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Denman Terrestrial Campaign 2024/25

Denman Terrestrial Campaign

December 2024 – February 2025

This summer, SAEF will take part in the Australian Antarctic Program’s Denman Terrestrial Campaign, a major collaborative science campaign to study the Denman Glacier, one of the largest and fastest retreating glaciers in East Antarctica, and the life that inhabits the surrounding Bungers Hills.

For approximately eight weeks, a multidisciplinary team of SAEF scientists will be based at Edgeworth David camp, a remote field camp in the Bunger Hills, about 450 km west of Australia’s Casey Station. They will work alongside scientists and support personnel from the Australian Antarctic Division, the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science, and the Australian Antarctic Partnership Program. 

 

Revealing life beneath the ice

As part of this campaign, the team will uncover the unusual and intriguing species that live beneath and within the Antarctic sea ice. This remote and almost unexplored habitat is a freezing, dimly-lit world where the sea ice above forms a ceiling that opens in summer and closes in winter. Despite these extreme conditions, the area is home to a surprising diversity of life, rivalling that found on the Great Barrier Reef. On the seafloor, there are likely cold-tolerant sea stars, sponges, corals and sea spiders, while sediment layers could host marine worms, bivalves and microbes. The team’s goal is to find out what species live here, their ecological roles, and how changes in their environment impact them.

A key focus of the research is to investigate how recent record-low sea ice extents impact these species and their ecosystems. Throughout the campaign, the scientists will set up camp on the sea ice and drill holes through which to deploy remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). These ROVs will allow them to capture detailed photogrammetry and collect sediment and species samples. They will also extract ice cores to study the microorganisms that live within the ice and gather environmental DNA (eDNA) to uncover the species moving through the water column, piecing together a clearer picture of life beneath the ice. 

Read more about the Denman Terrestrial Campaign on the Australian Antarctic Program website.

 

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