The POLOMINTS project begins on January 1, 2025. Funded by the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) with a budget of £3.7M, the project aims to analyse how these phenomena contribute to ocean mixing – a process essential for shaping global climate systems, the Antarctic Ice Sheet, and marine ecosystems.

The research team, led by Professor Mike Meredith from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), will use cutting-edge technologies, including robotic underwater vehicles, remotely piloted aircraft, deep-learning algorithms for satellite data analysis, and computer simulations. POLOMINTS builds on recent discoveries that challenge traditional beliefs about what drives ocean mixing around Antarctica. Recent findings reveal that glacier calving generates multi-metre underwater waves, which may rival winds and tides in redistributing ocean heat.

The project involves UK institutions such as:

• British Antarctic Survey,
• The Scottish Association for Marine Science,
• The University of Southampton,
• and The National Oceanography Centre.

International collaborators include:

• The Institute of Geophysics PAS,
• Scripps Institution of Oceanography,
• The University of Delaware,
• and Rutgers University.