NEWS

Read the latest ACEAS news as we seek to uncover the mysteries of East Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, and better understand emerging climate risks.

Fishing for a glacier's secrets

Fishing for
a glacier's
secrets

It’s an ice fishing trip like no other.

A five-metre long drill. More than a kilometre of line. On a glacier tongue over an unmapped ocean. The mission: to suspend a string of sensors under the ice that will monitor the temperature, salinity and currents of the ocean below, every hour for the next few years.

How to drill an ice shelf — and why

How to drill
an ice shelf
— and why

Christmas Day 2023. While many of us are at the beach or around the barbie, a plucky team of four scientists and a polar field guide pitch their tents at what must be the world’s most remote campsite: the Shackleton ice shelf.

New research reveals Australia may be severely underestimating bushfire risk 

14 Jun 2024

New research reveals Australia may be severely underestimating bushfire risk  A study of sea salt in Antarctic snowfall reveals why Australia could be underprepared for bushfire seasons. Climate scientists have warned that Australia could be facing bushfires that are even more devastating than the 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires. Their warning is based on a new […]

Heavy water: how melting ice sheets and pumped groundwater can lower local sea levels – and boost them elsewhere

27 May 2024

Heavy water: how melting ice sheets and pumped groundwater can lower local sea levels – and boost them elsewhere Bernhard Staehli/Shutterstock Rebecca McGirr, Australian National University; Anthony Purcell, Australian National University; Herbert McQueen, Australian National University, and Paul Tregoning Imagine you’re standing near the edge of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, gazing out over the ocean, when the […]

ACEAS in Vienna

20 May 2024

ACEAS in Vienna Four ACEAS researchers attended the  General Assembly 2024 of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) last month in Vienna from 14–19 April. In amongst the 18,896 presentations given across 1,044 sessions: The annual EGU General Assembly is Europe’s largest and most prominent geosciences event. It attracts geoscientists from all over the globe, covering […]

Windblown dust from land boosts productivity in the Southern Ocean

16 May 2024

Windblown dust from land boosts productivity in the Southern Ocean A ground-breaking study led by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes in collaboration with ACEAS, the University of Tasmania and CSIRO estimates that windblown dust from continents fuels a third of phytoplankton growth in the Southern Ocean. Dr Jakob Weis, lead author of […]

Breaking ice and visiting volcanoes

25 Apr 2024

Breaking ice and visiting volcanoes A wrap-up of the EASI-3 RV Polarstern voyage: East Antarctic Ice Sheet instability and its interaction with changes in the Southern Ocean By Katharina Hochmuth “Almost 42 years old and RV Polarstern is still up for new ports (like Hobart), the uncharted waters of East Antarctica and more scientific adventures”. […]