The Australian #Antarctic Research Conference is brought to you by the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership @utas.edu.au, @antarcticsciaus.bsky.social, @arcsaef.bsky.social, and the Australian Antarctic Division 📸 Pete Harmsen/AAD

🌊 ANTARCTIC SCIENCE, AUSTRALIA'S FUTURE The exciting program for #AARC26 is out, with more than 300 people coming to our national conference in August. There are still places available if you'd like to attend. Registrations close 28 July. Program ▶️ leishman-aarc-2026.eventsairsite.com/program

Our @agu.org paper led by @utas.edu.au shows a circumpolar decline in AABW volume since 2002, accelerating in the last decade to coincide with a rapid decline in sea ice since 2016. Anomalies in AABW volume are strongly correlated with variability in sea ice extent. ▶️ doi.org/10.1029/2025...

As the ocean’s surface freezes and sea ice forms, the salt is left behind, making the surrounding seawater extremely dense. This sinks to form AABW. There are four main source regions around #Antarctica: Ross Sea, Adélie Coast, Cape Darnley, and the largest producer, Weddell Sea.

AABW is the densest water mass on Earth. As it sinks from the Antarctic continental shelf to the abyss it fills up 40% of the global ocean volume. This flow is a crucial driver of ocean circulation which regulates the global climate system.

4️⃣ Summer-warmed surface water is the main heat source. Instead of warm deep ocean water being the dominant driver, surface waters heated by the atmosphere during summer provide most of the heat responsible for melting.

3️⃣ Because of the geometry of the Denman-Shackleton ice shelf base where most of the ice interacts with the top 100-300m of the ocean, around 80% of the meltwater produced comes from shallow melting, rather than melting deep beneath the ice shelf.

CLIMATE CHANGE ATTRIBUTION: "the first study to directly attribute the changes of a major Antarctic outlet glacier to the activities of humans." More than 1/3 of ice loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is from Pine Island Glacier, one of the single biggest contributors to global sea level rise.

🛰️🤖 An innovative method that links sea-surface height measurements from the #SWOT satellite in space, with underwater data from robotic gliders, provides a detailed three-dimensional map of vertical current velocities throughout the upper 1000m of the ocean. @commsearth.nature.com ▶️ rdcu.be/fqgQw

“Our approach could be applied to many other Antarctic ice cores, which could potentially lead to a dramatic expansion of the Southern Hemisphere volcanic ash record” – @utas.edu.au @ualberta.bsky.social @antarcticsciaus.bsky.social Uni Copenhagen doi.org/10.5194/cp-2... @egu.eu Climate of the Past

🌋 FIRE AND ICE: 'Cryptotephra’ are microscopic glass shards and ash from volcanic eruptions. A new study matches cryptotephra in an ice core from East #Antarctica with the chemical fingerprints of the 1985 Mt Erebus eruptions and Chile's Cerro Hudson in 1991. 🧊 aappartnership.org.au/needle-in-a-...

🌊 "Beautiful interplay": A new study led by Aust scientists identifies the role of wave-driven processes in why and how Antarctic sea ice can retreat so rapidly each summer, and what they mean for #climate models ▶️ www.antarctica.gov.au/news/2026/fr... 🧊 published today in @egu.eu The #Cryosphere

🌊 Antarctica and the sea ice of the Southern Ocean is a beating heart at the centre of our global #climate system. Stay in touch with #Antarctic #science via our quarterly newsletter 'Southern Signals'. Please sign up at aappartnership.org.au/contact-us/ to receive yours by email. 🌏 Pat Wongpan

The ice core lab is operated as a partnership between the Australian Antarctic Division and @utas.edu.au. Measuring different chemical components trapped in the ice, this state-of-the-art lab is one of only a few of its kind in the world. Find out more ▶️ aapp.shorthandstories.com/the-memory-o...

'Revealing the Antarctic marginal ice zone with a decade-long wave-in-ice climatology', from AAPP @utas.edu.au, @unimelb.edu.au, @antarcticsciaus.bsky.social, Uni of Adelaide, Ocean University of China, CSIRO, AAD, Tsinghua Uni, Hokkaido Uni and Brown Uni in @natcomms.nature.com ▶️ rdcu.be/fk9Yf

🛰️ Using old satellite radar techniques, scientists have developed a new way of measuring the true extent of an under-studied and crucial region of the #Antarctic sea-ice system for the first time. 🌊 aappartnership.org.au/miz-ing-in-a...

Icon on ice: Moves to enhance protection of emperor penguins blocked at annual meeting of Antarctic Treaty nations (@news.abc.net.au @southernsky.bsky.social) ▶️ www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05... Emperors at Auster colony 📸 Jan Wallace

🌊 We’re hiring – Antarctic Project Officer (Hobart) Want to support world-leading #Antarctic science and help shape research with impact? AAPP and @antarcticsciaus.bsky.social are looking for an Antarctic Project Officer based at @utas.edu.au Apply by 8 June ▶️ careers.utas.edu.au/en/job/50322...

🚨 PhD project on ice shelves @utas.edu.au in Hobart! 🌊 Integrate observations and modelling of Antarctic ice shelf basal melting and sub-shelf ocean circulation 🍎 AAPP top-up scholarship and travel available ▶️ www.utas.edu.au/research/deg... 📆 Closing date for applications 1 June 2026

🌊 ANTARCTIC SCIENCE, AUSTRALIA'S FUTURE 🗣️ Want to present a talk or a poster at the second Australian Antarctic Research Conference @utas.edu.au, 25-28 August 2026 in Hobart? 📣 Call for #AARC26 abstracts is open now, until 8 June ▶️ leishman-aarc-2026.eventsair.site/call-for-abs...

🚨 PhD project on sea ice @utas.edu.au in Hobart! 🛰️ Use machine learning techniques for improved detection of Antarctic Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ) width from multi-sensor remote sensing data ▶️ www.utas.edu.au/research/deg... 📆 Closing date for applications 1 June 2026

🌊 Bring the Southern Ocean community to you – 𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗢𝗢𝗦 𝗦𝘆𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘂𝗺 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟳! @soosocean.bsky.social 📣 Call for bids to host this international Southern Ocean meeting (400–500 participants) bringing together science, policy and industry. 📅 Bids are due 31 July 🔗 soos.aq/soos-symposium-2027

“At a time of accelerating environmental change and growing human pressures, we need better ways to bring Antarctic information together so it can be discovered, explored and used." — Prof Vanessa Lucieer, @utas.edu.au Check out Seamap Antarctica at seamapantarctica.org

🌊 SEAMAP ANTARCTICA: A new digital mapping platform makes environmental information about Antarctica more discoverable, accessible and useful for scientists, policy makers, educators and the community. ▶️ www.utas.edu.au/about/news-a... 👏 @imas-utas.bsky.social @antarcticsciaus.bsky.social

🍺 In Hobart? Thirsty for #science? And beer? Check out "From Inner Workings to Icy Worlds", with our own Johannes Lohse spying on sea ice from space 6:30-8:30 pm, Wed 20 May Shambles Brewery, 222 Elizabeth St Get your ticket at pintofscience.com.au/event/from-i... @thatssciencetas.bsky.social

The MYIC @millionyearice.bsky.social project by the Australian Antarctic Program is drilling an ice core to 3,000 metres depth in three-metre segments, and returning the cores in pristine condition to Hobart, Tasmania. Why? And how? Find out at aapp.shorthandstories.com/the-memory-of-ice

📣 CALL FOR ABSTRACTS at the 2026 Australian Antarctic Research Conference! 📍Hobart @utas.edu.au 25-28 August 2026 (ECR day 24 August) ▶️ leishman-aarc-2026.eventsair.site/call-for-abs... 📆 Abstract submissions open to 8 June, registrations open now

🚨 WORK WITH US in Hobart! @imas-utas.bsky.social @utas.edu.au 🔄 Technician – Carbon Analyst 🌊 Support at-sea biogeochemical sensor calibration, sample analysis, data synthesis and quality control (full-time position for 2.5 years) ✍️ Apply by 3 May 2026 ▶️ careers.utas.edu.au/en/job/50279...

In the latest 'Southern Signals', our Antarctic science bulletin: 🔷 taking Antarctica to the Tasmanian Parliament 🔷 the 2026 Australian Antarctic Research Conference 🔷 AAPP science in the spotlight Read it here ▶️ createsend.com/t/j-5ED3A8D8... And subscribe ▶️ aappartnership.org.au/contact-us/

🌊 Our March issue of 'Southern Signals' is out next week. Please sign up at aappartnership.org.au/contact-us/ to receive your own quarterly #Antarctic #science bulletin by email.