Abstract: The recently upgraded barotropic tidal model TiME is employed to study the influence of fundamental tidal processes, the chosen model resolution, and the bathymetric map on the achievable model accuracy, exemplary for the M2 tide. Additionally, the newly introduced pole-rotation scheme allows to estimate the model’s inherent precision (open ocean rms: 0.90 cm) and enables studies of the Arctic domain without numerical deviations originating from pole cap handling. We find that the smallest open ocean rms with respect to the FES14-atlas (3.39 cm) is obtained when tidal dissipation is carried out to similar parts by quadratic bottom friction, wave drag, and parametrized eddy-viscosity. This setting proves versatile to obtaining high accuracy values for a diverse ensemble of additional partial tides. Using the preferred model settings, we show that for certain minor tides it is possible to obtain solutions that are more accurate than results derived with admittance assumptions from data-constrained tidal atlases. As linear admittance derived minor tides are routinely used for de-aliasing of satellite gravimetric data, this opens the potential for improving gravity field products by employing the solutions from TiME.

Abstract: Inferential reasoning by exclusion allows responding adaptively to various environmental stimuli when confronted with inconsistent or partial information. In the experimental context, this mechanism involves selecting correctly between an empty option and a potentially rewarded one. Recently, the increasing reports of this capacity in phylogenetically distant species have led to the assumption that reasoning by exclusion is the result of convergent evolution. Within one largely unstudied avian order, i.e. the Charadriiformes, brown skuas (Catharacta antarctica ssp lonnbergi) are highly flexible and opportunistic predators. Behavioural flexibility, along with specific aspects of skuas’ feeding ecology, may act as influencing factors in their ability to show exclusion performance. Our study aims to test whether skuas are able to choose by exclusion in a visual two-way object-choice task. Twenty-six wild birds were presented with two opaque cups, one covering a food reward. Three conditions were used: ‘full information’ (showing the content of both cups), ‘exclusion’ (showing the content of the empty cup), and ‘control’ (not showing any content). Skuas preferentially selected the rewarded cup in the full information and exclusion condition. The use of olfactory cues was excluded by results in the control condition. Our study opens new field investigations for testing further the cognition of this predatory seabird.

Abstract: Obtaining Precise Continuous Measurements Of Water Vapor Isotopic Composition In Dry Places (Polar Or High-altitude Regions) Is An Important Challenge. The Current Limitation Is The Strong Influence Of Humidity On The Measured Water Isotopic Composition By Laser Spectroscopy Instruments For Low Humidity Levels (Below 3000 Ppmv). This Problem Is Addressed By Determining The Relationships Between Humidity And Measured δ18o And δD Of Known Water Standards. Here, We Present The Development Of A Robust Field Instrument Able To Generate Water Vapor, Down To 70 Ppmv, At Very Stable Humidity Levels (Average 1σ Lower Than 10 Ppmv). This Instrument, Operated By A Raspberry Interface, Can Be Coupled To A Commercial Laser Spectroscopy Instrument. We Checked The Stability Of The System As Well As Its Accuracy When Expressing The Measured Isotopic Composition Of Water Vapor On The Vsmow–slap (Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water – Standard Light Antarctic Precipitation) Scale. It Proved To Be Highly Stable During Autonomous Operation Over More Than 1 Year At The East Antarctic Concordia And Dumont D'urville Stations.

Abstract: TOI-216 hosts a pair of warm, large exoplanets discovered by the TESS mission. These planets were found to be in or near the 2:1 resonance, and both of them exhibit transit timing variations (TTVs). Precise characterization of the planets’ masses and radii, orbital properties, and resonant behavior can test theories for the origins of planets orbiting close to their stars. Previous characterization of the system using the first six sectors of TESS data suffered from a degeneracy between planet mass and orbital eccentricity. Radial-velocity measurements using HARPS, FEROS, and the Planet Finder Spectrograph break that degeneracy, and an expanded TTV baseline from TESS and an ongoing ground-based transit observing campaign increase the precision of the mass and eccentricity measurements. We determine that TOI-216c is a warm Jupiter, TOI-216b is an eccentric warm Neptune, and that they librate in 2:1 resonance with a moderate libration amplitude of deg, a small but significant free eccentricity of for TOI-216b, and a small but significant mutual inclination of 1.°2–3.°9 (95% confidence interval). The libration amplitude, free eccentricity, and mutual inclination imply a disturbance of TOI-216b before or after resonance capture, perhaps by an undetected third planet.

Abstract: Partitioning resources is a key mechanism for avoiding intraspecific competition and maximizing individual energy gain. However, in sexually dimorphic species it is difficult to discern if partitioning is due to competition or the different resource needs of morphologically distinct individuals. In the highly dimorphic southern elephant seal, there are intersexual differences in habitat use; at Iles Kerguelen, males predominantly use shelf waters, while females use deeper oceanic waters. There are equally marked intrasexual differences, with some males using the nearby Kerguelen Plateau, and others using the much more distant Antarctic continental shelf ( 2,000 km away). We used this combination of inter and intrasexual behavior to test two hypotheses regarding habitat partitioning in highly dimorphic species. (a) that intersexual differences in habitat use will not appear until the seals diverge in body size and (b) that some habitats have higher rates of energy return than others. In particular, that the Antarctic shelf would provide higher energy returns than the Kerguelen Shelf, to offset the greater cost of travel. We quantified the habitat use of 187 southern elephant seals (102 adult females and 85 subadult males). The seals in the two groups were the same size ( 2.4 m) removing the confounding effect of body size. We found that the intersexual differences in habitat use existed before the divergence in body size. Also, we found that the amount of energy gained was the same in all of the major habitats. This suggests that the use of shelf habitats by males is innate, and a trade-off between the need to access the large benthic prey available on shelf waters, against the higher risk of predation there. Intrasexual differences in habitat use are another trade-off; although there are fewer predators on the Antarctic shelf, it is subject to considerable interannual fluctuations in sea-ice extent. In contrast, the Kerguelen Plateau presents more consistent foraging opportunities, but contains higher levels of predation. Habitat partitioning in this highly dimorphic species is therefore the result of complex interplay of life history strategies, environmental conditions and predation pressure.