Orkney Passage Long Term Monitoring
The densest waters in the Atlantic overturning circulation, Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), originate in the Weddell Sea, as Weddell Sea Deep Water. A large proportion is exported northward to the …
Ocean circulation
SO-WISE
We are constructing observationally-constrained estimates of the state of the Weddell Gyre, including associated ice shelves and sea ice Introduction In the 25 years between 1992 and 2017, ocean melting …
Modelling Movement of Antarctic Krill
The MMAK project is using state-of-the-art ocean-sea ice models to improve our understanding of processes that influence the distribution of krill in the South Orkney Islands region.
National Capability for Global Challenges
Polar Expertise – Supporting Development
Oceanographic models for the Scotia Sea
Development of regional models to examine the detailed oceanography of island shelves and surrounding regions.
DynOPO
Dynamics of the Orkney Passage Outflow (DynOPO) is a collaboration between BAS, the University of Southampton and the National Oceanography Centre (NOC). The project aims to investigate the flow of …
A23 repeat section
Understanding Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) and its affect on global ocean circulation.
Filchner Ice Shelf System, Antarctica
Understanding the contribution that polar ice sheets make to global sea-level rise is recognised internationally as urgent. The mission of this five-year project is to capture new observations and data …
Un-mixing the ocean: double diffusion and turbulence in polar oceans
19 January, 2022
Interannual variability of the outflow of Weddell Sea bottom water
24 February, 2020
Underwater tsunamis created by glacier calving
23 November, 2022
Scientists on a research vessel in Antarctica watched the front of a glacier disintegrate and their measurements ‘went off the scale’. As well as witnessing disruptions on the ocean surface, …
New map of Southern Ocean floor
10 June, 2022
A new map of the seafloor of the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica provides the most accurate representation of this vast area to date. An international team of scientists, including several …
Climate extremes drive changes in Antarctic Bottom Water
17 November, 2020
British Antarctic Survey contributes to new international study that finds a surprising increase in the amount of dense water sinking near Antarctica, following 50 years of decline. Dense water formed …
Boaty McBoatface sheds light on warming ocean abyss
18 June, 2019
The debut mission involving the autonomous submarine Autosub Long Range – affectionately known as Boaty McBoatface – has for the first time shed light on a key process linking increasing …
Solar heat drives rapid melting of Antarctic Ice Shelf
29 April, 2019
A section of the world’s largest ice shelf in Antarctica – around the size of Spain – is melting 10 times faster than average and warm ocean currents beneath it …
Melt-rate of West Antarctic Ice Sheet highly sensitive to changes in ocean temperatures
13 August, 2018
Melting of ice shelves in West Antarctica speeds up and slows down in response to changes in deep ocean temperature, and is far more variable than previously thought, according to …
Boaty McBoatface returns home with unprecedented data
28 June, 2017
Researchers have captured unprecedented data about some of the coldest abyssal ocean waters on earth – known as Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) – during the first voyage of the yellow …
The first dive of Boaty McBoatface
7 April, 2017
The unmanned submersible Boaty McBoatface was deployed in the Antarctic for the first time.
Scientists explain how meltwater reaches ocean depths
30 January, 2017
An international team of researchers has discovered why fresh water, melted from Antarctic ice sheets, is often detected below the surface of the ocean, rather than rising to the top …
Wind-blown Antarctic sea ice helps drive ocean circulation
27 June, 2016
Antarctic sea ice is constantly on the move as powerful winds blow it away from the coast and out toward the open ocean. A new study published today in the journal Nature Geoscience (Monday 27 June) shows how that ice migration may be more important for the global ocean circulation than anyone realized.