Collecting water and sediment samples from streams and proglacial lakes, collecting hydrological and bathymetric data from the reservoirs in the foreground of the White Eagle Glacier and measuring the physicochemical properties of the water - these were some of the tasks that the scientists from the University of Gdańsk and the Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz were performing during their research expedition to Antarctica.

In the period from 30.12.2024 to 08.02.2025, dr inż. Joanna Potapowicz from the Department of Hydrology at the University of Gdańsk and dr Krystyna Kozioł from the Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz participated in a research expedition to the Maritime Antarctic region. During their stay at the Polish Antarctic Station, field research was conducted on the hydrology and hydrochemistry of proglacial lakes and streams in the ASPA 151 protected area (near the Lion's Rump refugium). This research was part of the research project Study of the modification of the chemistry and limnological parameters of water under the influence of varied supply due to cryosphere degradation and analysis of pollutant migration in the periglacial environment of the Lions Rump non-glaciated catchment, Antarctica (NSC no. 2023/48/C/ST10/00167, Principal Investigator: dr inż. Joanna Potapowicz) funded by the National Science Centre as part of the SONATINA 7 competition.

Fieldwork included collecting research material in the form of water and sediment samples and obtaining hydrological data. Bathymetric measurements of lake basins in the forefield of the Orzeł Biały glacier were taken, water samples were collected from lakes and proglacial streams, flow measurements were taken in these streams, and surface sediment samples were collected from selected lakes. The physicochemical properties of the water (temperature, specific electrical conductivity and pH) were also measured in the field. The samples taken will be analysed in a laboratory to determine the concentration of metals and metalloids as well as selected organic compounds that may indicate the release of elements and chemical compounds from melting glaciers or weathering of rocks in the glacier foreland. The aim of the research is also to determine the spatial variability of various types of pollutants, their sources and interactions between them.