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"It's amazing, beautiful and scary to work here."
This is how researcher Liz Thomas describes her feeling of working on the inhospitable island of Bouvet, a small volcanic rock in the South Atlantic, a territory located in the middle of the ocean, south of Antarctica, with high cliffs covered with ice. from miles of civilization.
The time that he does not help. Weather conditions can deteriorate unpredictably. In a moment, the sky is clear, but in the other, you are surrounded by clouds and mists. It is not surprising that browsers regard Bouvet as the most remote island in the world and writers and sci-fi filmmakers mention it or describe it in books and scripts.
But this isolated island is attracting more and more attention from scientists on how it can tell us about the Antarctic climate in the past.
Bouvet is in a prime position to provide valuable information, at the heart of a west wind belt having a profound effect on climate change.
They contribute, for example, to the rise of the sea level by rising to the surface of the warm waters of the ocean floor which then melts the glaciers. Researchers gather ice cores to find information on climate change over the years – Photo: British Antartic Survey / BBC "title =" Researchers gather ice cores to find information on climate change over the years inquiry / BBC "src =" data: image / jpeg; base64, / 9j / 4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD / 2wBDAAMCAgMCAgMDAwMEAwMEBQgFBQQEBQoHBwYIDAoMDAsKCwsNDhIQDQ4RDgsLEBYQERMUFRUVDA8XGBYUGBIUFRT / 2wBDAQMEBAUEBQkFBQkUDQsNFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBT / wgARCAAOABkDASIAAhEBAxEB / 8QAGAAAAwEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAUGAAL / xAAVAQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACAf / aAAwDAQACEAMQAAABxrYd1PxSUKH / xAAbEAACAwADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEBQACAwEGE // aAAgBAQABBQJizKE2CI3YC11JJ48z4YgowIp1u2FUqbRPnP / EABkRAAIDAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACAREiQf / aAAgBAwEBPwHEpXRli8n / xAAYEQADAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhEBIf / aAAgBAgEBPwGtRW2dP // EACQQAAIBAwMDBQAAAAAAAAAAAAECAwAEEhEhMRATIjRxobHB / 9oACAEBAAY / ApwsceECK7ZDc5flCeK1BBJ496cxWueLFDoeCK9E3xVxNJMw7sS xEKOADqK0huGVd9iT9VOrTrKsjZ + KY6dP / 8QAHhABAQACAgIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAREAITFBUYHB0fH / 2gAIAQEAAT8huceUoQuyUc4NgUviI + MjgoS8o5z9H7YyQIQpIPm79Z1ssmFV1UMhkSNr325c / 9oADAMBAAIAAwAAABDUL / / EABsRAAICAwEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAERACExUWHw / 9oACAEDAQE / EC6icI3hXzKMBsY77c xAAYEQADAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABESEA4f // / // aAAgBAgEBPxAAdsX mJjd 8QAHRABAQACAwADAAAAAAAAAAAAAREhQQAxURCR4f / aAAgBAQABPxCsxKZDjBURXQOZpG / WAFdwXV641ZEwoj0ZH8 + MAwLEtgZQs8UcbOzsLIYFMnaXteaofWSA7hx42uby / X6Of // Z "/>
Researchers Collect Ice Cores to Find Information on Climate Change Over the Years "The history of observations has taught us that the strength of these winds is strong. is increased, but these records are only 30 to 40 years old, "said Liz Thomas, of the research institute. British Antarctic Survey (BAS)
"What interests us is whether this increase in wind strength is the result of natural variation." Do they increase speed then decrease? "Or is it something unusual, an effect of the human impact on the climate?"
Thomas and other researchers recently came to the island by helicopter – the only way to achieve this – to take samples of an ice core. The compacted snowflakes look like a movie that records the past
The stronger and faster the wind blows, the more snow will be embedded in the core, and there are other markers: Diatoms – a small algae – who lives on the surface
The more wind, the more the presence of these organisms in the snowy layers of Bouvet Island is concentrated.
And this is not just the record of the wind that Thomas's team wants
The group wants to know the magnitude of the annual displacement of ice in the waters of the island. ;Antarctic. In a few years, the currents even pushed ice to Bouvet
Amy King, PhD student, examines the nucleus that of a specific organic compound that has arrived on the island and that can serve as a basis for understanding the conditions of ice in the sea existing in the past.
Unexpected accumulation of clouds can hinder the visibility of access to the island – Photo: Nasa / BBC [1965] 9021 ] This organic compound is a chemical substance badociated with the proliferation of algae in the sea when the volume of the ice decreases (by melting), which releases photosynthetic pigments.
"More there is When the ice melts in the spring, the phytoplankton has a larger growth area, "says King.
"The more phytoplankton there are, the more metasulfonic compounds and acids will be found in the ice nucleus, so if we see compounds of these origins in ice, that means there was a bigger volume of ice on the waters this year (coming from Antarctica). "
The findings of Thomas's team were presented at the American Geophysical Uninon, the largest annual gathering of student scientists Earth and space.
The 14-meter ice taken at Bouvet by the researchers brings here only data on the ice conditions in the water and the winds in 2001. But scientists are convinced that if the group can returning to the island, it will find areas of ice and snow with older records.
"We only stayed in Bouvet for a few hours because we could only work in good weather and we had to leave the island quickly when the clouds started to fall," says Thomas.
"But I really think it's possible to come back there and collect a deeper ice core that will bring information hundreds of years, if not thousands, on climate variations. "
Thomas's research was conducted jointly with the universities of Maine, the United States, and Copenhagen, Denmark. It was conducted as part of the Antarctic expedition led by the Swiss Polar Research Institute.
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