Scientists investigate whether the retreat of glaciers in the Arctic is natural or caused

MADRID/VALLADOLID, July 29 () –

The professor of Physical Geography at the University of Valladolid Enrique Serranohas participated in the first phase to know whether the retreat of the Arctic glaciers is natural or due to climate change.

The project, in which it has participated during the month of July, called ‘Neoartic’, Reconstruction of neoglacials, oscillations and variability of the climate in Greenland and Iceland’, is led by the University of Barcelona, ​​within the framework of the Spanish Polar Program, It is financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.

Its main objective is to study recent climate trends in Greenland and researchers from the University of Barcelona, ​​CSIC, Creaf, University of Santiago de Compostela, University of Valladolid, Centro Européen de Recherche et de Enseignement de Géosciensces have participated in this summer’s campaign. del Environnement (France) and Laval University (Québec).

Researchers have worked in this first phase on the mapping of recent and past glacial retreatand have obtained samples of sediments left by glaciers, collecting sediment cores from the bottom of lakes and soil and water samples on the margins of the ice cap.

The work of the UVA researcher has focused on the investigations carried out by the team dedicated to geomorphology, while a second has focused on the study of lakes.

The team is waiting to receive the samples to start analyzing them in the laboratory to explore the advances and retreats of the glaciers in response to the climatic variability of recent millennia, as well as to characterize the geoecological changes that are taking place in the soil. , waters and vegetation on the recently deglaciated margins of the Greenland ice cap.

Through a drone used in the investigation, the appearance of numerous lakes and lagoons caused by this melting has been verified.