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  1. Marine-terminating glaciers, such as those along the coastline of Greenland, often release meltwater into the ocean in the form of subglacial discharge plumes. Though these plumes can dramatically alter the mass loss along the front of a glacier, the conditions surrounding their genesis remain poorly constrained. In particular, little is known about the geometry of subglacial outlets and the extent to which seawater may intrude into them. Here, the latter is addressed by exploring the dynamics of an arrested salt wedge – a steady-state, two-layer flow system where salty water partially intrudes a channel carrying fresh water. Building on existing theory, we formulate a model that predicts the length of a non-entraining salt wedge as a function of the Froude number, the slope of the channel and coefficients for interfacial and wall drag. In conjunction, a series of laboratory experiments were conducted to observe a salt wedge within a rectangular channel. For experiments conducted with laminar flow (Reynolds number $Re<800$ ), good agreement with theoretical predictions are obtained when the drag coefficients are modelled as being inversely proportional to $Re$ . However, for fully turbulent flows on geophysical scales, these drag coefficients are expected to asymptote toward finite values. Adopting reasonable drag coefficient estimates for this flow regime, our theoretical model suggests that typical subglacial channels may permit seawater intrusions of the order of several kilometres. While crude, these results indicate that the ocean has a strong tendency to penetrate subglacial channels and potentially undercut the face of marine-terminating glaciers. 
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  2. Abstract The subpolar gyres of the Southern Ocean form an important dynamical link between the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and the coastline of Antarctica. Despite their key involvement in the production and export of bottom water and the poleward transport of oceanic heat, these gyres are rarely acknowledged in conceptual models of the Southern Ocean circulation, which tend to focus on the zonally averaged overturning across the ACC. To isolate the effect of these gyres on the regional circulation, we carried out a set of numerical simulations with idealized representations of the Weddell Sea sector in the Southern Ocean. A key result is that the zonally oriented submarine ridge along the northern periphery of the subpolar gyre plays a fundamental role in setting the stratification and circulation across the entire region. In addition to sharpening and strengthening the horizontal circulation of the gyre, the zonal ridge establishes a strong meridional density front that separates the weakly stratified subpolar gyre from the more stratified circumpolar flow. Critically, the formation of this front shifts the latitudinal outcrop position of certain deep isopycnals such that they experience different buoyancy forcing at the surface. Additionally, the zonal ridge modifies the mechanisms by which heat is transported poleward by the ocean, favoring heat transport by transient eddies while suppressing that by stationary eddies. This study highlights the need to characterize how bathymetry at the subpolar gyre–ACC boundary may constrain the transient response of the regional circulation to changes in surface forcing. Significance StatementThis study explores the impact of seafloor bathymetry on the dynamics of subpolar gyres in the Southern Ocean. The subpolar gyres are major circulation features that connect the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and the coastline of Antarctica. This work provides deeper insight for how the submarine ridges that exist along the northern periphery of these gyres shape the vertical distribution of tracers and overturning circulation in these regions. These findings highlight an underappreciated yet fundamentally important topographical constraint on the three-dimensional cycling of heat and carbon in the Southern Ocean—processes that have far-reaching implications for the global climate. Future work should explore how the presence of these ridges affect the time-evolving response of the Southern Ocean to changes in surface conditions. 
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  4. Abstract Southern Ocean sea ice plays a central role in the oceanic meridional overturning circulation, transforming globally prevalent watermasses through surface buoyancy loss and gain. Buoyancy loss due to surface cooling and sea ice growth promotes the formation of bottom water that flows into the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific basins, while buoyancy gain due to sea ice melt helps transform the returning deep flow into intermediate and mode waters. Because northward expansion of Southern Ocean sea ice during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; 19–23 kyr BP) may have enhanced deep ocean stratification and contributed to lower atmospheric CO2levels, reconstructions of sea ice extent are critical to understanding the LGM climate state. Here, we present a new sea ice proxy based on the18O/16O ratio of foraminifera (δ18Oc). In the seasonal sea ice zone, sea ice formation during austral winter creates a cold surface mixed layer that persists in the sub‐surface during spring and summer. The cold sub‐surface layer, known as winter water, sits above relatively warm deep water, creating an inverted temperature profile. The unique surface‐to‐deep temperature contrast is reflected in estimates of equilibrium δ18Oc, implying that paired analysis of planktonic and benthic foraminifera can be used to infer sea ice extent. To demonstrate the feasibility of the δ18Ocmethod, we present a compilation ofN. pachydermaandCibicidoidesspp. results from the Atlantic sector that yields an estimate of winter sea ice extent consistent with modern observations. 
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  5. Abstract The Pandora Software Development Kit and algorithm libraries perform reconstruction of neutrino interactions in liquid argon time projection chamber detectors. Pandora is the primary event reconstruction software used at the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, which will operate four large-scale liquid argon time projection chambers at the far detector site in South Dakota, producing high-resolution images of charged particles emerging from neutrino interactions. While these high-resolution images provide excellent opportunities for physics, the complex topologies require sophisticated pattern recognition capabilities to interpret signals from the detectors as physically meaningful objects that form the inputs to physics analyses. A critical component is the identification of the neutrino interaction vertex. Subsequent reconstruction algorithms use this location to identify the individual primary particles and ensure they each result in a separate reconstructed particle. A new vertex-finding procedure described in this article integrates a U-ResNet neural network performing hit-level classification into the multi-algorithm approach used by Pandora to identify the neutrino interaction vertex. The machine learning solution is seamlessly integrated into a chain of pattern-recognition algorithms. The technique substantially outperforms the previous BDT-based solution, with a more than 20% increase in the efficiency of sub-1 cm vertex reconstruction across all neutrino flavours. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available June 1, 2026
  6. The determination of the direction of a stellar core collapse via its neutrino emission is crucial for the identification of the progenitor for a multimessenger follow-up. A highly effective method of reconstructing supernova directions within the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is introduced. The supernova neutrino pointing resolution is studied by simulating and reconstructing electron-neutrino charged-current absorption on Ar 40 and elastic scattering of neutrinos on electrons. Procedures to reconstruct individual interactions, including a newly developed technique called “brems flipping,” as well as the burst direction from an ensemble of interactions are described. Performance of the burst direction reconstruction is evaluated for supernovae happening at a distance of 10 kpc for a specific supernova burst flux model. The pointing resolution is found to be 3.4 degrees at 68% coverage for a perfect interaction-channel classification and a fiducial mass of 40 kton, and 6.6 degrees for a 10 kton fiducial mass respectively. Assuming a 4% rate of charged-current interactions being misidentified as elastic scattering, DUNE’s burst pointing resolution is found to be 4.3 degrees (8.7 degrees) at 68% coverage. Published by the American Physical Society2025 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available May 1, 2026
  7. Abstract This paper introduces a novel track-length extension fitting algorithm for measuring the kinetic energies of inelastically interacting particles in liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs). The algorithm finds the most probable offset in track length for a track-like object by comparing the measured ionization density as a function of position with a theoretical prediction of the energy loss as a function of the energy, including models of electron recombination and detector response. The algorithm can be used to measure the energies of particles that interact before they stop, such as charged pions that are absorbed by argon nuclei. The algorithm's energy measurement resolutions and fractional biases are presented as functions of particle kinetic energy and number of track hits using samples of stopping secondary charged pions in data collected by the ProtoDUNE-SP detector, and also in a detailed simulation. Additional studies describe the impact of thedE/dxmodel on energy measurement performance. The method described in this paper to characterize the energy measurement performance can be repeated in any LArTPC experiment using stopping secondary charged pions. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available February 1, 2026
  8. The international collaboration designing and constructing the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) at the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) has developed a two-phase strategy toward the implementation of this leading-edge, large-scale science project. The 2023 report of the US Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) reaffirmed this vision and strongly endorsed DUNE Phase I and Phase II, as did the European Strategy for Particle Physics. While the construction of the DUNE Phase I is well underway, this White Paper focuses on DUNE Phase II planning. DUNE Phase-II consists of a third and fourth far detector (FD) module, an upgraded near detector complex, and an enhanced 2.1 MW beam. The fourth FD module is conceived as a "Module of Opportunity", aimed at expanding the physics opportunities, in addition to supporting the core DUNE science program, with more advanced technologies. This document highlights the increased science opportunities offered by the DUNE Phase II near and far detectors, including long-baseline neutrino oscillation physics, neutrino astrophysics, and physics beyond the standard model. It describes the DUNE Phase II near and far detector technologies and detector design concepts that are currently under consideration. A summary of key R&D goals and prototyping phases needed to realize the Phase II detector technical designs is also provided. DUNE's Phase II detectors, along with the increased beam power, will complete the full scope of DUNE, enabling a multi-decadal program of groundbreaking science with neutrinos. 
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  9. ProtoDUNE Single-Phase (ProtoDUNE-SP) is a 770-ton liquid argon time projection chamber that operated in a hadron test beam at the CERN Neutrino Platform in 2018. We present a measurement of the total inelastic cross section of charged kaons on argon as a function of kaon energy using 6 and 7 GeV / c beam momentum settings. The flux-weighted average of the extracted inelastic cross section at each beam momentum setting was measured to be 380 ± 26 mbarns for the 6 GeV / c setting and 379 ± 35 mbarns for the 7 GeV / c setting. Published by the American Physical Society2024 
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