Belgium has a great tradition in polar exploration: 126 years after the legendary voyage of the polar exploration vessel Belgica to the South Pole, a research vessel of the same name is heading for Greenland. Its task is to investigate the effects climate change and the melting of glaciers are having on life in Greenland's fjords
Scientists intend to use equipment from the research vessel RV Belgica to take various measurements in Greenland's fjords. On the basis of these measurements, they want to get a better picture of the effect that climate change and the melting of glaciers are having on life in the fjords. An international team is on board the Belgica, but it is still primarily a Belgian expedition, says coordinator Ulrike Braeckman."We cooperate with a lot of national and international institutes, which is very nice" she says.
The name RV Belgica was not chosen by chance and refers to Belgian explorer Adrien de Gerlache's Belgica. That is the legendary research ship that was the first ever to undertake a scientific expedition to Antarctica, now 126 years ago. This was followed by a host of other expeditions in the Belgica headed by de Gerlache and exploring parts of the Arctic Ocean.
The original Belgica leaves Antwerp on 16 August 1897
The original Belgica in the ice of the Arctic Ocean
The original Belgica's crew cut a channel to free their vessel
The original Belgica off Antarctica
Firstly, they will take physical measurements: measure the temperature of the sea water and see what the salinity is. The second aspect is carbon. The researchers want to find out how much carbon is stored in the seabed. The third part of the mission centres on the food supply in the fjords and how it is affected by the melting of glaciers.
On land and in the sea: different types of glaciers
"When we talk about glaciers, it is important to know that there are two types: marine glaciers and land glaciers," says Professor Ulrike Braeckman of Ghent University. She is coordinating the research. Land glaciers are glaciers that end on land. The meltwater from these glaciers reaches the sea’s surface via land because freshwater floats on saltwater.
Something different happens in the case of marine glaciers. The meltwater does not just flow into the sea because the glacier itself is already in the sea. When a marine glacier melts, the freshwater flows into the sea at the level of the seabed. Then the fresh water wants to rise, because it is lighter than salt water. That leads to movement in the water. And that movement in the water brings nutrients from the seabed to the surface, where it is used by plankton. That, in turn, is food for many fish, for example halibut, which in turn is good news for fishermen.
Due to climate change, glaciers are melting and ice cliffs are breaking up. As a result, more and more marine glaciers end up becoming land glaciers. This is bad news for life and ecosystems in the fjords with marine glaciers. "Marine glaciers, lead to a lot of productivity," says Braeckman. "When marine glaciers retreat and become land glaciers, productivity in that fjord will drop."
Both in terms of food supply, as described earlier, but also in terms of carbon storage. A lot of carbon is absorbed in the seabed of fjords. Especially when a marine glacier occurs in a fjord, then there is a lot of movement in the seawater. The more carbon that stays in the seabed, the less that ends up in the air and the less carbon that gets into the air the better, if we want to combat climate change.
Making predictions
The expedition is a collaboration of a lot of institutes and universities. But half of them are Belgian, which is quite special, says Braeckman. "That does not happen often in our field, and it is very nice that we can cooperate with so many institutes and universities. Both nationally and internationally".
With the data collected by the RV Belgica, the researchers want to create predictive models. This will allow them to predict, what the effect of climate change will be on food supply and carbon burial on the basis of the behaviour of glaciers.