Geophysics in Antarctic Research: A Bibliometric Analysis

• Published in: Remote Sensing
• Main Authors: Yuanyuan Zhang, Changchun Zou, Cheng Peng, Xixi Lan, Hongjie Zhang
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2023
• Subjects: Antarctica; geophysics; remote sensing; bibliometric analysis; ice sheet instability; sea ice; West Antarctic rift system; paleocontinent; magmatism; subglacial lakes; Antarctic; Southern Ocean; Antarc*; Ice Sheet; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15163928

Antarctica is of great importance in terms of global warming, the sustainability of resources, and the conservation of biodiversity. However, due to 99.66% of the continent being covered in ice and snow, geological research and geoscientific study in Antarctica face huge challenges. Geophysical surveys play a crucial role in enhancing comprehension of the fundamental structure of Antarctica. This study used bibliometric analysis to analyze citation data retrieved from the Web of Science for the period from 1982 to 2022 with geophysical research on Antarctica as the topic. According to the analysis results, the amount of Antarctic geophysical research has been steadily growing over the past four decades as related research countries/regions have become increasingly invested in issues pertaining to global warming and sustainability, and international cooperation is in sight. Moreover, based on keyword clustering and an analysis of highly cited papers, six popular research topics have been identified: Antarctic ice sheet instability and sea level change, Southern Ocean and Sea Ice, tectonic activity of the West Antarctic rift system, the paleocontinental rift and reorganization, magmatism and volcanism, and subglacial lakes and subglacial hydrology. This paper provides a detailed overview of these popular research topics and discusses the applications and advantages of the geophysical methods used in each field. Finally, based on keywords regarding abrupt changes, we identify and examine the thematic evolution of the nexus over three consecutive sub-periods (i.e., 1990–1995, 1996–2005, and 2006–2022). The relevance of using geophysics to support numerous and diverse scientific activities in Antarctica becomes very clear after analyzing this set of scientific publications, as is the importance of using multiple geophysical methods (satellite, airborne, surface, and borehole technology) to revolutionize the acquisition of new data in greater detail from inaccessible or hard-to-reach areas. Many of the advances that ...