We start the field work!

Hello from Antarctica!

Today we could start visiting the study sites! Valentina, Quinten and Bea went with Raphaël (the field guide) to Yuboku Valley in the morning. Part of the lakes were not frozen and Valentina could measure the photosynthetic activity of the cyanobacteria living under the water. We also retrieved the i-buttons that are continuously recording the humidity and temperature since last year and sampled some of the dry and wet cyanobacterial mats.

Cyanobacteria in the Yuboku valley

As we finished early, we went to the other field sites on theTeltet nunatak and the Utsteinen ridge. There, we have dug out a part of the snow covering the OTCs and let the rest melting. So, when we will come back another day, we will be able to take soil samples. An Open Top Chamber (OTC) is a hexagonal open chamber made of transparent plastic to let the sunlight go through it. Due to the decreased cooling because the plexiglas protects from the wind, it produces an increase of temperature as is expected from climate change. However, this is not the only effect, as the snow might accumulate and does not melt so quickly. We have often encountered this problem and found that the solution was to remove a part of the snow but taking care not to touch the bottom. Then, the chances are great that at our next visit, we will find that all the snow is melted. This allows to retrieve the i-buttons measuring temperature and humidity, but also to take samples if we need.

Valentina and Bea digging the snow covering an OTC at Teltet

Juri, our drone man, has been making the last adjustment of the drone that we will bring with us the next days to the field. He could make some trials this evening, see the amazing picture he took!!

Princess Elisabeth Station and Utsteinen nunatak

The MICROBIAN team