site.btaBulgarian Study of Heavy Metals on Livingston Island Already Yields Results

We are already receiving information about the first results in one of the most important directions of the research - the presence of heavy metals in marine bottom sediments, said Assoc. Prof. Rayna Hristova from the Institute of Oceanology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, who is part of the 32nd expedition to Antarctica of the naval research ship Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421). The presence of elements such as arsenic, chromium, nickel, copper, lead, zinc, and mercury would not be a good sign for the ocean ecosystem in Livingston Island's littoral, Hristova said.

X-ray diffractometry, X-ray fluorescence and ICP analyses were performed to provide a baseline elemental composition and refine the lithological determinations, the scientist explained. The sludge studies include analyses to search for such strategically important elements as lithium, germanium, indium, lithium, etc., which are of great importance to the industry, for example, for the production of electric cars. The main rock-forming elements are also being investigated, which will give us valuable information about the modern sedimentary process in the area, Hristova added.

The laboratory stage of the first year's samples research is currently underway in specialised laboratories of Sofia University and the Geological Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, she explained.

Part of the project, in which Assoc. Prof. Hristova works together with Assoc. Prof. Lyubomir Kenderov, is studying the seabed sediments from the South Bay of the Bulgarian Antarctic Base. The study is a two-year project and this year they are continuing their research on board the RSV 421.

“Our goal is to take additional samples of marine sediments, mostly from the deeper water, and to revise some of the locations we worked on last year,” Hristova said. “We are using a bottom-dredger for the shallower water part of the area, and we aim to take geological and biological samples from the same point,” she added.

The researcher said that they aim to find a characteristic trace in the sedimentary record to catch the rhythmicity in glacier melt in the deeper water sediments.

In the considered littoral area of the Bulgarian Antarctic Base, in the conditions of active glacial melting and extreme climatic fluctuations, marine sediments have most likely sealed traces of impact geological events or anthropogenic pollution, the scientist believes. 

The distribution range of seafloor sediments is discontinuous and variable, and any establishment of the position of the different lithofacies types (snapshot) indicates the role of various hydrodynamic factors in their formation, such as the influence of an active wave-surge zone; river run-off, glacial tongue, glacial swamp and, more generally, sedimentation conditions that are controlled by climatic fluctuations on a global scale, Hristova explained.

“The results of our project will elucidate the relationships between sediment-biota and water components in the Antarctic ecosystem of Livingston Island and the role of substrate for bottom biota - bottom sediment types and their relationship to bottom biocenoses,” the scientist said.

“The work of our team on board the ship is carried out with the help of the crew, who provide us with logistical support and suggest new solutions to technical problems,” Hristova added.

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During the 32nd Bulgarian expedition to Antarctica, which started on November 8, 2023, the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) is publishing video interviews with Antarctic researchers. Video journalist Emil Granicharov, Senior Editor at BTA, will document the work of the researchers in video diaries. BTA presents all scientific projects with videos, photos and texts prepared before the scientists' departure.

The Bulgaria-Antarctica BTA's Log again provides coverage of the voyage of the Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii to Antarctica and back and its stay there, as it did during the 31st expedition between December 27, 2022 and May 2, 2023. Back then, only BTA had a correspondent, Daily News Editor Konstantin Karagyozov, who covered the 127-day expedition with text, video and photos during the entire voyage (including across the Atlantic in both directions) and throughout the stay in Antarctica. In June 2023, BTA published in Bulgarian and in English an issue of its LIK magazine "To Antarctica and Back under the Bulgarian Flag" dedicated to the historic expedition. 

All of BTA's information on the Bulgarian scientific research in Antarctica and the support provided by the Bulgarian naval research vessel, as well as on the other activities at the Bulgarian Antarctic Base, will be available to all media outlets in Bulgarian and in English on BTA's website in the Bulgaria - Antarctica: BTA's Log section.

BTA has a National Press Club on board the ship and is planning to open a National Press Club at the Bulgarian Antarctic Base on Livingston Island.