Seals are 'higher predators' in the Southern Ocean food chain
Reporting in January 2012 in a special volume of the journal Deep Sea Research II, an international team of researchers led by British Antarctic Survey (BAS), describes how the Scoti...
News Story
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT
[news] New Non-executive Directors for British Antarctic Survey
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/news/news_story.php?id=1717
The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Director Professor Nick Owens has appointed two new Non-Executive members with immediate effect.
Anne Miller
Anne Miller - Non-executive Director for BAS from January 2012
Anne Miller is an innovator, entrepreneur and Director of the Creativity Partnership. She is a mechanical engineer by background. She started her career with an MA in Engineering from Cam...
News Story
Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT
[news] This week is the centenary of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's expedition to the South Pole
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/news/news_story.php?id=1705
Shackleton descendant Henry Worsley at the Geographic South Pole on 'Pole Day' (Photograph: Ross Harper)
This week scientists and support staff at British Antarctic Survey (BAS) commemorate Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his companions, who reached the South Pole exactly one hundred a years ago.
A number of visits, activities and exhibitions throughout the world remember Scott and the legacy...
News Story
Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT
[press release] Engineering team completes ambitious Antarctic expedition in the 'deep-field'
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/press/press_releases/press_release.php?id=1697
The Ellsworth Mountains
A team of four British Antarctic Survey (BAS) engineers has returned to the UK after completing a gruelling journey to one of the most remote and hostile locations on the planet to put in place equipment and supplies for an ambitious project later this year. Enduring temperatures of minus 35°C the Subglacial Lake Ellsworth ‘Advance Party’ has successfull...
Press Release
Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT
[news] East Antarctic rifting triggers uplift of the Gamburtsev Mountains
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/news/news_story.php?id=1696
The Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains are completely buried beneath the
East Antarctic Ice Sheet and consequently their origin has remained a
mystery since their first discovery 50 years ago. During the
International Polar Year, seven nations pooled their resources to carry
out the AGAP project aimed at understanding how youthful looking
mountains that resemble the European Alps could have form...
News Story
Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT
[news] British Antarctic Survey staff awarded the Polar Medal
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/news/news_story.php?id=1690
Dr Michael Curtis, former BAS field geologist
The Polar Medal has been awarded to three members of staff almost 100 years after the great British explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his men reached the South Pole. Congratulations go to Vehicle Engineer Ben Norrish, Deputy Project Manager Paul Cousens and former Field Geologist Dr Michael Curtis.
The Polar Medal is a medal awarded by the So...
News Story
Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT
[news] 'Lost world' discovered around Antarctic vents
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/news/news_story.php?id=1688
The team discovered a new species of octopus
Communities of species previously unknown to science have been discovered on the seafloor near Antarctica, clustered in the hot, dark environment surrounding hydrothermal vents.
The discoveries, made by teams led by the University of Oxford, University of Southampton and British Antarctic Survey (BAS), include new species of yeti crab, starfish, ba...
News Story
Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT
[news] Reduced survival of Antarctic benthos linked to climate-induced iceberg scouring
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/news/news_story.php?id=1689
A rapid increase in the frequency of icebergs pounding the shallow
seafloor around the West Antarctic Peninsula – as a result of shrinking
winter sea ice – has caused the life expectancy of a tiny marine
creature (bryozoans) to halve over the last 12 years. This is the first
evidence of regional climate warming affecting marine animals living on
the Southern Ocean seabed. The resu...
News Story
Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT
[press release] New research shows how much food is needed by seabirds
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/press/press_releases/press_release.php?id=1680
An international group of scientists has shown that many seabirds begin to suffer when the food available for them in the ocean declines below a critical level. This level is about one-third of the maximum measured amount of food available. They have found that this critical level is about the same for seabird species around the world. Their study — the most comprehensive ever undertaken &md...
Press Release
Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT
[news] Christmas Campers
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/news/news_story.php?id=1681
As you get stuck into your turkey on Christmas Day, spare a thought for scientists working in Antarctica for British Antarctic Survey, where Christmas is just another working day. Around 70 people are based at Rothera Research Station whilst another 50 people are working in remote field parties in tents several hundred miles away from the main station. These hardy scientists and their polar guides...
News Story
Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT
[news] South Pole Conquered 100 Years Ago Today
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/news/news_story.php?id=1673
One century ago today, on 14th December 1911, Norwegian Roald Amundsen became the first man to reach the geographical South Pole. He led a party of five men, with four sledges and 52 dogs, in what remains one of the most famous rivalries in the history of exploration. The other team attempting to reach the Pole was led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, who arrived at 90°S 34 days later and did n...
News Story
Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT
[press release] Scientist on BBC Frozen Planet investigates how world’s largest glacier is contributing to sea-level rise
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/press/press_releases/press_release.php?id=1666
A team of scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is to survey the largest glacier in the world —
Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica — to understand how ice is being lost and its likely contribution to future sea-level rise.
BAS Glaciologist Dr Andy Smith (centre) with glaciologist Gabby Chevalier (right) and field assistant Ian Hey (left).
This week a team of four (two scien...
Press Release
Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT
[news] New map reveals what lies beneath the frozen continent
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/news/news_story.php?id=1667
The new BEDMAP of Antarctica is being presented at the AGU meeting in the US this week
Scientists at British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have produced the most detailed map of underneath Antarctica — its rock bed.
BEDMAP is a close-up view of the landscape beneath the Antarctic icesheet and incorporates decades of survey data acquired by planes, satellites, ships and even researchers on dog-...
News Story
Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT
[news] New Ice Patrol ship HMS Protector heads for the frozen south
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/news/news_story.php?id=1658
HMS Protector
The Royal Navy's new ice patrol ship, HMS Protector, left Portsmouth
earlier this week (Monday 28 November) for an eight-month deployment
surveying and patrolling the seas around Antarctica.
The 5,000 tonne ice patrol ship has just completed an intensive period
of sea trials and training prior to deploying to the Antarctic
Peninsula. The ship is on lease from Rieber Shipping w...
News Story
Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT