Showing 11699 items
1 January, 2018 by Nigel Meredith
Every national spacecraft charging related design guideline or design standard includes prohibitions against floating, or ungrounded, connector pins. The rationale is obvious. A floating connector pin represents ungrounded metal with…Read more on Spacecraft charging related risk of floating connector pins
1 January, 2018 by Joanne Johnson
The remains of a small volcanic centre are preserved on a thin bedrock ridge at Harrow Peaks, northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. The outcrop is interpreted as a monogenetic tuff cone…1 January, 2018 by Peter Convey
We documented relative growth rates (RGRs) and activities of extracellular hydrolytic enzymes (EHEs) of one marine-derived tropical strain of Fusarium equiseti originally isolated from Malaysia and two polar strains of…1 January, 2018 by Max Holloway
In treatment planning we depend upon accurate knowledge of geometric and range uncertainties. If the uncertainty model is inaccurate then the plan will produce under-dosing of the target and/or overdosing…1 January, 2018 by Hilmar Gudmundsson
Floating ice shelves, which fringe most of Antarctica’s coastline, regulate ice flow into the Southern Ocean1,2,3. Their thinning4,5,6,7 or disintegration8,9 can cause upstream acceleration of grounded ice and raise global…Read more on The far reach of ice-shelf thinning in Antarctica
1 January, 2018 by Lloyd Peck
This is our ninth annual horizon scan to identify emerging issues that we believe could affect global biological diversity, natural capital and ecosystem services, and conservation efforts. Our diverse and…Read more on A 2018 Horizon Scan of Emerging Issues for Global Conservation and Biological Diversity
1 January, 2018 by Mark Clilverd
One of the key challenges in polar middle atmosphere research is to quantify the total forcing by energetic particle precipitation (EPP) and assess the related response over solar cycle time…1 January, 2018 by Andrew Gray, Kevin Hughes
Portugal has developed an active Antarctic programme over the past decade. Here, we examine Portuguese Antarctic activity using a variety of bibliometric measures, showing that Portuguese scientific output has grown…1 January, 2018 by Nigel Meredith
Severe and extreme surface charging on geosynchronous spacecraft is examined through the analysis of 16 years of data from particles detectors on-board the Los Alamos National Laboratory spacecraft. Analysis shows…Read more on Spacecraft surface charging induced by severe environments at geosynchronous orbit
1 January, 2018 by Dave Wattam, Michael Pinnock
The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research and the British Antarctic Survey have built a transportable laboratory facility, named the Dirck Gerritsz Laboratory, to accommodate new scientific research on and from…Read more on Innovative transportable laboratories for Polar science
1 January, 2018
We present two narratives on the future of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, from the perspective of an observer looking back from 2070. In the first scenario, greenhouse gas emissions…1 January, 2018
Gonatus fabricii is the most abundant cephalopod species in Arctic waters, and the only squid that completes its entire life cycle there. In order to understand its ecological role in…1 January, 2018 by Richard Phillips
Knowledge of thermal traits is essential for understanding and modelling physiological responses to environmental change. Egg temperatures are poorly studied in most tubenose species. We employed a contactless infrared thermometer…Read more on Surface temperatures of albatross eggs and nests
1 January, 2018
Insufficient reference database coverage is a widely recognized limitation of molecular ecology approaches which are reliant on database matches for assignment of function or identity. Here, we use data from…1 January, 2018 by Peter Fretwell
A twelve-year hiatus in fishery-independent marine mammal surveys in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean (ETP), combined with a mandate to monitor dolphin stock status under international agreements and the need…1 January, 2018 by Jennifer Jackson
The IWC Scientific Committee recently adopted guidelines for quality control of DNA data. Once data have been collected, the next step is to analyse the data and make inferences that…27 December, 2017 by John King, Steve Colwell, Tracy Moffat-Griffin
Gravity waves play a critical role in the transport of energy and momentum throughout the atmosphere. It has been suggested that small mountainous islands located in regions of strong winds…19 December, 2017 by Xin Yang
Ground-based, satellite, and reanalysis datasets were used to identify two similar cyclone-induced surface ozone depletion events at Eureka, Canada (80.1° N, 86.4° W), in March 2007 and April 2011. These two events…Read more on Cyclone-induced surface ozone and HDO depletion in the Arctic
18 December, 2017 by David Barnes, Gail Ashton, Lloyd Peck, Simon Morley
In our recent Current Biology paper [1], we describe an ocean warming experiment in which we manipulated the temperature of panels set on the seafloor to provide a realistic and…15 December, 2017 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith, Joanne Johnson
Ice streams in the Pine Island-Thwaites region of West Antarctica currently dominate contributions to sea level rise from the Antarctic ice sheet. Predictions of future ice-mass loss from this area…12 December, 2017 by Andrew Wood, Deborah Pardo, Jaume Forcada, Louise Ireland, Richard Phillips
Environmental and anthropogenic factors often drive population declines in top predators, but how their influences may combine remains unclear. Albatrosses are particularly threatened. They breed in fast-changing environments, and their…1 December, 2017 by Janet Silk, Richard Phillips
Species distribution models (SDM) based on tracking data from different devices are used increasingly to explain and predict seabird distributions. However, different tracking methods provide different data resolutions, ranging from…1 December, 2017 by David Barnes
One of the major climate-forced global changes has been white to blue to green; losses of sea ice extent in time and space around Arctic and West Antarctic seas has…1 December, 2017
Antarctic squids are widely known to play an important role in the diet of various Antarctic predators, although the biology of those squids and how that relates to their availability…1 December, 2017 by David Pearce, Michael Dunn, Peter Convey
Penguin stomach microbiota and its variability are important as these microbes may contribute to the fitness of the host birds and their chicks, and influence the microbial ecosystem of the…1 December, 2017 by Peter Convey
Dwarf shrubs are a dominant plant type across many regions of the Earth and have hence a large impact on carbon and nutrient cycling rates. Climate change impacts on dwarf…1 December, 2017 by Jeremy Wilkinson
Renewed political and commercial interest in the resources of the Arctic, the reduction in the extent and thickness of sea ice, and the recent failings that led to the Deepwater…1 December, 2017 by Peter Convey
The Arctic and Antarctic share environmental extremes. To survive in such environments, microbes such as soil fungi need to compete with or protect themselves effectively from other soil microbiota and…1 December, 2017 by Andy Smith, Jan De Rydt, Robert Arthern, Rebecca Tuckwell, Robert Mulvaney
Neutron probe measurements of snow density from 22 sites in the Pine Island Glacier basin have been used to determine mean annual accumulation using an automatic annual-layer identification routine. A…1 December, 2017 by Michael Thorne
Panagrolaimus sp. DAW1 is a freeze-tolerant Antarctic nematode which survives extensive intracellular ice formation. The molecular mechanisms of this extreme adaptation are still poorly understood. We recently showed that desiccation-enhanced…1 December, 2017 by Peter Convey
This research studied the effects of inorganic nutrient removal by free and immobilized Scenedesmus bijugatus cells, measured by algal growth (i.e., the chlorophyll a concentration) and the efficiency of the…1 December, 2017 by Constantino Listowski, Neil Brough, Thomas Lachlan-Cope
We demonstrate, for the first time, continuous real-time observations of airborne bio-fluorescent aerosols recorded at the British Antarctic Survey's Halley VI Research Station, located on the Brunt Ice Shelf close…Read more on Real time detection of airborne fluorescent bioparticles in Antarctica
1 December, 2017 by Peter Convey
A filamentous benthic cyanobacteria, strain USMAC16, was isolated from the High Arctic Svalbard archipelago, Norway, and a combination of morphological, ultrastructural and molecular characterisation (16S rRNA gene sequence) used to…1 December, 2017 by Scott Hosking, John King, Steve Colwell
On 30th January 1982, the research station on Signy Island (South Orkney Islands) reported a daily maximum temperature of 19.8 °C. This is a record maximum for any station south of…Read more on Causes of the Antarctic region record high temperature at Signy Island, 30 January 1982
1 December, 2017 by Richard Phillips
1.Previous genetic studies found evidence of at least three distinct groups of black-browed Thalassarche melanophris and Campbell Thalassarche impavida albatrosses in the Southern Ocean. Almost 350 individuals including samples from…1 December, 2017 by Geraint Tarling, Sally Thorpe
Antarctic krill form some of the highest concentrations of animal biomass observed in the world's oceans potentially due to their prolific ability to swarm. Determining the movement of Antarctic krill…Read more on Oceanic swarms of Antarctic krill perform satiation sinking
1 December, 2017 by Adrian Jenkins, James Jordan, Paul Holland, Robert Arthern
West Antarctic Ice Sheet loss is a significant contributor to sea level rise. While the ice loss is thought to be triggered by fluctuations in oceanic heat at the ice…Read more on The Response of Ice Sheets to Climate Variability
1 December, 2017 by Adrian Jenkins, Heather Regan, Paul Holland, Satoshi Kimura
Ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea Embayment have thinned, accelerating the seaward flow of ice sheets upstream over recent decades. This imbalance is caused by an increase in the ocean-driven…1 December, 2017 by Jaume Forcada
Climate-related shifts in marine mammal range and distribution have been observed in some populations; however, the nature and magnitude of future responses are uncertain in novel environments projected under climate…Read more on Projecting marine mammal distribution in a changing climate
30 November, 2017 by Mark Clilverd, Roger Duthie, Roger Duthie
Controversy exists over the potential effects of long-term increases in greenhouse gas concentrations on the ionospheric D-region at 60–90 km altitudes. Techniques involving in-situ rocket measurements, remote optical observations, and radio…28 November, 2017 by Liz Thomas
This study uses a set of 37 firn core records over the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) to test the performance of ERA-20C reanalysis for snow accumulation and quantify temporal…28 November, 2017 by Gareth Marshall
We provide the first comprehensive analysis of the relationships between large-scale patterns of Southern Hemisphere climate variability and the detailed structure of Antarctic precipitation. We examine linkages between the high…28 November, 2017 by David Vaughan, Tom Jordan, Yasmina Martos-Martin
Antarctica is the largest reservoir of ice on Earth. Understanding its ice sheet dynamics is crucial to unraveling past global climate change and making robust climatic and sea level predictions.…22 November, 2017 by Katrin Linse
The genus Raricirrus is characterized by the absence of feeding palps, presence of filamentous branchiae, posterior segments shorter and wider than preceding ones, and by having diverse types of chaetae,…20 November, 2017 by Alex Brisbourne, Andy Smith, David Vaughan, Ed King, Jan De Rydt, Robert Arthern
The retreating Pine Island Glacier (PIG), West Antarctica, presently contributes ~5–10% of global sea-level rise. PIG’s retreat rate has increased in recent decades with associated thinning migrating upstream into tributaries…Read more on Diverse landscapes beneath Pine Island Glacier influence ice flow
20 November, 2017 by Hilmar Gudmundsson, Hugh Corr, Keith Makinson, Keith Nicholls, Sebastian Rosier
We present a compilation of GPS time series, including those for previously unpublished sites, showing that flow across the entire Ronne Ice Shelf and its adjoining ice streams is strongly…17 November, 2017 by Liz Thomas
Climate trends in the Antarctic region remain poorly characterized, owing to the brevity and scarcity of direct climate observations and the large magnitude of interannual to decadal-scale climate variability. Here,…16 November, 2017 by Claire Allen, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Louise Sime, Max Holloway
We compare multi-ice core data with δ18O model output for the early last interglacial Antarctic sea ice minimum. The spatial pattern of δ18O across Antarctica is sensitive to the spatial…Read more on The spatial structure of the 128 ka Antarctic sea ice minimum
16 November, 2017 by Andrew Orr
On 4 July 2014, during the Deep Propagating Gravity Wave Experiment (DEEPWAVE), strong low-level horizontal winds of up to 35 m s−1 over the Southern Alps, New Zealand, caused the…16 November, 2017 by Kelly Hogan
Greenland's bed topography is a primary control on ice flow, grounding line migration, calving dynamics, and subglacial drainage. Moreover, fjord bathymetry regulates the penetration of warm Atlantic water (AW) that…13 November, 2017 by Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne
Compressional magnetic pumping is an interaction between cyclic magnetic compressions and pitch-angle scattering with the scattering acting as a catalyst to allow the cyclic compressions to energize particles. Compressional magnetic…10 November, 2017 by Liz Thomas
Here we present Antarctic snow accumulation variability at the regional scale over the past 1000 years. A total of 79 ice core snow accumulation records were gathered and assigned to…Read more on Regional Antarctic snow accumulation over the past 1000 years
10 November, 2017 by David Pearce, Peter Convey
The global biogeography of microorganisms remains poorly resolved, which limits the current understanding of microbial resilience toward environmental changes. Using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, we characterized the microbial…6 November, 2017 by Amelie Kirchgaessner, Constantino Listowski, Thomas Lachlan-Cope
During austral summer 2015, the Microphysics of Antarctic Clouds (MAC) field campaign collected unique and detailed airborne and ground-based in situ measurements of cloud and aerosol properties over coastal Antarctica…1 November, 2017 by Peter Convey
The terrestrial protected areas of Antarctica are generally small, unrepresentative of the continent's biodiversity, and at risk from a range of pressures. While some consider the whole Antarctic region as…Read more on Expanding the protected area network in Antarctica is urgent and readily achievable
1 November, 2017 by Claire Waluda, Huw Griffiths, Kevin Hughes, Sally Thorpe
It was thought that the Southern Ocean was relatively free of microplastic contamination; however, recent studies and citizen science projects in the Southern Ocean have reported microplastics in deep-sea sediments…Read more on Microplastics in the Antarctic marine system: an emerging area of research
1 November, 2017 by Michael Meredith
The Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) displays high but variable productivity and is also undergoing rapid change. Long-term studies of phytoplankton communities and primary production have suggested transient limitation by the…1 November, 2017 by David Pearce, Katrin Linse
Recently discovered hydrothermal vents of the East Scotia Ridge (ESR) in the Southern Ocean host unique faunal communities that depend on microbial chemosynthetic primary production. These highly abundant invertebrates gain…1 November, 2017 by Dominic Hodgson, Peter Convey
Precise and sufficiently detailed morphological taxonomy is vital in biology, for example in the accurate interpretation of ecological and palaeoecological datasets, especially in polar regions, where biodiversity is poor. Testate…1 November, 2017 by Amelie Kirchgaessner, Andrew Orr, John King
We use model data from the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS), measurements from automatic weather stations and satellite observations to investigate the association between surface energy balance (SEB), surface melt…1 November, 2017 by Katrin Linse
Recent genetic investigations have uncovered a high proportion of cryptic species within Antarctic polychaetes. It is likely that these evolved in isolation during periods of glaciation, and it is possible…1 November, 2017 by Kira Rehfeld
Northeastern (NE) India experiences extraordinarily pronounced seasonal climate, governed by the Indian summer monsoon (ISM). The vulnerability of this region to floods and droughts calls for detailed and highly resolved…1 November, 2017 by Eugene Murphy, Sally Thorpe
A dominant Antarctic ecological paradigm suggests that winter sea ice is generally the main feeding ground for krill larvae. Observations from our winter cruise to the southwest Atlantic sector of…1 November, 2017 by Emilie Capron
Two interglacial epochs are included in the suite of Paleoclimate Modeling Intercomparison Project (PMIP4) simulations in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6). The experimental protocols for simulations of the mid-Holocene…1 November, 2017 by Elisabeth Biersma
PREMISE OF THE STUDY: American bipolar plant distributions characterize taxa at various taxonomic ranks but are most common in the bryophytes at infraspecific and infrageneric levels. A previous study on…1 November, 2017 by Richard Phillips
Animal movement patterns contribute to our understanding of variation in breeding success and survival of individuals, and the implications for population dynamics. Over time, sensor technology for measuring movement patterns…1 November, 2017 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith, Robert Larter
A multibarrel seabed drill rig was used for the first time to drill unconsolidated sediments and consolidated sedimentary rocks from an Antarctic shelf with core recoveries between 7% and 76%.…1 November, 2017 by Hilmar Gudmundsson, Teresa Kyrke-Smith
We investigate correlations between seismically derived estimates of basal acoustic impedance and basal slipperiness values obtained from a surface-to-bed inversion using a Stokes ice flow model. Using high-resolution measurements along…28 October, 2017 by Jeremy Wilkinson
In April 2017 we collected unique, extensive in-situ data of sea ice and snow thickness. At ten sampling sites, located under a CryoSat-2 overpass, between Ellesmere Island and 87.1°N mean…26 October, 2017 by Robert Larter
Marine ice-cliff instability (MICI) processes could accelerate future retreat of the Antarctic Ice Sheet if ice shelves that buttress grounding lines more than 800 metres below sea level are lost1,…16 October, 2017 by Satoshi Kimura
Ice shelves play a vital role in regulating loss of grounded ice and in supplying freshwater to coastal seas. However, melt variability within ice shelves is poorly constrained and may…Read more on Channelized melting drives thinning under a rapidly melting Antarctic ice shelf
13 October, 2017 by Mark Clilverd
Geomagnetically Induced Current (GIC) observations made in New Zealand over 14 years show induction effects associated with a rapidly varying horizontal magnetic field (dBH/dt) during geomagnetic storms. This study analyses…1 October, 2017 by Richard Phillips
With increasing pressure on the oceans from environmental change, there has been a global call for improved protection of marine ecosystems through the implementation of marine protected areas (MPAs). Here,…1 October, 2017 by Anna Belcher, Clara Manno, Geraint Tarling, Peter Ward, Sophie Fielding
Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) play a central role in the food web of the Southern Ocean, forming a link between primary production and large predators. Krill produce large, faecal pellets…1 October, 2017 by Huw Griffiths
In polar areas, where benthic sampling is constrained by a series of limitations imposed by climate and logistic challenges, knowledge about the key elements required to plan a successful survey…1 October, 2017 by Michael Thorne
Fish skin and their appendages, the mineralized scales, are important organs for protection and homeostasis, but little is known about their specific transcript or protein repertoire. This study used RNA-seq…Read more on European sea bass ( Dicentrarchus labrax ) skin and scale transcriptomes
1 October, 2017 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Kelly Hogan
New information is presented on the configuration of the northern Barents Sea Ice Sheet (BSIS) during the last glacial and deglaciation (21–11.5 ka). The glacial dynamics of the BSIS that…1 October, 2017 by Kevin Newsham
A previous study of 76 plant species on Spitsbergen in the High Arctic concluded that structures resembling arbuscular mycorrhizas were absent from roots. Here, we report a survey examining the…Read more on Arbuscular mycorrhizas are present on Spitsbergen
1 October, 2017 by Richard Horne
In collisionless space plasmas, the energy cascade from larger to smaller scales requires effective interactions between ions and electrons. These interactions are organized by sub-ion scale plasma structures in which…Read more on Kinetics of sub-ion scale magnetic holes in the near-Earth plasma sheet
1 October, 2017 by Hilmar Gudmundsson, Sebastian Rosier
Tidal flexure in ice shelf grounding zones has been used extensively in the past to determine grounding line position and ice properties. Although the rheology of ice is viscoelastic at…Read more on On the interpretation of ice-shelf flexure measurements
1 October, 2017 by Jennifer Brown, Philip Trathan, Peter Fretwell
The identification and quantification of Antarctic Pygoscelis penguin colonies depends increasingly on recognition of the characteristic optical properties of guano deposits, but almost all knowledge of these properties until now…1 October, 2017 by Katrin Linse
The evolutionary history of Antarctic organisms is becoming increasingly important to understand and manage population trajectories under rapid environmental change. The Antarctic sea spider Nymphon australe, with an apparently large…1 October, 2017 by Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey
Invasive species present a risk to Antarctic ecosystems by altering community structure and function. Reports of non-native invertebrates are increasing at Antarctic sites subject to tourism industry and national operator…1 October, 2017 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand
Previous reconstructions of ice-sheet changes in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea sector since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) at 19–23 cal. (calibrated) kyr B.P. suffered from large uncertainties and were partly contradictory.…1 October, 2017 by Hilmar Gudmundsson
The seasonal response to surface melting of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream outlets, Zachariae and 79N, is investigated using new highly temporally resolved surface velocity maps for 2016 combined with…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…Read more on A synergistic approach for evaluating climate model output for ecological applications
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…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…Read more on Latitudinal trends in shell production cost from the tropics to the poles
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…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…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…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…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…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…Read more on Deep crustal melt plumbing of Bárðarbunga volcano, Iceland
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…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…7 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…Read more on High-latitude ocean ventilation and its role in Earth’s climate transitions
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…Read more on More losers than winners in a century of future Southern Ocean seafloor warming