GNS scientists help explore carbon secrets of Antarctica’s Dry Valleys
A team of international scientists were in Antarctica late last year to try and unlock the carbon secrets of the McMurdo Dry Valleys.
A team of international scientists were in Antarctica late last year to try and unlock the carbon secrets of the McMurdo Dry Valleys.
The scientists have been investigating the levels of greenhouse gases stored in Antarctica’s frozen ground, known as permafrost. Antarctica’s permafrost is made up of frozen sediment beneath the valley floors. It forms a cap on the sediment layers beneath it.
This season, the team will take gas samples from the Taylor and Wright valleys using probes and chambers and test the type of gas and its proportions.
This season, the team will take gas samples from the Taylor and Wright valleys using probes and chambers and test the type of gas and its proportions.
GNS Science Chief Scientist Professor Gary Wilson said the research team is trying to detect greenhouse gases emitting or leaking from the soil out into the atmosphere as the climate changes.
What we’re really interested in knowing is what Antarctica’s contribution is going to be to the greenhouse gas content in the atmosphere as the planet warms.
The work, which takes place about 70km from Scott Base, is part of a four-year programme in an international collaboration with Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).
“We’ve had the probes in for most of the last three years. This year is the repeat survey to have a comparison and confirm measurements,” Professor Wilson says.
The project is supported by the Italian National Antarctic Programme (PNRA) and the Italian National Research Council (CNR), The New Zealand Antarctic research Institute (NZARI) and GNS Science.