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Antarctic Science News - archive from 2007

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Workshop Report on Southern Ocean Sampling

A workshop report entitled "Use of Alternative Sampling Platforms in the Antarctic" is available to download from http://www.vims.edu/ ASP_report/index.pdf. This workshop, supported by the office of Polar Programmes of the National Science Foundation, focussed on the state of autonomous sampling in the Southern Ocean, discussed the sort of technological developments that are required for Polar Research and the type of science questions that can be answered using 'alternative' sampling platforms. The workshop outcomes are extremely pertinent to the developing Southern Ocean Observing System.

Satellite Map of Antarctica

Newly Unveiled Satellite Map of Antarctica Is a Unique Tool for Scientists, Educators and the Public

Representatives of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) together just produced the Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA), a map that combines more than 1,100 hand-selected Landsat satellite scenes digitally compiled to create a single, seamless, cloud-free image ( http://lima.usgs.gov/). This is a uniquely detailed and scientifically accurate satellite mosaic map of Antarctica that is expected to become a standard geographic reference and will give both scientists and the general public an unmatched tool for studying the southernmost continent.

Robert Bindschadler, chief scientist of the Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory at Goddard, noted that the new mosaic is the most detailed map of the continent in existence and offers the most geographically accurate, true-colour views of the continent possible. "This innovation, compared to what we had available most recently, is like watching the most spectacular high-definition TV in living colour versus watching the picture on a small black-and-white television," he said.

For more information contact Denver Makle at USGS: (703) 648-4732, or email dmakle@usgs.gov

Science article: Warming from the Cold Places

This Week, SCIENCE, Volume 318, Issue 5849 dated October 19 2007, reports new evidence that solar heating around Antarctica preceeded global warming at the end of the last glaciation. Stott et al. (p. 435; published online 27 September; see the 28 September news story by Kerr) construct a chronology of high- and low-latitude climate change at the last glacial termination, in order to help answer the questions of where warming originated, and why. Their data, derived from both benthic and planktonic foraminifera recovered from the same marine sediment core, indicate that deep-sea temperatures in the western tropical Pacific warmed about 1500 years before the surface waters did, a result of the earlier warming of the high-latitude surface water from where the deep water originated around Antarctica. The deep-sea warming also preceded the rise in atmospheric CO2, which suggests that increasing insolation at high southern latitudes caused a retreat of sea ice that led to warming there and further a field. For full article see: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol318/issue5849/twis.dtl.

New-Generation of Polar Researchers (NGPR) Symposium

This meeting will take place 4-11 May 2008 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. Advanced students and PhD graduates conducting research in the Arctic or Antarctic during the International Polar Year are invited to apply: Application Deadline: Monday, 15 October 2007. Scholars from the full range of natural and social sciences are eligible. While the focus is on the U.S. system with preference given for American citizens and U.S. residents, a few slots will be reserved for citizens of any country who are residing outside the U.S. and demonstrate interests in working with U.S. researchers. Applicants who complete their degree between 1 January 2002 and 31 March 2009 are eligible to apply.

Funded by the National Science Foundation through Whitman College and University of Colorado, the NGPR Symposium will consist of research presentations and perspectives on the history and future of polar research by International Geophysical Year veterans and other polar experts. The symposium provides an open forum for discussions that will lead to cross-fertilization of research ideas and techniques for educational outreach. The net result should be expansion of participants' historical, scientific, and professional outlook.

Please see Symposium website for more details. Further information is also available from Susan Weiler (email: weiler@whitman.edu) or Sheldon Drobot (email: drobot@colorado.edu)

An icy partnership

(As reported in Science magazine by Anita K. Jones) Knowledge of the world's polar regions - Antarctica and the Arctic - is of international interest for economic, environmental, territorial, and security reasons. Studying these environments has been a cooperative activity among countries for half a century. Icebreaker ships have played a critical role. Unfortunately, the U.S. icebreaking capability has deteriorated substantially. Of the world's roughly 50 high-capability icebreakers (at least 10,000 horsepower and capable of steaming steadily through ice 4 to 8 feet thick), Russia possesses 15. Canada operates six. The U.S. government owns three, two of which are at the end of their 35-year service lives. This not only threatens U.S. access to these regions but also jeopardizes the ability of the U.S. research community to conduct solo and international research missions. A long-lived successful partnership between the polar research community and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), which operates the government icebreakers, has been built over decades. That partnership is unhealthy now and should be revitalized. Read the full text

Funding available for Permafrost Training Workshop

Funding is available for early career researchers to attend the Permafrost Training Workshop being held on 30 November - 2 December 2007 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The training workshop will focus on modern investigation techniques in the field of permafrost science and will provide a learning and meeting ground for young permafrost researchers from Russia and the rest of the world.

The workshop is sponsored by the Otto Schmidt Laboratory for Polar and Marine Research (OSL) at the State Research Center for Arctic and Antarctic Research (AARI), Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS), and the Permafrost Young Researchers Network (PYRN).

PYRN will provide between seven and ten full travel grants to PYRN and/or APECS members and ten travel grants to members from Russian institutions. Application forms are available at: http://www.awi-potsdam.de/pyrn/oslworkshop.html

Applications must be submitted by Sunday, 30 September 2007. It is expected that successful applicants will be notified by 10 October 2007.

The long march of the penguins

The world was an unfamiliar place 62 million years ago when Waimanu waddled along the New Zealand shore and slipped smoothly into the ocean. The dinosaurs had been dead for just a few million years and you wouldn't have recognised most of the animals. The climate was much warmer than today. Yet anyone who spotted Waimanu would have known instantly that it was a penguin. A rather strange penguin, to be sure, but unmistakably a penguin.

Recently described in detail for the first time, Waimanu is part of a revolution in penguin palaeontology that, along with two other new fossils from Peru, is transforming our understanding of the evolution of these enigmatic birds. Perhaps more importantly, Waimanu could also help settle a question that has had palaeontologists and geneticists at loggerheads for years: when did modern birds first appear?

(taken from 'New Scientist' - 1 September 2007)

Widespread acceleration of tidewater glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula

Hundreds of glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula are flowing faster, further adding to sea-level rise. Climate warming, that is already causing Antarctic Peninsula increased summer snow melt and ice shelf retreat, is the most likely cause.

Read the article by H.D. Pritchard & D.G. Vaughan

Fertilizing the Southern Ocean

Experiments have shown that adding iron to surface waters in some parts of the world, can stimulate biological production. By analyzing compiled data and conducting additional experiments, Cassar et al. (p. 1067) show that gross primary production and net community production in large regions of the Southern Ocean is proportional to the input of soluble iron from aerosols. They conclude that iron addition increases export production and that windblown dust enhances gross primary production across large parts of the Southern Ocean.

Read the article in 'Science' (24 August 2007)

Northern Hemisphere forcing of the last 4 deglaciations

A study of the Fuji Dome and Vostok ice cores published in 'Nature' shows that orbital-scale Antarctic Climate change lags Northern Hemisphere isolation by a few thousand years since at least 360,000 years ago. Read the first paragraph of the article

Eocene bi-polar glaciation and the CCD

An article published in 'Nature' by Edgar et al. discusses the link between the development of the cryosphere and the large changes in the CCD in the late Eocene. Read the first paragraph

Secondment opportunity in the IPY International Project Office (IPO)

The IPO administrator, Nicola Munro, will work for the British Antarctic Survey in Antarctica during the months of December 2007 through March 2008. To fill the gap in the IPO during those months, the IPO solicits nominations for an international Secondment to the IPY IPO. These Secondments have worked extremely well in other international programme offices. The individual gains experience in international affairs, discovers new skills, and, often, develops numerous international friends and connections. The IPO gains the talents and experience of the guest, and develops new connections to the individual's institution and nation. The institution and nation gain connections to the IPO, and benefit from the broadened experience and outlook of their employee. We offer this opportunity is offered as a formal Secondment. The source institution continues to pay the employee's full salary and benefits. The IPO pays living costs in Cambridge, and all associated travel. Financially, Secondments should occur as no loss, no gain, for the individual. The expected time in Cambridge should include some overlap with Nicola in late November and then the full period of absence, December through March. The duties include routine administrative tasks (mostly via email), exhibit support and travel to two major conferences, and the opportunity to work with committees and task groups on various education and outreach activities. The individual must have excellent speaking and writing skills in English. We hope the individual also has an ability to manage materials and contributions to the IPY web site. For further information contact David Carlson at ipy.djc@gmail.com (tel: +44 1223 221618 or mobile: +44 7715 37 1759)

Halogens in Antarctica

Tropospheric halogens affect the concentration of ozone, the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere, and aerosol formation, all of which are linked to climate. The halogen chemistry of the frozen high latitudes has proven to be particularly interesting, not least because of the role of these regions as harbingers of global climate change, but a better understanding of that chemistry has been hampered by lack of data. Saiz-Lopez et al. (p. 348) present measurements of BrO and IO in the Antarctic boundary layer from January 2004 to February 2005. They observed high concentrations and persistence of these halogens throughout the sunlit period, contrary to expectations and unlike the situation in the Arctic, where IO has not been detected. The springtime IO levels they found are the highest reported anywhere in the atmosphere, and an apparent synergy between IO and BrO suggests an unknown halogen-activation mechanism. These levels of halogens also cause the rapid oxidation of dimethyl sulfide and mercury in the Antarctic boundary layer.

Read the article in 'Science' (20 July 2007)

Glaciers melting rapidly in Antarctica

The UK's 'Independent' Newspaper (6 June 2007) reported that news about Antarctic glaciers means that action on climate change is now more urgent than ever. The story is based on a study by scientists from the British Antarctic Survey, which shows that 300 glaciers in Antarctica have begun to move more quickly into the ocean. Rising temperatures are causing glaciers as far apart as Alaska, Greenland and now Antarctica to break up and slip into the ocean at a faster rate than expected. Earlier this year the IPCC said sea levels this century could rise by between 20 cms and 43 cms but it accepted that this could be a serious underestimate if ice sheets and glaciers undergo the sort of dynamic changes that existing computer models do not take fully into account. The evidence from British Antarctic Survey scientists tends to suggest that the IPCC estimates are conservative.

Read the article

Saturation of the Southern Ocean CO2 sink due to recent climate change

Extracted from Science Express Index (17 May 2007):

Based on observed atmospheric CO2 concentration and an inverse method, the authors estimate that the Southern Ocean sink of CO2 has weakened between 1981 and 2004 by 0.08 PgC/y per decade relative to the trend expected from the large increase in atmospheric CO2 This weakening is attributed to the observed increase in Southern Ocean winds resulting from human activities and projected to continue in the future. Consequences include a reduction in the efficiency of the Southern Ocean sink of CO2 in the short term (~25 years) and possibly a higher level of stabilization of atmospheric CO2 on a multicentury time scale.

Read Press Release issued by University of East Anglia and British Antarctic Survey

Short-circuiting of the overturning circulation in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current

A natural tracer-release experiment (an injection of helium by submarine volcanoes into the current that flows around Antarctica) is used to measure the rates of mixing and upwelling in the southwest Atlantic sector of the current. Results indicate that the rough topography of the ocean floor in this region leads to both rapid mixing across density surfaces and rapid upwelling along density surfaces, which together create a 'short circuit' in the global oceanic overturning circulation.

Read further details

The need for new Ice Sheet Models

A one-day workshop on ice sheet modeling was held at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) on 8 January 2007.

Read the Report of the Workshop on Ice Sheet Modeling

Thinning of West Antarctic Ice Sheet demands improved monitoring to reduce uncertainty over potential sea-level rise

(from the University of Texas at Austin Office of Public Affairs, 28 March 2007)

Polar ice experts from Europe and theUnited States, meeting to pursue greater scientific consensus over the fate of the world's largest fresh water reservoir, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, conclude a recent three-day meeting at The University of Texas at Austin's Jackson School of Geosciences with a comprehensive call for improved monitoring. See attachment for further details

The 8th March issue of the journal 'Nature' highlights the International Polar Year

Please read the whole articles:

and see Editor's Summary

Deep-diving remotely operated vehicle maps Antarctic offshore sediments

UK scientists recently completed the first Antarctic research cruise (RRS James Clark Ross cruise JR157) using a 'Isis', a deep-diving remotely-operated vehicle (ROV). The 'Isis' ROV was used to investigate glacial-interglacial sediment transfer from the Antarctic continent to the deep ocean and, for the first time, it was able to view former sub-glacial features on the Antarctic continental shelf and slope at an outcrop scale. This work will make a contribution to SCAR's ACE programme.

There are some online news items about the cruise at:
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/206/1 and http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6359025.stm

US and UK geologists tackle Mount Discovery

A team of US and UK geologists, during December 2006 through to early February 2007, examined 7-11 million year old volcanic rocks on Mount Discovery (about 80ยบ South). The age of the rocks are important for deciphering East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) history and, in particular, should throw considerable new light on the thermal state and dynamics of the ice sheet in the late Miocene, a period of EAIS history that has been contentious for over two decades. The fieldwork investigated about 12 km of 900 metres-high continuous cliff section. More than a dozen volcanic units were mapped and sampled intensively. Many are separated by erosive surfaces that are probably glacial in origin. In addition, the Mt Discovery work has identified at least two periods when the region was overridden by substantially greater ice thicknesses. This year's study includes an extensive Argon isotopic dating investigation by the USA co-workers that should make the Mt Discovery sequences amongst the most precise and intensively dated in Antarctica. The work is a contribution to SCAR's ACE (Antarctic Climate Evolution) programme.

The New Director of the British Antarctic Survey is Prof. Nick Owens

For more detail see BAS Press Release and Nick Owen's profile

Subglacial lakes power the engines that drive ice sheet collapse

A research team led by geophysicists Robin Bell and Michael Studinger from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, has discovered four large, subglacial lakes miles beneath the Antarctic ice sheet's surface. The team linked the lakes to a fast flowing ice stream above and established that within this 170-mile wide area the lakes contribute to the creation of a major ice stream. The team, which includes scientists from NASA, the University of New Hampshire and the University of Washington published their results in the Feb. 22 issue of Nature. Ice streams are large, fast-flowing features within ice sheets that transport land-based ice and meltwater to the ocean. One such stream, the Recovery Glacier ice stream, annually drains the equivalent of eight percent of the huge East Antarctic Ice Sheet, an area larger than the continental United States. The associated Recovery drainage basin, virtually unexplored since an American-led Antarctic ice sheet research trek over 40 years ago, funnels an estimated 35 billion tons of ice into the Weddell Sea annually. "It's almost as if the lakes are capturing the geothermal energy from the entire basin and releasing it to the ice stream," said lead author Bell, a senior research scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. "They power the engines that drive ice sheet collapse. The more we learn about the lakes, the more we realize how important they are to ice sheet stability"(Source: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center). Moreover, the work suggests that subglacial lakes could play a role in sea level rise as well as regional and global climate change. Meltwater at the base of ice streams increases the flow of ice to the oceans, which could, in turn, contribute to higher sea levels worldwide. In addition, floods have been known to originate from the interior of the ice sheet in the past, possibly from subglacial lakes. These sudden pulses of fresh water could potentially interfere with nearby ocean currents that redistribute heat and carbon dioxide around the globe, disrupting the Earth's finely tuned climate system. (Source: Science Daily, 2/26/07, The Earth Institute at Columbia University)

For more details go to the Subglacial Antarctic Lake Environments (SALE) Program Office, Texas A&M University, http://salepo.tamu.edu. Reports of the latest developments in SALE research and exploration are contained in the SALE Workshop 2006 reports and materials available on-line at http://salepo.tamu.edu/saleworkshop2006

Oldest ice core project - climate changes in the last 1.5 mln years

The International Partnership in Ice Core Sciences (IPICS) is on the way to obtain the oldest ice on Earth to find out if carbon dioxide (CO2) played any role in a shift in cyclicity of glacial epochs that happened ~1 mln years ago. Dome Argus (Dome A) in East Antarctica, one of the coldest, driest and most isolated spots even for Antarctic standards, might be a perfect drilling site to retrieve 4,000 m of undisturbed ice. Only then it would be possible to track the chemical composition of the old atmosphere trapped in air bubbles buried in the ice sheet and reconstruct natural changes in CO2 level in the atmosphere.

Read the whole article in Nature News

Life on a seabed uncapped by the disintegration of Larsen A and B - first CAML cruise brings exciting new findings

under ice shelf photoA 10-week voyage yields likely new species and insights into polar ecology. Intrigued scientists find herds of sea cucumbers on the move, fields of colonizing sea squirts and whales approaching the coast. Deep-sea species at unusually shallow depths on uncapped seabed.

The Antarctic Glaciological Data Center (AGDC) Releases New Data Sets

Three new data sets are released:

More data can be found on the NSIDC website: http://nsidc.org/data/

Dynamic behaviour of the subglacial water "blisters" in West Antarctica detected from space

Antarctic subglacial water blistesSatellite laser altimetry can be used to detect changes in subglacial water system by tracking visible change of the surface elevation. Ice surface responds to sublacial water movements by temporarily varying elevation. A major, previously unknown subglacial lake near the grounding line of Whillans Ice Stream in West Antarctica is observed to drain 2.0 km3 of water over ~3 years, while elsewhere a similar volume of water is being stored subglacially. These observations reveal a widespread, dynamic subglacial water system which may exert an important control on ice flow and mass balance of Antarctic Ice Sheet. One of the striking findings is that the change can happen within a short period of time. The results, published in the journal Science, show that some areas fell by up to 9m (30ft) over just two years.

The whole article is published in journal Science (Fricker et al., 2007: An Active Subglacial Water System in West Antarctica Mapped from Space, Published Online February 15, 2007, Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1136897, Science Express Research Articles.)

Read the Abstract
Read the BBC News story

Polar Science from the Deep

Climb aboard as ScienceNOW Daily News follows an international voyage to probe the Antarctic depths:

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