BAS-Arctic Working Group
Working Group purpose
The Arctic Working Group is a group of more than 60 BAS scientists and operations staff who are currently working in the Arctic or have aspirations to work there. The AWG was started in 2018 to bring together researchers in different fields to share their experiences of Arctic research, to enable new collaborations, and to maximise the potential output of this group by coordinating efforts and knowledge regarding Arctic projects, funding calls and logistics.
Terms of Reference
Content coming soon
Our priorities
Content coming soon
Map of Arctic Working Group projects
Arctic marine geophysics
This research focuses on investigating the glacial histories of Arctic ice sheets and ice caps using the marine geological record preserved on continental margins. By reconstructing past ice sheets, their …
SDOO
Abrupt warming episodes punctuate Greenland ice core records throughout the last glacial period. These events were first identified in two Greenland stable water isotope records (Dansgaard et al., 1993), and …
Climate and Ice during the Last Interglacial
During the Last Interglacial (129-116 thousand years ago, ka) CO2 and global temperature were both higher than they were before human industrialisation. By examining Last Interglacial climate, we thus gain …
TEA-COSI
TEA_COSI assesses Arctic Sea-ice which has an important impact on currents and ocean circulations around the globe
UKESM-BAS
Reliable projections of the Earth’s climate are at the heart of scientific support for international efforts to address global change. There is increasing recognition that reliable projections require that physical …
ESA IAP ArcticSat project
Situational awareness in the Arctic
ICE-ARC
physicists, chemists, biologists, economists, and sociologists from 21 institutes in 11 countries across Europe assess the rapid retreat and collapse of Arctic sea-ice cover
SIOS
Svalbard Integrated Earth Observing System (SIOS) is an international infrastructure project. There are 26 partners from Europe and Asia involved. The essential objective is to establish better coordinated services for …
SEANA
Global shipping is undergoing significant changes. In January 2020 the maximum sulphur emission by ships in international waters will reduce from 3.5% to 0.5% by mass, as a result of …
Data As Art
DATA AS ART is an ongoing science & art project in development at NERC’s British Antarctic Survey (BAS). It visualises science data (in its widest definition), to create stunning and …
EISCAT Science Support
The UK EISCAT support group (UKESG) is a collaboration between the British Antarctic Survey and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, funded via the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) EISCAT, the …
Iceland Greenland seas Project
PI: Ian Renfrew (University of East Anglia) CO-I’s: Tom Bracegirdle, Tom Lachlan-Cope, Alexandra Weiss PDRA’s: Andrew Elvidge (University of East Anglia), James Pope NERC Grant: NE/N009924/1 Project Partners: Robert Pickart …
ACSIS
Major changes are occurring across the North Atlantic climate system: in the ocean and atmosphere temperatures and circulation, in sea ice thickness and extent, and in key atmospheric constituents such …
Increasing ship traffic in Inuit Nunangat
17 August, 2023
Researchers from British Antarctic Survey are heading to the Canadian Arctic this week to learn more about the impacts of increasing ship traffic in Inuit Nunangat. In recent years, climate …
Poet Laureate visits UK Arctic Research Station
14 July, 2023
The UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage CBE has travelled to the UK Arctic Research Station, where he will create new works inspired by the visit. While hosted at the UK …
Britain’s Arctic Research Station celebrates 30 years of science and monitoring climate change
28 September, 2021
The Arctic Station in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard in Norway, the UK’s permanent Arctic research facility, celebrates its 30 years anniversary this week (Tuesday 28 September) as it continues to undertake critical …
BAS celebrates International Day of Women and Girls in Science
11 February, 2022 by Melody Clark
Today, 11 February, is International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a global initiative led by UNESCO and UN-Women. To celebrate, we have asked some of our female staff …
The secret meal of Antarctic mesopelagic fish (Myctophidae: Electrona) revealed by multimarker metabarcoding The secret meal of Antarctic myctophids
19 November, 2024 by Geraint Tarling, Ryan Saunders
Introduction: In the Southern Ocean, myctophids are the most successful pelagic fish group in terms of diversity, biomass, and abundance. They play a crucial role in linking primary consumers and…Perspectives on using peat records to reconstruct past atmospheric Hg levels
19 November, 2024 by Dominic Hodgson, Stephen Roberts
Anthropogenic mercury (Hg) emissions to the atmosphere have increased the concentration of this potent neurotoxin in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The magnitude of regional variation in atmospheric Hg pollution levels…Read more on Perspectives on using peat records to reconstruct past atmospheric Hg levels
Decoupling of δ18O from surface temperature in Antarctica in an ensemble of historical simulations
15 November, 2024 by Louise Sime
Stable water isotopes recorded in Antarctic ice cores have traditionally been used to infer past surface air temperatures (SATs). During the historical period (1850 onward), observational data and good-quality ice…Wolbachia in Antarctic invertebrates: absent or undiscovered?
13 November, 2024 by Peter Convey
Interactions between a host organism and its associated microbiota, including symbiotic bacteria, play a crucial role in host adaptation to changing environmental conditions. Antarctica provides a unique environment for the…Read more on Wolbachia in Antarctic invertebrates: absent or undiscovered?
Contrasting copepod community composition in two Greenland fjords with different glacier types
13 November, 2024 by Kate Hendry
Greenland's fjord ecosystems are strongly influenced by meltwater discharge from glaciers. Marine-terminating glaciers can significantly enhance primary production during the melt season (compared to land-terminating glaciers), but their impact on…The first firn core from Peter 1st Island – capturing climate variability across the Bellingshausen Sea
12 November, 2024 by Dieter Tetzner, Dorothea Moser, Liz Thomas
Peter I Island is situated in the Bellingshausen Sea, a region that has experienced considerable climate change in recent decades. Warming sea surface temperatures and reduced sea ice cover have…Drivers of interspecific spatial segregation in two closely-related seabird species at a Pan-Atlantic scale
11 November, 2024 by Anne-Sophie Bonnet-Lebrun, Norman Ratcliffe
Aim: Ecologically similar species living in sympatry are expected to segregate to reduce the effects of competition where re-sources are limiting. Segregation from heterospecifics commonly occurs in space, but it…Quantification of microplastic targets in environmental matrices using pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
8 November, 2024 by Rebecca Peel, Stephen Roberts
Microplastic pollution is a growing environmental problem. Consequently, an emerging area of research is the analysis of these micro-particles, to identify the distribution and impacts of plastic in the environment.…A new species of Fissidentalium (Scaphopoda: Dentaliidae) in association with an actinostolid anemone from the abyssal Labrador Sea
7 November, 2024 by Katrin Linse
The benthic biodiversity of the abyssal Labrador Sea was investigated using Agassiz trawl and in situ imagery. A megafaunal scaphopod associated with an epizoic anemone was recovered from soft sediments.…Plastics counteract the ability of Antarctic krill to promote the blue carbon pathway in the deep ocean
7 November, 2024 by Clara Manno, Emily Rowlands
The Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) play a critical role in promoting the so-called “blue carbon pathway” by producing a large amount of fast-sinking faecal pellets (FPs) which facilitate the transport…Antarctic extreme seasons under 20th and 21st century climate change
7 November, 2024 by Caroline Holmes, Hua Lu, Thomas Caton Harrison, Thomas Bracegirdle, Tony Phillips
In this study, available large ensemble datasets in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Phase 6 (CMIP6) archive were used to provide the first multi-variate overview of the evolution of extreme seasons…Read more on Antarctic extreme seasons under 20th and 21st century climate change
Expanded Understanding of the Western Antarctic Peninsula Sea-Ice Environment Through Local and Regional Observations at Palmer Station
7 November, 2024 by Michael Meredith
The Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) has been experiencing rapid regional warming since at least the 1950s, however, the impacts of this warming at the local scale are variable and nuanced.…The role of ocean circulation and regolith removal in triggering the Mid-Pleistocene Transition: Insights from authigenic Nd isotopes
6 November, 2024 by Claire Allen, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
Approximately 1,250,000 to 700,000 years ago, the pacing of glacial-interglacial cycles changed from 41,000 years to ∼100,000 years, a shift known as the ‘Mid-Pleistocene Transition’ (MPT). The cause – or…Estimating biases during detection of leads and lags between climate elements across Dansgaard–Oeschger events
5 November, 2024 by John Slattery, Louise Sime
Dansgaard–Oeschger (DO) events occurred throughout the last glacial period. Greenland ice cores show a rapid warming during each stadial to interstadial transition, alongside an abrupt loss of sea ice and…Biogenic silver nanoparticles synthesized by microalgae: A comprehensive review of eco-friendly wound healing therapies
5 November, 2024 by Peter Convey
Wounds are generally caused by an injury to the skin such as a cut or a puncture. They can be considered in two groups, acute and chronic wounds. Poor wound…Tracking the tempo of a continental margin arc: Insights from a forearc succession in West Antarctica
1 November, 2024 by Alistair Crame, Teal Riley
The Fossil Bluff Group of eastern Alexander Island records the exceptional preservation of more than 8 km of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks deposited into an accretionary forearc basin that developed unconformably…Molecular phylogenetics of the superfamily Stromboidea (Caenogastropoda): New insights from increased taxon sampling
1 November, 2024 by Alistair Crame
The superfamily Stromboidea is a clade of morphologically distinctive gastropods which include the iconic Strombidae, or ‘true conchs’. In this study, we present the most taxonomically extensive phylogeny of the…Exome capture of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) for cost effective genotyping and population genetics with historical collections
1 November, 2024 by Geraint Tarling, Melody Clark
Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba Dana) is a keystone species in the Southern Ocean ecosystem, with ecological and commercial significance. However, its vulnerability to climate change requires an urgent investigation of…Chapter 11 – Southern Annular Mode
31 October, 2024 by Gareth Marshall
The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) is an important pattern of Southern Hemisphere circulation variability: it accounts for between 15 and 30 or more percent of the total variability of the…Walruses from space: walrus counts in simultaneous remotely piloted aircraft system versus very high-resolution satellite imagery
30 October, 2024 by Hannah Cubaynes, Jaume Forcada, Peter Fretwell
Regular counts of walruses (Odobenus rosmarus) across their pan-Arctic range are necessary to determine accurate population trends and in turn understand how current rapid changes in their habitat, such as…
