A Pilot Project to Limit the Human Impacts on the Fragile Antarctic Biota: Mitigation of a Runway through Vegetation Transplantation

Background: Antarctica is among the world’s last great wildernesses, but the anthropogenic activities and associated infrastructures threaten its fragile biota. We quantify the impact of the construction of a 2200 m long gravel runway airstrip for airfreight operations of the Italian research station on vegetation ecosystems at Boulder Clay (continental Antarctica). We propose a pilot project to mitigate this impact through the transplantation of vegetation from the runway to safe sites. Methods: A vegetation field survey was performed through phytosociological relevés and vegetation mapping and data were analyzed through multivariate analysis. Results: We quantify the destructive impact of the runway construction on the flora and vegetation of Boulder Clay. Based on vegetation characteristics, 28 priority areas were transplanted from the runway to safe sites, with 89% of survival. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first time that vegetation transplantation was performed in Antarctica to mitigate the consequences of human actions, as formerly it was used only for scientific experiments. This pilot project provides a tool to support management decisions, involving the quantitative evaluation of the infrastructure impacts and showing the suitability of practical mitigation actions. This pilot project proposes a practical tool exportable to all Antarctica and beyond and suggests to link the permissions’ release for the new infrastructures in Antarctica to the realization of specific conservation and mitigation actions.

Changes in Late Funnel Beaker Pottery at the End of the 4th Millennium BC on the Polish Lowland: Case of Mrowino, Site 3. Preliminary Report on Mineralogical and Petrographic Research

Archaeological site no. 3 at Mrowino is located on the Polish Lowland, in the Greater Poland region. It was excavated from 1973 until 1980. The excavation produced very rich movable finds, with the core of them being formed by Funnel Beaker culture (FBC) ceramics. The collections hold over 37,500 FBC pottery shards and several intact or reconstructed vessels. The vast majority of pottery comes from an FBC settlement dated to 3300-3150 BC. The pottery set includes vessels of clear Baden culture connections. For the mineral-ogical and petrographic study, 40 samples were selected to identify mineral and rock components of the ceramic body and compare the ways of raw-material preparation. In the studied samples, boulder clay in all probability was used to make the vessels. All studied samples were made from clay with grog and a small amount of sand as temper. In addition, several samples contained igneous rock crumbs. To find out if this was a deliberate or accidental admixture, it is necessary to carry out further research.

Cultivable Bacterial Communities in Brines from Perennially Ice-Covered and Pristine Antarctic Lakes: Ecological and Biotechnological Implications

The diversity and biotechnological potentialities of bacterial isolates from brines of three Antarctic lakes of the Northern Victoria Land (namely Boulder Clay and Tarn Flat areas) were first explored. Cultivable bacterial communities were analysed mainly in terms of bacterial response to contaminants (i.e., antibiotics and heavy metals) and oxidation of contaminants (i.e., aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorobiphenyls). Moreover, the biosynthesis of biomolecules (antibiotics, extracellular polymeric substances and enzymes) with applications for human health and environmental protection was assayed. A total of 74 and 141 isolates were retrieved from Boulder Clay and Tarn Flat brines, respectively. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities, bacterial isolates represented three phyla, namely Proteobacteria (i.e., Gamma- and Alphaproteobacteria), Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria, with differences encountered among brines. At genus level, Rhodobacter, Pseudomonas, Psychrobacter and Leifsonia members were dominant. Results obtained from this study on the physiological and enzymatic features of cold-adapted isolates from Antarctic lake brines provide interesting prospects for possible applications in the biotechnological field through future targeted surveys. Finally, findings on contaminant occurrence and bacterial response suggest that bacteria might be used as bioindicators for tracking human footprints in these remote polar areas.

Multi-Temporal Investigation of the Boulder Clay Glacier and Northern Foothills (Victoria Land, Antarctica) by Integrated Surveying Techniques

The paper aims to detect the main changes that occurred in the area surrounding the Mario Zucchelli Station (MZS) through analysis of multi-temporal remote sensing integrated by geophysical measurements. Specific attention was directed at realizing an integrated geomorphological study of the Boulder Clay Glacier, a partially debris-covered glacier belonging to the Northern Foothills (Victoria Land, Antarctica). This area was recently chosen as the location for the construction of a new semi-permanent gravel runway for MZS logistical airfreight operations. Photogrammetric analysis was performed by comparing three historical aerial photogrammetric surveys (carried out in 1956, 1985, and 1993) and Very High Resolution (VHR) GeoEye-1 satellite stereo-image coverage acquired in 2012. The comparison of geo-referenced orthophoto-mosaics allowed the main changes occurring in some particular areas along the coast nearby MZS to be established. Concerning the study of the Boulder Clay Glacier, it has to be considered that glaciers and moraines are not steady-state systems by definition. Several remote sensing and geophysical investigations were carried out with the main aim of determining the general assessment of this glacier: Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR); Geodetic Global Positioning System (GPS) network; multi-temporal satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) interferometry. The analysis of Boulder Clay Glacier moraine pointed out a deformation of less than 74 mm y−1 in a time span of 56 years, value that agrees with velocity and deformation data observed by GPS and InSAR methods. The presence of unexpected brine ponds at the ice/bedrock interface and the deformation pattern observed in the central part of the moraine has to be monitored and studied, especially under the long-term maintenance of the future runway.

Strength and deformation parameters of boulder clay to design of buildings at the margin of a moraine plateau in Warsaw

The selection of soil parameters suitable to the geotechnical design calculations is regarded widely as one of the most important and simultaneously difficult engineering task, which according to the Eurocode 7 standards should be undertaken into distinct three steps. The second of these steps, namely obtaining the characteristic values requires a careful and a cautions estimation with application of the statistical methods even by using a Bayesian approach as shown in this paper. This paper presents the process of selecting a characteristic strength and deformation parameters from CPT and DMT investigation for boulder clays discovered at the margin of a moraine plateau in Warsaw. This layer was chosen for foundations of design academic buildings. In the selection of the characteristic parameters with application of the numerical program BAYANAL the spatial distribution of strength and deformation properties was taken into account. Particular attention was focused to the affect resulting from in situ test locations at different distances from the design facilities. Finally, the remark conclusions were presented including opinion on the role of aims and spacing of investigation points in geotechnical designing.