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Quarterly science bulletin
Edition 4, December 2023
In many ways, 2023 has been a big year for both Antarctica and the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership.
Big in terms of the remarkable changes we see unfolding in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. This year we have witnessed record low levels of sea ice extent in both summer and winter, with strong indications that this crucial life-support system has entered a different state of lower sea-ice coverage.
Also big in terms of AAPP field programs, with our researchers active in Antarctica and on the Southern Ocean. This week our FOCUS voyage (standing for Fine-scale Observations of Current Under SWOT) on CSIRO research ship RV Investigator returned to Hobart from five weeks in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.
The FOCUS voyage deployed a range of oceanographic instruments, like this CTD (Conductivity-Temperature-Depth) rosette, to sample and measure currents to a depth of 4000 metres. 111 CTD casts were completed in the five-week voyage, more than usually done on RV Investigator in an entire year!
The FOCUS voyage (watch a news report) mapped the properties of 20,000 square kilometres of Southern Ocean within the current, while a satellite measured the height of the sea surface from space, to explore how 'gateways' in the current allow heat to 'leak' through and melt polar ice.
Our glaciologists (as part of a larger team) are at the Bunger Hills field camp near Denman glacier in east Antarctica this summer, to examine what’s happening on both the floating ice shelf and in the ocean underneath.
And early next year a two-month voyage will travel to the edge of the Antarctic ice to investigate the many roles of the Southern Ocean as a climate influencer, from the productivity of its plankton to the formation of clouds.
Also in 2023, our science teams had great success in winning funds from the Australian Research Council for Discovery Projects, Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards (DECRAs) and Future Fellows.
Welcome to our fourth edition of 'Southern Signals', a quarterly bulletin to inform decision-makers, policy-shapers, journalists, stakeholders and the general public about our science and research activities — and why they matter.
Thank you for your interest! My best wishes to you and yours for a rewarding break and a happy new year.
Professor Nathan Bindoff
Program leader, Australian Antarctic Program Partnership
University of Tasmania, Hobart
How much heat is world's strongest current 'leaking' towards Antarctica?
Our FOCUS voyage has mapped a highly energetic ‘hotspot’ in the world’s strongest current by ship and satellite, and uncovered an underwater mountain range.
Sea change: new blueprint for Southern Ocean survival
The first comprehensive assessment of trends in Southern Ocean ecosystems, in a report written specifically for policy makers.
Long-term mooring series shows trend in Southern Ocean carbon
Using automated instruments moored in the Southern Ocean over the last decade, scientists measure an increase in the magnitude of the ocean’s seasonal cycle of carbon dioxide for the first time.
What makes the best address for an emperor penguin colony?
A new study of the habitat needs of emperor penguins show that the iconic seabirds are more flexible in their abilities to choose a place to live than previously assumed.
SOME RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Our scientists publish more than 100 research papers each year
The extraordinary March 2022 East Antarctica “heat” wave. Part II: impacts on the Antarctic ice sheet
Bridging the gap for ice–ocean–ecosystem processes: integrated observing system for the Ross Sea-far East Antarctic Region
Observing Antarctic Bottom Water in the Southern Ocean: a major review with future research priorities
BY THE NUMBERS...
AAPP has prepared a short report that sets our research activities and initial impacts over the last four years since the partnership started.
right: number of research publications by AAPP projects, 2019–2023
For a taste of life at sea with our hard-working science teams and a look at our oceanographic tool-kit, check out our YouTube channel with a range of short videos from the FOCUS voyage. Please subscribe!
MAJOR EVENTS
First global zooplankton meet since 2016
How marine zooplankton respond to ecological change is key to the oceans, the planet - and us. AAPP is excited to sponsor the 7th International Zooplankton Production Symposium, coming to Hobart in March 2024. Registrations are now open.
Marine voyage to the Antarctic ice edge
From January 2024, the 60-day MISO voyage (Multidisciplinary Investigations of the Southern Ocean) on CSIRO research vessel RV Investigator will study why the deep ocean circulation of Antarctica’s waters is slowing, whether the Southern Ocean will continue to absorb heat and carbon dioxide, and the formation of clouds.
