SciencePoles news
Recent Polar Science and Climate Change news are featured here. Our news RSS feed will inform you when news are published on this website.
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Origins of Gamburtsev Sublacial Mountains Explained
17.11.2011
An international team of scientists from seven nations recently published in Nature their findings regarding the origins of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains, located 3 km beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. How the mountains formed is a mystery that has interested scientists since they were first discovered in 1958 as…
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IceBridge Project Finds Major Crack in Pine Island Glacier
31.10.2011
A team of scientists participating in NASA's IceBridge mission were flying over a portion of West Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier on October 14th when they discovered a 29 km crack across the glacier’s tongue. The 80-metre wide crack is the first step in the creation of a massive new 800…
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Underwater Ridge Key to Better Understanding Thwaites Glacier Flow
31.10.2011
According to a new study in Geophysical Research Letters, the retreat of the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is likely to accelerate within the next two decades. Due to its potential to contribute to sea level rise, the Thwaites Glacier is being closely monitored, along with the Getz Ice Shelf…
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New Map of Antarctic Glacier Flow
22.08.2011
University of California Irvine scientists have charted a vast network of previously unmapped glaciers and their velocities from inland to the Antarctic coast, giving a much broader and informed picture of glacier flow across the entire Antarctic Ice Sheet.
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Calving Events in Antarctica Linked to Tōhoku Tsunami
12.08.2011
A group of scientists from NASA’s Goddard Space flight Center, Northwestern University and the University of Chicago have been able to link the Tōhoku Earthquake in March 2011 and subsequent tsunami it generated to the calving of icebergs off of the Sulzberger Ice Shelf in Antarctica.
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British Antarctic Survey Discovers New Antarctic Volcanoes
13.07.2011
Using sea-floor mapping instruments aboard the RSS James Clark Ross, scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) discovered 27 previously unknown volcanoes, 12 of which are underwater. Studying these underwater volcanoes not only gives scientists cues about the development of our planet, but also about natural events like tsunamis that…
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Antarctic Krill’s Key Role in Iron Fertilization in Southern Ocean
07.07.2011
An international team of researchers recently published findings in the journal Limnology and Oceanography showing that Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) – a shrimp-like creature at the core of the Antarctic food web – could play a key role in fertilising the Southern Ocean with iron. Iron is a micronutrient that…
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Pollen Study Helps Scientists Understand Antarctic Climate History
30.06.2011
New research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that the last traces of vegetation in Antarctica might have existed in a tundra landscape until about 12 million years ago. The study features the most detailed reconstruction of the climate history of the Antarctic Peninsula to…
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Change in Ocean Currents Eats at Antarctic Ice Shelves from Below
27.06.2011
According to a new study appearing in Nature Geoscience, stronger ocean currents beneath the Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica are eating at it from below. A growing cavity under the ice shelf has allowed more warm melting ice, which contributes to sea level rise. The glacier advances some four…
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Ozone Hole above Antarctica Affects Climate in Southern Hemisphere
17.06.2011
In an article published in the journal Science, a team of researchers from Columbia University shows that the hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica can influence tropical circulation and lead to more rain in the entire Southern Hemisphere. This study is the first to link ozone depletion to climate…
