New experiments show how lead circulates through glaciers, meltwater, and sediments in polar environments.
Antarctica
Posted inEditors' Vox
Marine Sediments Reveal Past Climate Responses to CO2 Changes
Climate records stored in marine sediments reveal different ice sheet and ocean responses to falling atmospheric CO2 concentrations from the warm Pliocene to the ice ages of the Pleistocene.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Landfast Sea Ice: The Most Important Ice You’ve Never Heard Of
Landfast sea ice, sea ice that is held stationary against the Antarctic continent, links firmly with many key climate processes, but its importance is only being fully realized as its extent dwindles.
Posted inNews
Meltwater from Antarctic Glaciers Is Slowing Deep-Ocean Currents
Antarctic ice drives crucial deep-ocean currents that help regulate Earth’s climate. But the system is slowing down.
Posted inNews
Mounds of Ancient Ocean Floor May Be Hiding Deep in Earth
A mysterious seismic feature at the bottom of Earth’s mantle is more widespread than previously thought.
Posted inNews
Penguin Poop May Flush Iron into the Southern Ocean
Nutrients from the seabirds’ guano fuels the growth of carbon-storing phytoplankton, but penguin populations have plunged in the past 4 decades.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Do Ocean Currents Mix Water Vertically or Stir Laterally?
Observations of temperature and salinity distributions across the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence reveal the importance of small-scale mixing processes for water mass modification.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Clues from a Subglacial Lake for Holocene Grounding Line Change
Organic carbon sampled in the lake contained radiocarbon, indicating connection to the ocean in the mid-Holocene, when the grounding line was up to 260 kilometers inland of its current position.
Posted inFeatures
Redefining “Glacial Pace”
As Earth’s climate warms, glaciers and ice sheets are retreating, cracking, and adding to sea level rise at record speeds.
Posted inEditors' Vox
What We Know and Don’t Know About Climate Tipping Elements
As climate change continues, parts of the Earth system such as ice sheets, frozen soils, or the Amazon rainforest could shift—some quickly, some slowly—after crossing key thresholds or tipping points.