CLIMA-GEO LAB

Clima-Geo Lab

Climatological & Geoscientific laboratory (Clima-Geo Lab) provides basic field and laboratory equipment for long-term monitoring of different Antarctic abiotic environments (glaciers, permafrost etc.) under changing climate conditions. The group associated with Clima-Geo Lab focuses primarily on Antarctic atmospheric, glacier, permafrost and lacustrine geo- and eco-systems and their recent and under past changes. The Lab is divided into four working groups focused on: 1) meteorology and climatology, 2) glacier interactions, 3) permafrost and periglacial features, and 4) lake evolutions.

 

 

Working Groups

 

Meteorology and climatology working group

 

Main research topics:

-         Long-term monitoring of weather conditions and climate variability studies in the region of James Ross Island and Antarctic Peninsula

-         Climate change and its impacts on the Antarctic terrestrial and marine ecosystems

-         Long-term monitoring of solar UV radiation in the region of Antarctic Peninsula

-         A comprehensive modelling approach towards prediction and reconstruction of erythemally effective UV radiation in Antarctica and Tierra del Fuego

-         Local climate variability of the northern ice-free part of James Ross Island and atmospheric boundary layer studies

-         Effects of surface energy balance and microclimate conditions on permafrost active layer properties

 

Internal team:  Kamil Láska (team leader)
Filip Hrbáček
Marie Budíková
Klára Čížková
External collaborators: Ladislav Budík (Czech Hydrometeorological Inst., Brno, CZ)
Jiří Hošek (Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Praha, CZ)

John King (British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK)

Kim Seong-Joong (Korea Polar Research Institute, Korea)

Vito Vitale (Institute of Atm. Sciences and Climate, Italy)
Boyan Petkov (Institute of Atm. Sciences and Climate, Italy)
Joachim Reuder (Univ. Bergen, Norway)
Gennadi Milinevsky (Nat. Taras Shevchenko Univ., Ukraine)




Meteorological tower with the array of wind sensors at the J. G. Mendel Station, James Ross Island. Berry Hill Mesa in the background. Photo Kamil Láska.





Radiometers with the ventilation units installed at the J. G. Mendel Station, James Ross Island with Red Island in the background. Photo Kamil Láska.





Automatic weather stations on the top of Davies Dome, James Ross Island. Photo Tomáš Jagoš.

 

 


Glacier interactions working group

 

Main research topics:

-         Glacier/volcano interaction and associated sedimentological processes

-         Late Cenozoic glacial history

-         Deglaciation chronologies

-         Mass balance and velocity changes and sensitivity of land-terminating glaciers to recent climate change

-         Driving processes of present glacier retreats

-         Proglacial hydrology

 

 

Internal team:  Daniel Nývlt (team leader)
Kamil Láska
Zdeněk Stachoň
Slavomír Nehyba
Jakub Ondruch
External collaborators:

Zbyněk Engel (Charles Univ., Praha, CZ)
Bedřich Mlčoch (Czech Geological Survey, Praha, CZ)
†Jan Košler (Univ. Bergen, Norway)

Regis Braucher (CEREGE, Aix-en-Provence, France)
Jonathan Carrivick (Univ. Leeds, UK)
Neil Glasser (Univ. Aberystwyth, UK)
Mike Hambrey (Univ. Aberystwyth, UK)
Bethan Davies (Univ. Reading, UK)
John Smellie (Univ. Leicester, UK)
Juan Manuel Lirio (Instituto Antártico Argentino, Argentine)
Sebastian Marinsek (Instituto Antártico Argentino, Argentine)
Mathias Braun (Univ. Erlangen, Germany)
Ricardo Jańa (Instituto Antártico Chileno, Chile)




Field survey and measurements on Whisky Glacier, James Ross Island with impressive Lookalike Peaks towers in the background. Photo Kamil Láska.





Lachman & San Jose Glaciers at the southern edge of Lachman Crags Mesa with well-developed moraine systems from the Little Ice Age. Photo Daniel Nývlt.



                                                                  


Zbyněk Engel and Dan Nývlt drilling holes for bamboo stakes for mass balance measurements of Davies Dome. Photo Kamil Láska.


 

 
 

Permafrost and periglacial working group

 

Main research topics:

-         Long-term monitoring of permafrost, active layer properties and periglacial processes

-         Long-term monitoring of microclimate variability, ground surface and subsurface thermal regime

-         Soil physical measurements and analysis

-         Effect of regional atmospheric warming on permafrost and periglacial environment

-         Numerical modelling of spatiotemporal variation of the active layer and permafrost dynamics

 

Internal team:  Kamil Láska (team leader)
Filip Hrbáček
Daniel Nývlt
Zdeněk Stachoň
External collaborators: Zbyněk Engel (UK, Praha, CZ)
Gonçalo Vieira (Univ. Lisboa, Portugal)
Marc Oliva (Univ. Lisboa, Portugal)
Miguel Ramos (Univ. Alcalá, Spain)
Miguel Angel De Pablo (Univ. Alcalá, Spain)

                                                                      

Dug hole for ground temperature monitoring in the raised beach deposits near J.G. Mendel Station, where the CALM site is located. Photo Filip Hrbáček.





Well-developed vegetated sorted polygon near Naděje Lake (covered by snow) below the SE cliffs of Berry Hill with Panorama Pass on the horizon. Photo Filip Hrbáček.





Thermally enhanced rate of nivation processes around blocs of hyaloclastite breccia from the mid-Holocene advance of Whisky Glacier. Photo Daniel Nývlt.


 

 

Palaeolimnology working group

 

Main research topics:

-         Past and present status and evolution of Antarctic lakes

-         Multi-proxy palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental records from lacustrine sediments

-         (Palaeo)communities of diatoms, archaeas and bacterias

-         Past sutotrophic aquatic matter studied by non-traditional geochemical proxies (sedimentary pigments and biomarkers)

-         Comparison of lake records-derived climate and environmental changes with James Ross Ice Cap ice core record

-         Response of aquatic communities on climate warming since Little Ice Age

 

Internal team:  Daniel Nývlt (team leader)
Slavomír Nehyba
Ivo Sedláček
Michaela Vašinová Galiová
Viktor Kanický
External collaborators: Kateřina Kopalová (Charles Univ., Praha, CZ)
Linda Nedbalová (Charles Univ., Praha, CZ)
Zbyněk Engel (Charles Univ., Praha, CZ)
Matěj Roman  (Charles Univ., Praha, CZ)
Jan Kavan (Univ. South Bohemia, České Budějovice, CZ)
Josef Elster (Univ. South Bohemia, České Budějovice, CZ)
Jitka Míková (Czech Geological Survey, Brno, CZ)
Juraj Franců (Czech Geological Survey, Brno, CZ)
Bart Van de Vijver (Univ. Antwerp, Belgium)
Juan Manuel Lirio (Instituto Antártico Argentino, Argentine)
Silvia Coria (IAA, Buenos Aires, Argentine)
Marcos Chapparo (Univ. Tandil, Argentine)
Marc Oliva (Univ. Lisboa, Portugal)
Greg Skrzypek (Univ. Western Australia)




Coring lakes sediments of Esmeralda Lake on Vega Island was a dirty job J. Photo Juan Manuel Lirio.





Coastal Lachman Lakes representing one of the oldest, but rather unstable lakes on James Ross Island are typically fed by thawing snowfields producing nivation depressions along the Cape Lachman axial crest. Photo Daniel Nývlt.





Neidium nyvltii, newly described benthic diatom (Hamilton et al., 2014) from Clearwater Mesa, James Ross Island.



 

Equipment

 

Automatic weather stations and meteorological sensors

Instruments and sensors for year-round measurements of atmospheric pressure, air temperature, relative air humidity, wind speed and direction, and snow depth.

 

Solar radiation monitoring systems

Instruments and sensors for year-round measurements of the short-wave incoming and outgoing radiation, global UV radiation, UV-A and UV-B radiation, erythermally effective UV radiation.

 

Permafrost active layer monitoring system

Permafrost active layer transect and plots with instruments for year-round measurements of surface temperature, ground heat flux, ground temperature and soil water content in shallow borehole. System includes fully equipped automatic weather stations.

 

Glacier mass balance and flow-velocity monitoring system

Glacier mass balance and flow-velocity monitoring system on three small land-terminating glaciers. System includes automatic weather stations equipped with air temperature, relative air humidity, wind speed and direction, and snow depth sensors.

 

Trimble GeoExplorer 6000 GeoXH

Differential GPS/GLONASS instruments with dual GNSS antenna for precise field position measurements.

 

Optris PI 450 Lightweight kit

Infrared camera for real-time thermographic high-speed imagery.

 

Innov-X Systems Omega Xpress

Field handheld X-Ray fluorescence multi-elemental analyser with mining and soil-geochem modes.

 

Proceq (Type N) Original Schmidt hammer

Rebound testing hammer for measurements of compressive strength of rock, originally used for concrete.

 

ZH instruments SM30

Pocket-size field magnetic susceptibility meter with high sensitivity.

 

Laboratory laser and sieve granulometry instruments

 

Manual soil/sediment corers and samplers

 

Laboratory scales

 

Hand GPS devices, laser range finders and inclinometers, (geological) compasses, digital cameras, tripods etc.