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Palmer Station Antarctica LTER

Studying the ecology of the Antarctic Peninsula for over 30 years

The Palmer Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) study area is located to the west of the Antarctic Peninsula extending South and North of the Palmer Basin from onshore to several hundred kilometers off shore. Palmer Station is one of the three United States research stations located in Antarctica. It is on Anvers Island midway down the Antarctic Peninsula at latitude 64.7 South, longitude 64.0 West.

The Palmer LTER studies a polar marine biome with research focused on the Antarctic pelagic marine ecosystem, including sea ice habitats, regional oceanography and terrestrial nesting sites of seabird predators. The Palmer LTER is one of more than 26 LTER research sites located throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Tahiti; each focused on a specific ecosystem, that together constitute the LTER Network.

News from Palmer LTER

New Paper: Krill body size drives particulate organic carbon export in West Antarctica

This week's issue of Nature includes a new article from PAL LTER team members Rebecca Trinh, Hugh Ducklow, Debbie Steinberg, and Bill Fraser. Congratulations to the team! For more, check out the abstract and citation below. The export…

New Paper: Depth drives the distribution of microbial ecological functions in the coastal western Antarctic Peninsula

Congrats to Avishek Dutta and the team for their recent paper in Frontiers in Microbiology. Here's the abstract... The Antarctic marine environment is a dynamic ecosystem where microorganisms play an important role in key biogeochemical…
Attendees at the 2023 PAL Science Workshop

2023 PAL-LTER, SWARM, and Friends Workshop

Four years is a long time to wait, but last week, the waiting was over, as we held the first in-person PAL-LTER and Friends Science Workshop since 2019. On Tuesday, the PI team met to discuss the latest field season and to prepare…
An Adelie penguin on the cover of the journal Ecosphere.

An Adélie Penguin on the cover of Ecosphere

Kudos to PAL researcher Darren Roberts, whose photo of an Adélie Penguin was featured on the March 2023 issue of Ecosphere, the journal of the Ecological Society of America. The photo was chosen to feature a recent paper, Long-term…

Record Low Antarctic Sea Ice Extent in 2023

Last month, the amount of sea ice around Antarctic broke a new record low, according to the National Snow & Ice Data Center. This year's minimum extent is the lowest recorded since 1979, and it broke the previous record low set just last…
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2023 Palmer School Outreach Programs Underway

It's hard to believe the 2023 PAL field season is halfway over, and the main research cruise is already back at port. But that doesn't mean our outreach work is done. Far from it, we're just getting started! The goal of the PAL outreach…

Palmer LTER Resources

The buildings of Palmer station a dusk
PAL Research Groups
Penguins on the beach near Palmer
PAL Datasets
Two people standing in front of a laptop on a stand with glaciers and water behind them
Education & Outreach