NEWS

Small but mighty: Marine zooplankton bring global meeting to Hobart

More than 340 scientists from 38 countries meet in Hobart about marine zooplankton
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A visual expedition to Antarctica’s past — and a clue to its future

What the voyage of the Belgica tells us about how Antarctic sea ice has changed in 120 years
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From carbon to clouds: Ocean detectives return with climate clues

Epic voyage comes home with one of the most comprehensive datasets ever collected in the Southern Ocean
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Trace metal team makes half-century

Hard-working voyagers reach a milestone in the Southern Ocean
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Good things don’t come in threes for Antarctic sea ice

New AAPP-led research points to fundamental changes taking place in the Antarctic sea-ice system with immense global implications
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AAPP sea-ice scientist wins global glaciology award

AAPP researcher Dr Pat Wongpan receives 2023 Early Career Scientist Award from International Glaciology Society
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‘MISO-cosms’: a miso soup unlike any other

Creating a miniature Southern Ocean for shipboard experiments on the links between biology and cloud formation
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Super-cool clouds, iron-starved plankton and vanishing deep water

What does a changing Southern Ocean mean for climate?
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Women of the MISO voyage

Celebrating the International Day of Women and Girls in Science aboard a research vessel in the Southern Ocean
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In the land of frozen giants

Experiences of an iceberg enthusiast on the MISO voyage
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Life-cycle of an Antarctic cloud

How the biology of the Southern Ocean is linked to the clouds in the atmosphere
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Tasting the many flavours of Antarctic ocean

Using the CTD to track change in the Southern Ocean and what it means for biological productivity and the future of the Antarctic Ice Sheet
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In search of Antarctic Bottom Water

Venturing to the Adélie Depression, chasing the world's densest water that drives currents around the planet.
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Tracing the metals that power the carbon pump

Sampling vanishingly low concentrations of trace metals, to understand what controls Southern Ocean biology and its connection to the carbon cycle and climate.
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Down the sink: Following carbon in the Southern Ocean

AAPP PhD study extends carbon exchange records for Southern Ocean Time Series station to cover two decades.
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How to measure an ocean?

Why the MISO voyage is travelling across the Southern Ocean from Hobart to Fremantle via the Antarctic ice edge.
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From clouds to the deep: 60-day voyage probes Southern Ocean change

Voyage to investigate why deep ocean currents near Antarctica are slowing, whether the Southern Ocean will continue to absorb heat and carbon dioxide, and the formation of clouds.
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Oceanography, seafloor mapping and satellite combine to explore world’s strongest current

From space to the seafloor, an Australian and international research voyage has mapped a highly energetic ‘hotspot’ in the world’s strongest current simultaneously by ship and satellite, and uncovered an underwater mountain range.
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Ode to FOCUS 23

A gallery of images and words by Bill Martin, Electro-Technical Officer on RV Investigator.
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To find carbon, look in the ocean

The largest reservoir of carbon on our planet is the ocean. Craig Neill is testing an old carbon analyser against his new design.
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Triaxus in tow

The Triaxus 'flies' through the upper ocean as it is towed behind the ship while the SWOT satellite records the height of the sea surface.
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Temperature, salinity…and the need for speed

With EM-APEX floats measuring current velocity, what can they tell us about changes in the Southern Ocean?
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Soaring on salty winds

Death glares from giant petrels, squadrons of great cormorants, fly-bys from fulmars, A-list of albatross: never a dull moment in the Southern Ocean
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Snap-frozen salad from the Southern Ocean

Understanding how communities of phytoplankton and marine microbes are changing and what this could mean for the storage of carbon
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Robot gliders cruise the currents

Three underwater gliders are released into the world's strongest water flow, the high-energy Antarctic Circumpolar Current
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The FOCUS 42.2 marine marathon

What to do when a mad-keen trail-runner is on a research ship for 38 days? Run a marathon on a treadmill, of course!
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The CTD: What goes down, must come up

One item in our oceanographic toolkit gets more of a workout than others. Which is it and what does it tell us about the deep ocean?
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Meet Hydrochem: our floating lab

At the heart of this science ship is an advanced analytical lab for measuring the vital signs of the ocean
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For the sheer excitement of being here

PhD student Andie Hay offers her thoughts about life on the high seas – and a poem
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Living the oceanographic dream

PhD student Polina Sholeninova about her experience living and working at sea on the FOCUS voyage
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From big things, little things grow

Why are we studying a patch of the Southern Ocean just 100km wide and 200km long so intensively?
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How to build a tall mooring

Crew and scientists on CSIRO research vessel RV Investigator install an oceanographic 'weather tower' in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current
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We’re in the zone

The FOCUS voyage has now reached our survey area about 850 nautical miles south of Hobart (or 200nm west of Macquarie Island, halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica).
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Deep-sea diving probe recovered from Southern Ocean

A state-of-the-art robotic float has been recovered from the Southern Ocean, in a first for CSIRO research vessel Investigator.
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Voyage to Southern Ocean ‘hotspot’ probes how planet’s strongest current helps melt Antarctic ice

Scientists head for the heart of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current to investigate how it leaks warm water into polar seas.
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AAPP scientists bring Antarctic focus to ARC funding

Four key projects involving AAPP researchers have been approved in the latest round of funding by the Australian Research Council.
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Increasing atmospheric carbon amplifies seasonal CO2 cycle in Southern Ocean

For the first time, scientists measure an increase in the magnitude of the Southern Ocean’s seasonal cycle of carbon dioxide over the last decade.
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Sea change: a new blueprint for Southern Ocean survival

More than 200 scientists from 19 countries create the first comprehensive assessment of trends in Southern Ocean ecosystems, in a report written specifically for policy makers.
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More than just ice: 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.
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Failure to freeze: Low Antarctic sea ice may be ‘new abnormal’

The first evidence is emerging of a regime shift underway in the Southern Ocean where Antarctic sea ice is entering a different state of lower coverage.
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Helicopters track warm ocean water melting Totten Glacier ice shelf

Probes dropped from helicopters through ice cracks help reveal that warm ocean water is melting the largest glacier ice shelf in East Antarctica from below.
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Antarctic researchers land prestigious DECRAs in Tasmania

Researchers with the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership awarded two of four DECRAs to Tasmania
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Urgent call for Southern Ocean science in a changing world

Hundreds of international scientists are sounding a clarion call for urgent expansion of Southern Ocean science in the emerging climate crisis.
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Antarctic sea ice scientist wins Future Fellowship grant

Landfast ice is crucial for the Earth's climate
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Eyes of the world on Southern Ocean

More than 250 people from 25 nations will meet in Hobart during August for the first-ever global conference of the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS).
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New study of Antarctic landfast ice charts dramatic crash

The first-ever broad review of Antarctic ‘landfast’ ice highlights its far-reaching importance in the Earth system while documenting a recent dramatic crash in its extent.
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Polar scientists call for urgent action in view of rapid Arctic and Antarctic change

Polar scientists are calling for an urgent intensification of national and international research and observational capabilities in view of rapid Arctic and Antarctic change.
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Antarctic deep ocean currents have slowed in the past three decades

Researchers have found that the deep ocean circulation around parts of Antarctica has slowed by 30 per cent since the 1990s, reducing oxygen levels across the world’s deep seas.
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Science briefing: ‘On Thin Ice’

Is this sudden shift in the Southern Ocean a response to climate change? We need to know how the Antarctic system is changing – and why.
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Shining sunlight on the Southern Ocean with machine learning

Using Artificial Intelligence to better simulate the amount of energy from the sun that strikes the Southern Ocean.
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Antarctica’s heart of ice has skipped a beat. Time to take our medicine

Sea-ice researchers join forces to release a science briefing for policy makers.
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Seeding clouds: the power of partnerships in Antarctic research

Not only do tiny phytoplankton have a big impact on clouds, they also play a crucial role in the climate system
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New ice core lab to analyse million-plus years of climate history

Through the Million Year Ice Core project, Tasmania is gaining an entirely new climate research capability at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies in Hobart.
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Southern Ocean volcanoes under the microscope at Australia’s Synchrotron

What does Antarctic ice, Southern Ocean algal blooms, Australia’s active volcanoes and a particle accelerator have in common?
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Deep freeze falters: Antarctic sea ice drops to new low

With three very extreme events of Antarctic sea ice loss in the last six years, it appears a regime shift is under way in the Southern Ocean.
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New Antarctic map builds on forty years of sea ice data

A new interactive Antarctic map called 'Nilas' promises to assist voyage planning and enhance climate research in the sea-ice zone.
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Mind the gaps: marine zooplankton futures in a warming world

A global review about the impacts of warming oceans on marine zooplankton is published in Nature Communications.
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Antarctic science leader awarded Order of Australia

Prof Tony Press honoured for distinguished service to the environment
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Trail-blazing tractor trains on track for million-year-old ice site

MEDIA RELEASE: The first traverse for the Million Year Ice Core project is well advanced in proving a route for ambitious climate research in the coming years.
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Antarctica’s emperor penguins could be extinct by 2100 – and other species may follow if we don’t act

Greater conservation efforts are needed to protect Antarctic ecosystems, and the populations of up to 97% of land-based Antarctic species could decline by 2100 if we don’t change tack, new research has found.
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SWOT team zooms in on Southern Ocean from space

MEDIA RELEASE: An advanced new satellite to observe water on Earth in unprecedented resolution promises to revolutionise Australian research in the Southern Ocean.
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Key Antarctic research awarded ARC Discovery grants

MEDIA RELEASE: Innovative research on Southern Ocean productivity and sea ice by the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP) will be advanced with three Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery projects.
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Antarctic marine life under pressure

The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) convened in Hobart, Tasmania, during October 2022 to examine the state of marine life in the Southern Ocean. Professor Bettina Meyer (AWI) and Dr So Kawaguchi (AAD) published a Science editorial stressing the need for a new krill management strategy at the Antarctic Peninsula to ensure the balance of the Southern Ocean ecosystem.
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Antarctica and the Southern Ocean: insights from the 2022 IPCC WGII report

The Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP) and the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS) have released a report on IPCC WGII key findings for Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.
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Study exposes role of sea ice in protecting Antarctic coast

Media Release: A new method for detecting and monitoring change in the exposure of the Antarctic coastline to the dynamic Southern Ocean, due to changing sea-ice distribution, could improve environmental monitoring and modelling of Antarctic ice loss and sea level rise. For the first time, Dr Phil Reid of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and Dr Rob Massom of the Australian Antarctic Division investigated ‘coastal exposure length’ – a daily measure of when and where the Antarctic coastline lacks any protective sea-ice buffer offshore. The scientists used the long-term satellite sea-ice concentration record to determine Antarctic coastal exposure, and how it has changed over the past four decades.
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Antarctic ice cores reveal Australian drought risk worse than thought

Media Release: Antarctic ice core records have shown that eastern Australia’s drought risk is greater than thought. The research, led by Dr Tessa Vance from the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership and Dr Anthony Kiem from the University of Newcastle, and involving Australian Antarctic Division scientists, has significant implications for water security and management across Australia and internationally.
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Scientists detect sudden loss of large Antarctic lake

Media Release: Scientists in Australia and the United States are reporting the sudden loss of a large ice-covered Antarctic lake which held more water than Sydney Harbour.
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PhD Opportunities at AAPP

The Australian Antarctic Program Partnership is now offering exciting PhD research projects, based at the University of Tasmania in Hobart.
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Krill research voyage ends in success

Media Release: The Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP) has welcomed the successful completion of a major krill research voyage into the Southern Ocean.
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Why we study the ocean depths

Why do oceanographers send scientific instruments thousands of metres below the ocean surface?
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Dreams come true!

Our researchers on board TEMPO sprang into action, when an unusually long and thick krill swarm appeared on the echogram.
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Meet the Predator Observers

The Predator Observer team has recorded 445 sightings of marine mammals.
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A quick KOMBI update

The TEMPO team has successfully deployed all three KOMBIs.
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ABC Radio interviews Dr Rob King

'The entire vessel is on a port list, because we're being hit by a 40 knot wind that's screaming down off Antarctica… it's pretty spectacular!'
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Welcome Aboard TEMPO: Voyage Blog

The Southern Ocean Large Areal Carbon Export voyage is now underway, aboard Australia's RV Investigator.
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Eye-to-eye with a krill swarm

For decades scientists have wondered how the Antarctic krill population is distributed under the shield of Antarctic winter sea ice and the development of the KOMBI provides an opportunity to gain valuable clues at a time when humans cannot readily access this area.
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KOMBIs away!

For decades scientists have wondered how the Antarctic krill population is distributed under the shield of Antarctic winter sea ice and the development of the KOMBI provides an opportunity to gain valuable clues at a time when humans cannot readily access this area.
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TEMPO in transit

All the years of preparation to make this voyage a reality are now bearing fruit - or in this case krill.
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Supercomputers simulate Antarctic ice shelf melting

High-powered physics and supercomputers are helping a team of Australian-based scientists explore the mysterious boundary between Antarctic ice and the Southern Ocean.
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Getting the measure of krill

Media Release: Australian Antarctic Program scientists will use a range of novel technologies to measure krill, during a ground-breaking voyage to the Southern Ocean that departs tomorrow.
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Welcome Aboard SOLACE: Voyage Blog

The Southern Ocean Large Areal Carbon Export voyage is now underway, aboard Australia's RV Investigator.
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Robot fleet dives for climate answers in ‘marine snow’

A fleet of new-generation, deep-diving ocean robots will be deployed in the Southern Ocean, in a major study of how marine life acts as a handbrake on global warming.
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Recent climate extremes have driven unprecedented changes in the deep ocean

New measurements reveal a surprising increase in the amount of dense water sinking near Antarctica, following 50 years of decline.
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New Ice Database Fills an Important Piece of Global Climate Puzzle

Researchers from the AAPP have completed another important piece of the Antarctic climate jigsaw puzzle, with the creation of the first detailed database of changes in land-fast sea ice.
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Going with the Wind – Our Changing Southern Ocean: Dr Edward Doddridge

Dr Edward Doddridge is an oceanographer and Theme Leader with AAPP's Nature and Impacts of Southern Ocean Change research theme. Dr Doddridge was recently invited to present at the Royal Society of Tasmania
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The Role and Response of the Southern Ocean in a Warming World: Prof. Stephen Rintoul

AAPP Theme Leader Prof. Stephen Rintoul was recently invited to present at the SCAR 2020 Mini Symposium entitled Antarctica in a Warming World; Regional Changes, Global Consequences and Future Commitments.
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Antarctic ice cores are reshaping Australia’s climate assumptions

From Antarctic ice, a new understanding of drought & flood risk in Australia
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The powerful but puzzling role of Southern Ocean clouds

Atmospheric research by the AAPP is helping to address urgent questions about the role of Southern Ocean clouds in the Earth’s changing climate.
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Small but mighty: Marine zooplankton bring global meeting to Hobart

More than 340 scientists from 38 countries meet in Hobart about marine zooplankton
Read More

A visual expedition to Antarctica’s past — and a clue to its future

What the voyage of the Belgica tells us about how Antarctic sea ice has changed in 120 years
Read More

From carbon to clouds: Ocean detectives return with climate clues

Epic voyage comes home with one of the most comprehensive datasets ever collected in the Southern Ocean
Read More