Antarctica: A Laboratory at the South Pole

Antarctica: Laboratory at the South Pole Turkish scientists carried 18 separate projects in the fields of earth sciences, life sciences, physical sciences and social sciences to Antarctica, known as the continent of "science and peace," as part of the 7th National Antarctic Science Expedition. The 7th National Antarctic Science Expedition, conducted under the patronage of the Office of the President, under the responsibility of the Ministry of Industry and Technology, and coordinated by TÜBİTAK MAM Polar Research Institute, became the laboratory of Turkish scientists at the South Pole. Scientists conducting their work on the white continent, the world's most isolated point, carried out their projects while protecting the Antarctic ecosystem with algae samples collected from the sea. During their research, scientists tracked traces of microplastic pollution through samples collected from sea, lakes and snow.  

"We wrote the project to see the status of microplastic pollution"

  Güleda Engin, faculty member of the Environmental Engineering Department at Yıldız Technical University, noted that they have been working on microplastic pollution for several years and wrote a project to see the status of microplastic pollution in Antarctica around Horseshoe Island, an area far from people with no settlements, where the Turkish Scientific Research Camp is also located. Engin stated that they participated in the "7th National Science Expedition" to continue their work within the framework of the project accepted by TÜBİTAK, emphasizing that plastic use is present in every area of life. Engin said, "Plastic is something that makes human life very easy, but it has very negative effects in terms of polluting our environment. The plastics we use reach the environment and ultimately the sea, which is the final recipient, through various effects. After reaching the sea, through various effects such as wave action and current effects, they break down into smaller pieces and turn into what we call microplastics, plastics under 3 millimeters." Emphasizing that these plastics harm living organisms in nature, especially aquatic organisms and fish, Engin said, "They accumulate in their bodies and enter the food chain reaching us. We wanted to learn the extent of this microplastic pollution. As I mentioned, even in a quite remote point, in Antarctica where there are no settlements, will we encounter microplastic pollution? We are here to get answers to these questions."

"There is microplastic in Antarctica too"

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Evrim Çelik Madenli, faculty member of Environmental Engineering at Süleyman Demirel University, said she conducted a project to investigate microplastic densities between snow and ice samples from Antarctica and snow samples from Katrancık and Davraz Mountains in Turkey, stating, "In my project, I selected two separate mountains from Turkey. One of them is Davraz. It is a tourist center with heavy winter tourism. The other is Katrancık Mountain. Here human activities are very minimal. We want to compare microplastic densities on mountains with and without human activities between these two mountains." Highlighting that there was a hypothesis that Antarctica, being a continent far from all settlements, would not have microplastics and would not be polluted, but that the results of the studies showed the presence of microplastics in Antarctica, Madenli said, "In my project, I set out to investigate the presence of microplastics in places in Turkish mountains where there is or is no human tourism and in places like Antarctica where human activities are limited. Here I conducted research and monitoring studies on snow, ice, lake water and seawater samples. When I return to Turkey, I will conduct analyses to investigate whether microplastics are present or not. We all wish we won't find microplastics, but we will see when we go there." Madenli expressed that in her project she would show how microplastics are transported, saying, "If we know the amount of plastic in areas where tourist activities take place, if we know the microplastic amount in our mountains where human activities are minimal, and if we know the amounts in Antarctica located very far from all continents, we can understand how these microplastics are transported across the world's surface. If we want to control pollution or a substance, we must first know its transport path so we can control it. This is one of our main project objectives."  

"Through these studies we can protect the Antarctic ecosystem"

Dr. Ekrem Cem Çankırılıgil, Aquaculture Engineer at the Bandırma Sheep Research Institute, Department of Aquatic Products under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, stated that they are investigating the nutritional and phytochemical contents of macro algae found in Antarctica and attempting to determine their anti-Alzheimer, anti-diabetes, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Drawing attention to the fact that macro algae are directly affected by environmental conditions such as temperature, light intensity and salinity, releasing beneficial chemical compounds, Çankırılıgil continued: "Antarctica, as you know, due to its unique geographic conditions, has both extremely cold conditions and marine environments with very different light transmittance due to sea ice thickness, the axial tilt of the earth, and atmospheric radiation factors. Therefore, the chemistry of algae here is shaped according to these factors and is very promising. Researching these will open the way for their use in alternative food raw materials, medicine, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries in conjunction with future studies. By adapting algae found in Antarctica to cultivation conditions or subjecting algae found in Turkey to similar stress conditions based on these algae and through studies we can protect the Antarctic ecosystem." Çankırılıgil noted that they conducted species identification of macro algae found on the shores of Horseshoe Island, where the Turkish research station is located, known as seaweed, and conducted various chemical analyses to investigate the possibilities of using these algae in medicine and various fields. Stating that the project consists of two main scopes, Çankırılıgil said, "First is determining which species are present. Previous studies are generally very old and species identifications have not been done clearly. The other is determining the chemical contents of these species. Within the scope of these analyses, we have determining the nutritional content, fatty acids, amino acids, trace elements and secondary metabolite amounts of each species and revealing their bioactivities. Within biological activity studies, there are analyses such as anti-Alzheimer, anti-diabetes, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. We will try to learn what causes these by relating the results of these analyses to the chemical compounds we have identified."  

"When we return to Turkey we will conduct two separate analyses"

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özden Fakıoğlu, faculty member of Basic Sciences at Atatürk University Faculty of Aquatic Products, expressed that they believe phytoplankton forms the base of the food pyramid and would provide many insights regarding the development and quality of lakes. Fakıoğlu stated that she is located on Horseshoe Island within the scope of the "TÜBİTAK Polar 1001 Project," noting that they completed their work by collecting plankton and water samples from 4 lakes on the island. Stating that they will conduct two separate analyses with samples after returning to Turkey, Fakıoğlu said, "We will conduct quantitative phytoplankton identification and simultaneously conduct first qualitative and quantitative phytoplankton analysis and second simultaneous metagenomic analyses. Phytoplankton forms the very base of the food pyramid and will provide many insights regarding the development and quality of lakes. In 2023, we intend to make an evaluation as to whether the phytoplankton composition in the lakes differs from previous studies, and what factors might create this difference. Through metagenomic analyses, if there are species not previously identified, we aim to reveal them." Source