Dr. Juan Muñoz-Arnanz from IQOG-CSIC and researchers from IDAEA-CSIC, participate at the XXXVII Spanish Antarctic campaign, as members of the PANTOC project. This project aims to study the impact of anthropogenic organic carbon on the Southern Ocean's biogeochemical carbon cycle.

The first group of researchers from the PANTOC Project arrived last Saturday, January 13, at the Juan Carlos I Antarctic Base, on Livingston Island, where they will remain until the beginning of February. During the month of February, the second group of researchers will arrive at the Gabriel de Castilla Base, on Deception Island, where they will remain until the end of February.

The main objective is to collect environmental samples for quantifying different groups of pollutants in the ocean, lakes, air, snow, and krill. Additionally, the researchers will conduct in-situ experiments to analyze potential biodegrading bacteria in the microbial communities of Antarctica.

PANTOC project researchers will actively share their scientific activities via Instagram. They will be live streaming from the Antarctic Bases through their account @pantoc_project to address all questions related to the campaign, Antarctica, and their scientific research. These interactive sessions are intended for primary and secondary students as well as the general public, scheduled for January 19th at 12:00h CET time (in Spanish), and February 9th at 12:00h CET time (in Catalan).

Source: @pantoc_project and @GEN_BGC_GROUP