Awards - Round 5

The AFI Moderating Panel met on 29th April 2003 to evaluate the 23 full applications that were received. Seven proposals were selected to be funded for research starting in the 2004/05 Antarctic field season. The Panel also approved the support of two additional applications submitted under the Collaborative Gearing Scheme.

Awards are listed in alphabetical order of Principal Investigator surname.

Awarded under the Collaborative Gearing Scheme (CGS)


Abstracts

Dr Mike Bentley, Department of Geography, University of Durham
Professor David E Sugden, Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh
Dr C J Fogwill, Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh

"Timing and rates of ice sheet thinning in the Ellsworth Mountains, Weddell Sea embatment: constraints on West Antarctic ice sheet dynamics" [AFI5/03]

The overall aim is to establish the timing and rate of thinning of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) from its maximum extent in an area inland of the Weddell Sea embayment. The specific objectives are (a) to date geomorphological evidence of ice sheet thinning in the Ellsworth Mountains using in situ cosmogenic nuclides and (b) to infer WAIS dynamics (specifically grounding line and ice volume changes) in the Weddell Sea embayment through high resolution glaciological modelling, constrained against the geomorphological record of elevation change through time. The importance of this project is tha the past dynamics of the WAIS have implications for its future behaviour, and thus global sea level change.

Professor P J Butler, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham
Professor J Croxall, Biological Sciences Division, British Antarctic Survey
Dr A J Woakes, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham
Dr Richard Phillips, Biological Sciences Division, British Antarctic Survey

"Energetic basis for foraging strategies of albatrosses" [AFI5/39]

Two complementary studies will examine how energetic considerations shape the foraging strategies of black-browed albatrosses. The first study will test the hypothesis that the breeding success of albatrosses is related to their feeding proficiency. By careful selection of individuals with known breeding histories, we will determine whether between-individual at-sea activity patterns and hence foraging proficiency, underpin consistent long-term variation in chick growth rates and reproductive success. The second study will test the hypotheses that, during the non-breeding period, the energetic cost of foraging is related to the breeding success of the birds and that albatrosses of different breeding success feed in different areas. We will examine the economics of foraging on circumglobal migrations, in particular comparing the performance of birds that failed with those that were successful in rearing chicks.

Dr David Jones, Institute of Environmental Science, University of Wales, Bangor
Dr K K Newsham, Biological Sciences Division, British Antarctic Survey
Professor John Farrar, Institute of Environmental Science, University of Wales, Bangor
Dr Peter Darrah, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford
Mr David Shannon, Institute of Environmental Science, University of Wales, Bangor

"Dissolved organic nitrogen cycling in the Antarctic" [AFI5/32]

Antarctica is undergoing rapid climatic change, however, the implications of this change on ecosystem functioning remain unknown due to our lack of fundamental understanding of how these ecosystems work. Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) has been hypothesised to play a key role in regulating ecosystem productivity in Arctic environments. However, its importance in terrestrial Antarctic ecosystems remains unknown. Our aim is to quanitify the importance of DON across an Antarctic environmental gradient and to assess its importance in the N cycle, plant productivity and ecosystem response to climate change. We will construct a mathematical model to describe Antarctic N cycling to critical control points in N cycling and responses to ecosystem change. This research will directly complement existing SCAR (RiSCC), BAS and NERC research programmes and will directly collaborate with research scientists in other Antarctic programmes.

Dr S P Kelley, Department of Earth Sciences, Open University
Dr A P M Vaughan, Geological Sciences Division, British Antarctic Survey
Dr I L Millar, Geological Sciences Division, c/o NERC Isotope Geoscience Laboratory
Dr Craig D Storey, Department of Earth Sciences, Open University

"Tectonic and thermal history of suspect terranes on the Pacific margin of Gondwana" [AFI5/25]

Static models for the margins of the Gondwana supercontinent have recently been overturned and replaced by a new paradigm of Mesozoic terrane accretion, though the manner and timing of the accretion events is far from clear. This proposal seeks to combine a wide range of new high spatial resolution Ar-Ar dating techniques, analysing tectonic contacts in traverses across terrane boundaries to unravel tectonic and thermal histories. The results will provide a crucial window on the effects of rapid Pacific ocean floor production upon the tectonics and paleogeography of the Gondwana Margin. This work will help to understand the climate signals from exotic terranes which were very close to the South Pole in the Mesozoic greenhouse world.

Professor Peter S Liss, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia
Professor A Clarke, Biological Sciences Division, British Antarctic Survey
Dr Suzanne M Turner, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia
Ms Adele Chuck, School of Enviromental Sciences, University of East Anglia

"Alkyl nitrates and organo-halogens in the Antarctic: Production in seawater and role in atmospheric chemistry" [AFI5/01]

We have recently shown that the oceans are a source of methyl and ethyl nitrate to the air, providing the first direct evidence for the oceanic source invoked by atmospheric investigators. Thus, the oceans potentially play an important role in atmospheric reactive nitrogen chemistry. We propose to extend the latitudinal range for seawater data into the Southern Ocean, which will allow the lst assessment of polar sea-to-air fluxes. Production mechanisms of the alkyl nitrates will be studied in the laboratory at UEA and in inshore waters at Rothera. Inter alia, the results of this study will provide valuable support for the atmospheric alkyl nitrate and halocarbon measurements being made in the CHABLIS programme at Halley.

Dr N Mitchell, Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, The University of Bath
Dr G O L Jones, Physical Sciences Division, British Antarctic Survey
Dr Patrick Espy, Physical Sciences Division, British Antarctic Survey

"A meteor radar at Rothera for studies of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere" [AFI5/38]

We propose to deploy a Skiymet meteor radar at Rothera (68°S, 68°W) in the Antarctic. The radar will continuously measure the dynamics and temperature of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) at heights of ~ 80 - 100 km. The radar will be used with an existing, identical, radar in the Arctic at the conjugate latitude of 68°N to produce accurate climatologies of winds, waves and tides - and to quantify the differences between the Antarctic and Arctic MLT (using identical radars eliminates otherwise fatal relative measurement biases). Studies will investigate how these differences are related to the different populations of waves in each hemisphere. Other studies will use the co-located MF radar to carefully examine meteor/MF-radar biases, apply a developing technique to measure temperature and perform collaborative measurements with the Fe lidar and airglow instruments.

Dr D W Pond, Biological Sciences Division, British Antarctic Survey
Dr T R Anderson, George Deacon Division, Southampton Oceanography Centre
Dr Angus Atkinson, Biological Sciences Division, British Antarctic Survey
Dr K Schmidt, Baltic Sea Research Institute

"The quantitative importance of copepods in the diets of Antarctic krill" [AFI5/09]

Regime shifts of food webs are governed not only by climatic changes, but also by biological factors such as prey switching or competitive exclusion. Observed decreases in krill in the Southern Ocean have severe implications for the fisheries they support. However, lack of knowledge of their biology, including feeding, limits our predictions of how they will respond to future change. Krill are generally thought to be mainly herbivorous, but recent data and models suggest the importance of omnivory. We hypothesise that, outside of bloom periods, they not only predate copepods but do so at physiologically meaningful rates, allowing positive growth to be maintained during non-bloom conditions. We will use 4 independent methods to measure krill diet, and use the results in models that explore the extent to which omnivory buffers phytoplankton shortage for larval, juvenile and adult krill.

Further information on individual CGS Awards:

Pofessor P A Tyler, School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Southampton
Professor L Peck, Biological Sciences Division, British Antarctic Survey
Ms Laura Grange, School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Southampton

"The reproductive success of Antarctic marine invertebrates" [CGS5/10]

The main aim of this project is to investigate the reproductive ecology of a collection of shallow water marine invertebrates found to be abundant in and around the waters of the Antarctic Peninsula. An additional objective will be to evaluate the dominant factors determining these patterns in reproductive success, e.g. the constant sea temperature, the highly seasonal phytoplankton bloom or possibly, when looking at the wider scope of the project, climate change. This project also looks to identify the possible occurrence of long term, inter-annual cycles in reproduction, as well as identifying any seasonal and/or annual cyclicity. Additionally the project will also involve a certain degree of work into the fertilisation kinetics of Antarctic invertebrates investigating the effect of environmental parameters on sperm swimming speed and fertilisation success.

Dr Jennifer Pike, Department of EarthSciences, Cardiff University
Dr C J Pudsey, Geological Sciences Division, British Antarctic Survey
Ms Claire Allen, Geosciences Division, British Antarctic Survey
Dr Catherine Stickley, Earth Sciences, University of Cardiff

"Analysis of modern Spring diatom floras from the Falkland Plateau to the Antarctic Peninsula: Is the Holocene fossil record anything but a relict assemblage?" [CGS5/11]

Palaeoecological information from fossil diatom assemblages plays an important role in palaeoceanographic reconstructions of the Southern Ocean, therefore, it is essential to understand the taphonomic processes that act to produce the fossil record. Previous research by the PIs has revealed that the fossil diatom assemblages from around the Antarctic Peninsula are dominated by dissolution-resistant taxa that are not documented in the modern summer surface water assemblage. It is crucial to investigate whether the Holocene fossil record reflects the spring surface water assemblages or solely a relict assemblage, produced by dissolution, which has no value for late Quaternary palaeoenvironmental reconstructions.