Antarctica
As a signatory of the Antarctic Treaty, the Federal Republic of Germany has committed itself to the exclusively peaceful use of the area south of the 60°latitude South. The Antarctic expeditions carried out by BGR have helped to ensure that the Federal Republic of Germany has been a member of the Consultative Parties since 1981 and that this status can be continued.
The continent Antarctica plays a central role in the Earth system. About 180 million years ago, it began to separate from the former supercontinent of Gondwana and the surrounding landmasses of Africa, India, New Zealand, Australia and South America. This separation led to the isolated position of the continent at the South Pole and the formation of today's ocean current systems, which have a decisive influence on the global climate system and the glaciation of Antarctica.
The geological evolution of Antarctica is still poorly understood, as it accounts for about 10% of the Earth's continental crust and is largely hidden beneath the thick West and East Antarctic ice sheets. However, the results of international Antarctic research in recent years, including by BGR and its cooperation partners, have shown that it is far more complex than previously thought. A better understanding of the Antarctic continent and its margins is essential to unravel the complex interactions between the lithosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere in Antarctica and their global influences.
Current projects
The BGR has been studying the Antarctic with long-term research programmes since 1979, focusing on East Antarctica and the Transantarctic Mountains. The BGR has been conducting the research programme GANOVEX there since 1979. The Gondwana Station at Terra Nova Bay in the Ross Sea has served as the logistical base for the BGR's scientific work since 1983. Today, it is one of the research stations with a very small ecological footprint.
BGR's second major research programme focuses on the continental mass of East Antarctica, and until now mostly in Dronning Maud Land, which lies on the opposite side of the Ross Sea in the Atlantic and Indian sectors of Antarctica. GEA is a joint programme with the Alfred Wegener Institute as co-organiser and various partners from national and international Antarctic research. The aim of the project is to investigate the evolution and structure of the East Antarctic crust and the formation of modern Antarctica with its isolated landmass at the Earth's South Pole. GEA follows on from a number of previous projects carried out in different regions of East Antarctica since the 1990s. In addition to the AWI, the Antarctic research programmes of several countries, as well as research institutions and universities in Germany and abroad, have been and continue to be collaborating partners. It is planned to extend the GEA programme to other regions across East Antarctica in the future.
Antarctica's ice cover of up to 98% makes most of the continent inaccessible for direct geological investigation. The only way to obtain information about the geology beneath the ice is through geophysical methods and the study of material transported by glaciers from the interior, or by taking geological cores. For this reason, the BGR has been, and still is, heavily involved in international drilling projects in Antarctica or, in close cooperation with the AWI, prepares its own drilling proposal based on preliminary studies lasting several years. The analysis of rock or sediment cores provides further information on the break-up history of Gondwana, the composition of the rocks in the ice-covered Antarctic hinterland, the development of the Antarctic landscape and past climate and environmental changes.
