The effects of sea ice melting, and the consequent changes in the trophic conditions in Antarctic ecosystems, have been focused on phytoplankton with cross-food web links from krill to penguins, while the consequences on the planktonic microbial food web (viruses, prokaryotes and unicellular eukaryotes), driving biogeochemical cycles, have been largely ignored. This research investigates how changes related to sea ice melting influence the diversity and functioning of planktonic microbes in the Ross Sea coastal ecosystem of Terranova Bay. The objectives are: i) to investigate the temporal changes of planktonic microbial biodiversity, ii) to investigate the biodiversity/ecosystem functioning relationships iii) to assess the role of viruses on biodiversity and biogeochemical cycles, iv) to identify the drivers that shape microbial biodiversity and functions, and v) to shed light on the interactions within the planktonic food web, and their response to the ice melting. META-ICE-ROSS integrates ad hoc sampling with sophisticated methodologies of high-throughput sequencing of microbial DNA (metagenomics), never documented in previous Italian expeditions at Terranova Bay. The sampling includes the collection of seawater beneath the pack ice at increasing distance from the MZ Station and characterised by different thermohaline conditions, on a weekly basis from early November to mid January. The groundbreaking nature of META-ICE-ROSS will allow to provide unprecedented evidences on the role of microbial interactions in the functioning of the Ross Sea coastal ecosystem, to improve knowledge on biological changes due to global climate changes and, nonetheless, to provide a baseline assessment of the functioning of the microbial food webs and carbon sequestration in the pelagic environment in the Ross Sea region, within the context of the Ross Sea Region Marine Protected Area (RSRMPA) and its monitoring and research plan.

We will collect oral samples from the volunteers at the Mario Zucchelli Station at different time points, using safe and not harmfull kits. Samples will be analysed by shotgun metagenomic sequencing, considering only the microbial component.

Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea, Antarctica), characterized by a moltitude of ice tongues flowing from land to sea, represents an ideal study site for understanding the complex interaction between relative sea level variations and ice sheet dynamics during the Holocene. The DISGELI project, thanks to the combination of innovative technology and traditional methods for geomorphologic and stratigraphic analysis, aims to: i) reconstruct the local variations of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet after the Last Glacial Maximum; ii) provide a time constrain for the deglaciation processes along the coast; iii) reconstruct, with unprecedent detail, the relative sea level variations during Holocene in the Drygalski basin. The morpho-bathymetric and topographic data obtained through this study will be integrated using digital terrain models based on the analyses of key areas onland, where palaeo-coastlines and sea-level markers have been identified.

Trophic interactions underlie coexistence mechanisms between species and affect biodiversity and heavy metal bioaccumulation processes. Sea ice dynamics, which at Terra Nova Bay is characterized by an extraordinary seasonality, drives interspecific interactions. Indeed, the activation of the primary production after sea-ice break up opens alternative trophic pathways for consumers. By means of C and N stable isotope analyses, the present project aims at (i) determining food web structure at Terra Nova Bay at different bathymetries and in opposite sea-ice cover conditions; (ii) evaluating heavy metal bioaccumulation in species along food chains, including fish of commercial interests, both in the presence and absence of photosynthetic primary producers. The hypothesis to be tested is if the activation of primary producers following sea-ice break up significantly modifies the food web structure and stability against species loss, as well as heavy metals concentration along food chains. Data on Antarctic food webs are scarce, and even scarcer is our knowledge on mechanisms of primary and secondary biodiversity loss and biomagnification processes in invertebrates and fish. The present research project will shed light on mechanisms underlying biodiversity maintenance in the Antarctic ecosystem and on risks for human health related to heavy metals accumulation in fish species currently or potentially exploited commercially, also in light of expected changes in the extension of sea ice cover. A valuable reference baseline will be established for future studies at the Italian Antarctic Station and for the Marine Protected Area in the Ross Sea.

We present the snow samples collected for the PASSPORT project during the 2025-2026 Antarctic Campaign. We report the number of snow samples collected, the depth of the samplings, their geographic information, the sampling and treatment date, the treated volume, snow density and temperature and weather conditions.

The observatory created within the project AMICO records microenvironmental parametrs in rocks and soils of 4 localities in Northern Victorial Land: Battleship Promontory, Richard Nunatak, Trio Nunatak, Mount Bowen. The observatory records in each locality moisture, solar radiation, PAR, wind speed, wind direction, gist speed, and rock, soil and air temperature. Data are collected every two hours and are trasmitted remotely daily. On the website it is possible to navigate and visualize the data.

The bacterial communities in rocks and soils of three different localities (Battleship Promontory, Richard Nunatak, Trio Nunatak), where stations are collecting climatic data, have been compared with a DNA metabarcoding approach. In addition samples have been trated with Propidium Mono-Azide (PMA) which binds to DNA of damaged cells and inhibit its replication via PCR. The comparison between samples treated with PMA and samples not treated allows to check the bacterial cells that are intact and potentially alive in these substrates. The results showed a strong differentiation in the communities diversity and composition between the two substrates, with an higher diversity in soils compared to rocks. In addition, the PMA treatment revealed the presence of an high proportion of death cells, whose amplification in traditional metabarcoding approaches obscures the correlation trends in this environment.

Calibrated (in unit of solar disk brightness) measurements of the sky brightness at DOME C as obtained by the ESCAPE experiment during the campaign 2019-2020

The data are related to the ionic composition of atmospheric aerosol continuously collected at Dome C. They refer to PM10 and size-segregated aerosol collected at 2-day and 4-day resolution, respectively. The measured chemical parameters include main and trace inorganic anions and cations and selected organic anions (methanesulphonic acid - MSA).

This dataset contains a selection of bias-corrected data from the preoperational MiKlip system for decadal climate predictions (Mueller et al., 2018) used within the project PNRA18_00199-IPSODES. The adopted method for bias correction is described in the file bias_correction.pdf attached to the dataset. Also data from the assimilation run are provided. Nomenclature of variables follows that of the original MiKlip output. Mueller, W., et al. A Higher‐resolution Version of the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model (MPI‐ESM1.2‐HR). J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst. 10, 1383-1413 (2018)