Scientists Study Glacier Crevasses, Test Water Samples for Microplastics in Antarctica

Nikolay Zabov, BTA special correspondent Emil Granicharov

Livingston Island,

31.01.2024 16:16

(BTA)

Tags

Antarctica

Physicist Tsvetan Parov worked on the Perunika Glacier, in the eastern part of Livingston Island, to measure the temperature interaction of air in the crevasses with the temperature of the near-surface atmospheric layer.

Parov said: "Throughout the glacier we have installed 15 sensors at various depths that measure temperature and humidity. These will give us information about the depth to which heat from the surface atmosphere penetrates the interior of the glacier, as well as about the rate of glacier melting." One sensor has been installed to read the direction and magnitude of air currents in the glacier's crevasses.

Parov presented results obtained from the sensors. "The cracks at the edge of the glacier act as a low-frequency filter for external influences in temperature. At depth we detect only the strongest ones. This amplitude is increasing, with a low amplitude at the glacier periphery and a high amplitude at the glacier centre," he said.

The physicist shared that no new ice has accumulated in the area over the past five years, so there is was downward trend.

He concluded that the data obtained from the study is invaluable, as it is a step forward in predicting the process of glacier melting.

* * *

Ichthyologist and hydrobiologist Prof. Eliza Uzunova continued work on collecting water samples to be tested for the presence of microplastics. She told BTA that once the specialized net gets released into the ocean, it takes 35 to 40 minutes before it gets clogged with macroalgae. "For this reason, we lower the net for 10 to 15 minutes, so that the sample is not as clogged with organics," Uzunova said.

* * *

The Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) crew and the logistics team at the Bulgarian Antarctic base cleaned the shore from some 20 tonnes of metal scrap that had accumulated near the base for over three decades, said Commander Nikolay Danailov, Commanding Officer of the RSV 421, for BTA. He added: "For the second year in a row, and hopefully the last, we are taking such a massive amount of scrap metal from the continent."

Danailov praised the ship's crew for being able to transfer the metal scrap from the base to the vessel in just two days.

/RY/