathan Kingslake

Supraglacial lakes can drain to the bed of ice sheets, affecting ice dynamics, or over their surface, relocating surface water. Focusing on surface drainage, we first discuss observations of lake…

Climate change drives expansion of Antarctic ice-free habitat

6 July, 2017 by Thomas Bracegirdle

Antarctic terrestrial biodiversity occurs almost exclusively in ice-free areas that cover less than 1% of the continent. Climate change will alter the extent and configuration of ice-free areas, yet the…

Recent trends in numbers of wandering (Diomedea exulans), black-browed (Thalassarche melanophris) and grey-headed (T. chrysostoma) albatrosses breeding at South Georgia

1 July, 2017 by Richard Phillips

South Georgia supports globally important populations of seabirds, including the wandering albatross Diomedea exulans, black-browed albatross Thalassarche melanophris and grey-headed albatross T. chrysostoma, currently classified by the world Conservation Union…

Iceberg killing fields limit huge potential for benthic blue carbon in Antarctic shallows

1 July, 2017 by David Barnes

Climate-forced ice losses are increasing potential for iceberg-seabed collisions, termed ice scour. At Ryder Bay, West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) sea ice, oceanography, phytoplankton and encrusting zoobenthos have been monitored since…

Assessment of sea ice-atmosphere links in CMIP5 models

1 July, 2017 by Emma Boland, Emily Shuckburgh, Thomas Bracegirdle

The Arctic is currently undergoing drastic changes in climate, largely thought to be due to so-called ‘Arctic amplification’, whereby local feedbacks enhance global warming. Recently, a number of observational and…

Using globally threatened pelagic birds to identify priority sites for marine conservation in the South Atlantic Ocean

1 July, 2017 by Richard Phillips

The Convention on Biological Diversity aspires to designate 10% of the global oceans as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), but so far, few MPAs protect pelagic species in the high seas.…

Using super-high resolution satellite imagery to census threatened albatrosses

1 July, 2017 by Peter Fretwell, Richard Phillips

This study is the first to utilize 30-cm resolution imagery from the WorldView-3 (WV-3) satellite to count wildlife directly. We test the accuracy of the satellite method for directly counting…

Critical evaluation of climate syntheses to benchmark CMIP6/PMIP4 127 ka Last Interglacial simulations in the high-latitude regions

1 July, 2017 by Emilie Capron

The Last Interglacial (LIG, ∼129-116 thousand years ago, ka) represents an excellent case study to investigate the response of sensitive components of the Earth System and mechanisms of high-latitude amplification…

A stochastic dynamical model of Arctic sea ice

1 July, 2017 by Woosok Moon

The noise forcing underlying the variability in the Arctic ice cover has a wide range of principally unknown origins. For this reason, the analytical and numerical solutions of a stochastic…

Does high-resolution modelling improve the spatial analysis of föhn flow over the Larsen C ice shelf?

1 July, 2017 by Amelie Kirchgaessner, John King, Jenny Turton

The ice shelves on the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) have been disintegrating for over two decades. Surface melting induced by föhn winds has been proposed as a…

The periodic topography of ice stream beds: insights from the Fourier spectra of mega-scale glacial lineations

1 July, 2017 by Ed King, Hamish Pritchard, Kelly Hogan, Robert Larter

Ice stream bed topography contains key evidence for the ways ice streams interact with, and are potentially controlled by, their beds. Here we present the first application of two–dimensional Fourier…

Interannual variability in reproductive traits of the Patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides around the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia

1 July, 2017 by Emma Young

Commercial fisheries data, collected as part of an observer programme and covering the period 1997–2014, were utilized in order to define key reproductive traits and spawning dynamics of the Patagonian…

West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat driven by Holocene warm water incursions

1 July, 2017 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith, Robert Larter, Stephen Roberts

Glaciological and oceanographic observations coupled with numerical models show that warm Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) incursions onto the West Antarctic continental shelf cause melting of the undersides of floating ice…

Global biogeographic patterns in bipolar moss species

1 July, 2017 by Elisabeth Biersma, Jennifer Jackson, Katrin Linse, Peter Convey

A bipolar disjunction is an extreme, yet common, biogeographic pattern in non-vascular plants, yet its underlying mechanisms (vicariance or long-distance dispersal), origin and timing remain poorly understood. Here, combining a…

Does genetic structure reflect differences in non-breeding movements? A case study in small, highly mobile seabirds

1 July, 2017 by Richard Phillips

In seabirds, the extent of population genetic and phylogeographic structure varies extensively among species. Genetic structure is lacking in some species, but present in others despite the absence of obvious…

A global multiproxy database for temperature reconstructions of the Common Era

1 July, 2017 by Robert Mulvaney

Reproducible climate reconstructions of the Common Era (1 CE to present) are key to placing industrial-era warming into the context of natural climatic variability. Here we present a community-sourced database…

Extreme relativistic electron fluxes in the Earth’s outer radiation belt: Analysis of INTEGRAL IREM data

1 July, 2017 by Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne

Relativistic electrons (E > 500 keV) cause internal charging and are an important space weather hazard. To assess the vulnerability of the satellite fleet to these so-called “killer” electrons, it…

Spatio-temporal variation in phytoplankton communities along a salinity and pH gradient in a tropical estuary (Brunei, Borneo, South East Asia)

1 July, 2017 by Peter Convey

Tropical estuaries often have a low buffering capacity and may experience acidification, both naturally through microbial degradation and run-off from acid sulphate soils (ASS), or from various anthropogenic sources. Here,…

Moss survival through in situ cryptobiosis after six centuries of glacier burial

30 June, 2017 by Peter Convey

Cryptobiosis is a reversible ametabolic state of life characterized by the ceasing of all metabolic processes, allowing survival of periods of intense adverse conditions. Here we show that 1) entire…

The impacts of El Niño on the observed sea ice budget of West Antarctica

28 June, 2017 by Andrew Orr, Gareth Marshall, James Pope, Paul Holland, Tony Phillips

We assess the impact of El Niño-induced wind changes on seasonal West Antarctic sea ice concentrations using reanalysis data and sea ice observations. A novel ice budget analysis reveals that…

Sensitivity of simulated summer monsoonal precipitation in Langtang Valley, Himalaya to cloud microphysics schemes in WRF

27 June, 2017 by Andrew Orr, Constantino Listowski, Pranab Deb

A better understanding of regional-scale precipitation patterns in the Himalayan region is required to increase our knowledge of the impacts of climate change on downstream water availability. This study examines…

Functional group diversity is key to Southern Ocean benthic carbon pathways

27 June, 2017 by Chester Sands, David Barnes

High latitude benthos are globally important in terms of accumulation and storage of ocean carbon, and the feedback this is likely to have on regional warming. Understanding this ecosystem service…

The superb krill – when a species really is key. Review of “Biology and ecology of Antarctic krill”

23 June, 2017 by Eugene Murphy

How Much, How Fast?: A Review and Science Plan for Research on the Instability of Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier in the 21st century

22 June, 2017 by Andy Smith, David Vaughan

Constraining how much and how fast the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) will change in the coming decades has recently been identified as the highest priority in Antarctic research (National…

Solar Forcing for CMIP6

22 June, 2017 by Mark Clilverd

This paper describes the recommended solar forcing dataset for CMIP6 and highlights changes with respect to CMIP5. The solar forcing is provided for radiative properties, namely total solar irradiance (TSI),…

Complete genome sequence of Planococcus donghaensis JH1T, a pectin-degrading bacterium

20 June, 2017 by Peter Convey

The type strain Planococcus donghaensis JH1T is a psychrotolerant and halotolerant bacterium with starch-degrading ability. Here, we determine the carbon utilization profile of P. donghaensis JH1T and report the first…

A new heat flux model for the Antarctic Peninsula incorporating spatially variable upper crustal radiogenic heat production

16 June, 2017 by Alex Burton-Johnson

A new method for modelling heat flux shows the upper crust contributes up to 70% of the Antarctic Peninsula's subglacial heat flux, and that heat flux values are more variable…

Warm waters in West Antarctica

16 June, 2017 by Hilmar Gudmundsson, John Turner

Research outputs

Filtered view: Research papers

A synergistic approach for evaluating climate model output for ecological applications

Ice and ocean velocity in the Arctic marginal ice zone: Ice roughness and momentum transfer

Latitudinal trends in shell production cost from the tropics to the poles

Synchronous volcanic eruptions and abrupt climate change ∼17.7 ka plausibly linked by stratospheric ozone depletion

Testing Munk’s hypothesis for submesoscale eddy generation using observations in the North Atlantic

The characteristics of the lower stratospheric gravity wave field above Halley (75°S, 26°W), Antarctica, from radiosonde observations

Characteristics of mesospheric gravity waves over Antarctica observed by Antarctic Gravity Wave Instrument Network imagers using 3-D spectral analyses

Accumulation in coastal West Antarctic ice core records and the role of cyclone activity

Deep crustal melt plumbing of Bárðarbunga volcano, Iceland

Linking extreme interannual changes in prey availability to foraging behaviour and breeding investment in a marine predator, the macaroni penguin

Escaping the oligotrophic gyre? The year-round movements, foraging behaviour and habitat preferences of Murphy’s petrels

More losers than winners in a century of future Southern Ocean seafloor warming

Inferences of ocean currents from seismic streamer position data

Stratospheric response to the 11-year solar cycle: Breaking planetary waves, internal reflection and resonance

Contrasting drivers of reproductive ageing in albatrosses

Neogene to Quaternary stratigraphic evolution of the Antarctic Peninsula, Pacific Margin offshore of Adelaide Island: transitions from a non-glacial, through glacially-influenced to a fully glacial state

Extraction and characterization of collagen from Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic squid and its potential application in hybrid scaffolds for tissue engineering

High occurrence of jellyfish predation by black-browed and Campbell albatross identified by DNA metabarcoding

An assessment of recent and future temperature change over the Sichuan Basin, China, using CMIP5 climate models

Warming by 1°C drives species and assemblage level responses in Antarctica’s marine shallows

Complete genome of Arthrobacter alpinus strain R3.8: biorediation potential unraveled with genomic analysis

Biology and ecology of the world’s largest invertebrate, the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni): a short review

Non-operative management of a patella fracture: environmental considerations in the Subantarctic

High-resolution sub-ice-shelf seafloor records of twentieth century ungrounding and retreat of Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica

Solution of the Fokker-Planck equation with a logarithmic potential and mixed eigenvalue spectrum

High-latitude ocean ventilation and its role in Earth’s climate transitions

The microphysics of clouds over the Antarctic Peninsula – Part 2: modelling aspects within Polar WRF

Multi-colony tracking reveals spatio-temporal variation in carry-over effects between breeding success and winter movements in a pelagic seabird

Methods for detecting and quantifying individual specialisation in movement and foraging strategies of marine predators

DNA metabarcoding as a marine conservation and management tool: A circumpolar examination of fishery discards in the diet of threatened albatrosses

Robust wavebuoys for the marginal ice zone: Experiences from a large persistent array in the Beaufort Sea

High resolution boundary conditions of an old ice target near Dome C, Antarctica

Sea ice as a source of sea salt aerosol to Greenland ice cores: a model-based study

Can acclimation of thermal tolerance, in adults and across generations, act as a buffer against climate change in tropical marine ectotherms?

A comparison of annual layer thickness model estimates with observational measurements using the Berkner Island ice core, Antarctica

Consistent variation in individual migration strategies of brown skuas

Early last glacial intra-interstadial climate variability recorded in a Sardinian speleothem

Identification of C 25 highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) alkenes in diatoms of the genus Rhizosolenia in polar and sub-polar marine phytoplankton.

Seafloor geomorphology and glacimarine sedimentation associated with fast-flowing ice sheet outlet glaciers in Disko Bay, West Greenland

Ice sheet retreat and glacio-isostatic adjustment in Lützow Holm Bay, East Antarctica

Under the sea ice: Exploring the relationship between sea ice and the foraging behaviour of southern elephant seals in East Antarctica

The transient response of ice-shelf melting to ocean change

Evaluating trace element bioavailability and potential transfer into marine food chains using immobilised diatom model species Phaeodactylum tricornutum , on King George Island, Antarctica

Ecology of moss banks on Signy Island (maritime Antarctic)

Demographic consequences of fisheries interaction within a killer whale (Orcinus orca) population

Inter-specific niche partitioning and overlap in albatrosses and petrels: dietary divergence and the role of fishing discards

Midlatitude ionospheric D region: height, sharpness and solar zenith angle

Impacts of the Larsen-C Ice Shelf calving event

Causes and consequences of individual variability and specialization in foraging and migration strategies of seabirds

The magnetic local time distribution of energetic electrons in the radiation belt region

Individuality in northern lapwing migration and its link to timing of breeding

The Euphausia superba transcriptome database, SuperbaSE: An online, open resource for researchers

Long-term geomagnetically induced current observations in New Zealand: Earth return corrections and geomagnetic field driver

Occurrence characteristics of relativistic electron microbursts from SAMPEX observations

Regional climate of the Larsen B embayment 1980–2014

Effects of chronic crude oil exposure on early developmental stages of the Northern krill (Meganyctiphanes norvegica)

Advances in understanding the Southern Ocean’s role in global climate: the ORCHESTRA and SOCCOM programs

Restricted regions of enhanced growth of Antarctic krill in the circumpolar Southern Ocean

Observations and fine-scale model simulations of gravity waves over Davis, East Antarctica (69°S, 78°E)

A cautionary tale: A study of a methane enhancement over the North Sea

Explicit and parametrised representation of under ice shelf seas in a z* coordinate ocean model NEMO 3.6

Winter-to-summer transition of Arctic sea ice breakup and floe size distribution in the Beaufort Sea

Limited grounding-line advance onto the West Antarctic continental shelf in the easternmost Amundsen Sea Embayment during the last glacial period

Deglacial changes in flow and frontal structure through the Drake Passage

Revealing higher than expected meiofaunal diversity in Antarctic sediments: a metabarcoding approach

Solve Antarctica’s sea-ice puzzle

On the dynamics of flow past a cylinder: Implications for CTD package motions and measurements

Comparison of elevation change detection methods from ICESat altimetry over the Greenland Ice Sheet

Unprecedented springtime retreat of Antarctic sea ice in 2016

Holocene black carbon in Antarctica paralleled Southern Hemisphere climate

The impact of atmospheric storminess on the sensitivity of Southern Ocean circulation to wind stress changes

Modelling channelized surface drainage of supraglacial lakes

Climate change drives expansion of Antarctic ice-free habitat

Recent trends in numbers of wandering (Diomedea exulans), black-browed (Thalassarche melanophris) and grey-headed (T. chrysostoma) albatrosses breeding at South Georgia

Iceberg killing fields limit huge potential for benthic blue carbon in Antarctic shallows

Assessment of sea ice-atmosphere links in CMIP5 models

Using globally threatened pelagic birds to identify priority sites for marine conservation in the South Atlantic Ocean