CR
Cryospheric Sciences

Highlighted Paper

Uncovering Antarctica’s hidden subglacial lake network with satellite altimetry

December 16, 2024
Uncovering Antarctica’s hidden subglacial lake network with satellite altimetry
Figure 1: Current inventory of known subglacial lakes beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Each dot represents an individual lake. Active subglacial lakes from previous lake inventories are shown in orange (Livingstone et al., 2022; Neckel et al, 2021) and red (from our new study). Stable subglacial lakes are shown in purple (Livingstone et al., 2022). Ice flow speed in blue (from Gardner et al., 2018) highlights the fast-flowing ice streams. Figure credit: Jenny Arthur.

    Measuring ice surface elevation changes with satellite laser altimeters flying hundreds of kilometres above Earth tells us where the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are thinning or thickening and how much they contribute to sea level rise. Beyond that though, it can also reveal hidden activity of subglacial lakes filling and draining beneath the ice and meltwater rivers flowing ou ...[Read More]

Blue ice in Antarctica: small extent, big science

June 21, 2024
A figure with a map of Antarctica in the middle, and 8 zoomed in sections of it showing blue ice areas.
Figure 1: A new blue ice area map, based on deep learning. Credit: Tollenaar et al., 2024.

Kggk kggk kggk – the sound of crampons accompanies me. A thin layer of snow covers the slippery ice while I pull a sled. As I wipe my hand over the snow, underneath, a blue color glitters in the sun (Figure 2). In the last days it has been snowing in the White Desert (Antarctica). All blue ice we could see before is temporarily covered by a thin blanket, perfect to pull a sled. However, this snow ...[Read More]

A journey to the Edge of the Ice: Discovering How the Ocean Meets the Polar Sea Ice

December 12, 2023
A journey to the Edge of the Ice: Discovering How the Ocean Meets the Polar Sea Ice
Figure 1: Sentinel-1 image (EW swath mode) of the Marginal Ice Zone case in the Barents Sea on 2015-Feb-17. The CryoSat-2(CS2) track (black) and the retrieved alongtrack Marginal Ice Zone are shown (red). Wave-like structure is observed by Sentinel-1 (3-hr later than CS2). [Adapted from Zhu et al., 2023].

Let’s continue the journey of discovering cool facts about sea ice which started with breaking the ice. This time, we’re diving into a fascinating part of the Arctic and Antarctic: the Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ). Imagine a place where the vast, frozen world of sea ice meets the moving waters of the ocean underneath. This is the MIZ, a unique area where air, water, and ice mix and mingle. ItR ...[Read More]

Highlighted Paper: Breaking the ice – what’s new in modeling sea ice deformation

October 9, 2023
Highlighted Paper: Breaking the ice – what’s new in modeling sea ice deformation
Figure 1: What might look like art is actually an image of Arctic Ocean sea ice data from different days and with different lines and angles of deformation. [Credits: Ringeisen et al., 2023, Fig.3]

  Most of the time when we speak or read about sea ice it is probably about its extent or thickness or the decline in both, or maybe even about the microorganisms living inside and underneath it. How sea ice breaks and deforms is normally not so much the topic of general discussions. This is actually a really important process that we do not know enough about, at the same time it is pretty co ...[Read More]

Did you know… about worms surviving in permafrost for at least 46000 years?

September 29, 2023
Did you know… about worms surviving in permafrost for at least 46000 years?
Fig. 1 Shatilovich and colleagues discovered some (rather unexpectedly) still surviving eukaryotes, such as amoeba and this roundworm (nematode) in the long-term survival state called cryptobiosis (adapted from Shatilovich et al. 2023).

Lately permafrost makes the news more and more because of its enormous carbon stocks and its vulnerability to climate change. While permafrost greenhouse gas budget calculations are complex and harbour an ever-growing research community, its microbial ecology is still on the rise. A recent star are tiny roundworms that survived frozen in permafrost for 46’000 years. Take a short dip into this new ...[Read More]

An inclusive field team is a great field team: Strategies and resources

June 23, 2023
A scheme showing the 6 aspects leading to positive and inclusive fieldwork environment, including physical and mental well-being, team values, recognising and valueing diversity, rest days, dealing with stress, communication and daily checkin.
Key elements of a positive and inclusive field work environment. From Karplus, Young et al. (2023).

Fieldwork is essential to polar sciences, but who are the people that actually do the fieldwork these days? A great field team includes people spanning a diversity of scientific skills, but at the same time, a diversity of cultures, backgrounds, and identities also adds intrinsic value to team dynamics and the overall field work experience. As part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaborati ...[Read More]

Highlighted Paper – Human Errors in Snow Models

May 26, 2023
Highlighted Paper – Human Errors in Snow Models
Weather station at Weissfluhjoch in Davos, Switzerland. [Credit: Luca Bianchi]

As scientists, we often encounter errors in our own work and in the work of others. As modelers, we call these errors “bugs”. Of course, they are not actual insects, but they definitely keep us awake from time to time. Even though everyone is aware of their existence, we rarely discuss them in a scientific context. In today’s post, I bring to you the work and journey of a snow scientist, Dr. Cécil ...[Read More]

Highlighted Paper – The ice factories of the Arctic Ocean

March 31, 2023
Highlighted Paper – The ice factories of the Arctic Ocean
Sea ice forming rapidly in a lead during springtime. [Credit: Stefan Thiele]

Each year, the Arctic sea ice goes through a cycle of melting and freezing. From March to September, sea ice gradually melts and becomes thinner, and from October to March, the water freezes again. In our warming climate, we see that more and more ice melts each year. One would expect that the ice would also freeze less, but we have observed that the ice growth – or ice production – has increased ...[Read More]

Enigmatic Climatic Event: Antarctic Cold Reversal

February 17, 2023
Enigmatic Climatic Event: Antarctic Cold Reversal
Figure 1. Dated glacier moraines from New Zealand from the period of Antarctic Cold Reversal (ka signifies thousand calendar years ago). Blue colour symbolizes the reconstructed glacier 12,600 thousand years ago. While line indicate reconstructed snowline or equilibrium line altitude (ELA). [Credit: Tielidze et al., 2023].

In this week’s blog, Levan Tielidze tells us about the insight into the response of mountain glaciers to the Antarctic Cold Reversal (ACR) event in New Zealand to better understand the climatic history of the Southern Hemisphere during the last deglaciation. The ACR was a cold period occurred in the Southern Hemisphere during the transition from the last glacial period to the current interglacial ...[Read More]

Highlighted Paper – Welcome to the microbial BBQ in Arctic Sea ice

November 10, 2022
Highlighted Paper – Welcome to the microbial BBQ in Arctic Sea ice
Figure 1: The brown spots are sea ice algae (aka vegan BBQ patties) in the Arctic sea ice, can you see them? [Credit: Stefan Thiele]

There, what is this, spoke the sea ice algae. Is this the first light of dawn? Is it finally this time of the year again? Spring…the best time of the year…the BBQ season? And in the little brine pockets all around the sea ice, the bacterial and archaeal community stirred alive. BBQ? Did somebody mention BBQ? Let’s have some vegan burgers! And so spring began inside of the Arctic sea ic ...[Read More]