Name: Canadian scientists hope to return to Antarctica to build on findings
Uploaded: 2025-12-19T14:53:40.639Z
Duration: 2 min 16 s
Description: Research samples gathered by an all-Canadian expedition to Antarctica are making waves at the ArcticNet scientific conference as Canadian scientists hope to expand our scientific footprint there and return for another expedition to build on the findings.

Research samples gathered by an all-Canadian expedition to Antarctica are making waves at the ArcticNet scientific conference as Canadian scientists hope to expand our scientific footprint there and return for another expedition to build on the findings.

Canadian scientists spent a month in the Southern Ocean collecting snow and water samples, discovering microplastic fibers in Antarctic waters—some at levels higher than those found in the Canadian Arctic. The team also extracted sediment cores to analyze how past climates have influenced glacier retreat over the past thousand years, with the goal of improving future climate change models.

The findings, still in preliminary stages, have attracted attention at the ArcticNet science conference and highlighted Canada's growing presence in Antarctic research. Plans are underway for a potential return expedition in collaboration with the Chilean Navy, aiming to further compare environmental changes in Antarctica and the Canadian Arctic.

Canadian scientists hope to return to Antarctica to build on findings

They spent a month exploring the changes in the Southern Ocean including collecting snow and water samples to measure what contaminants migrated here. During analysis back home they found microplastics fibers in Antarctic water. They should not be there and so while the levels are reasonably low it's still somewhat concerning that we're still finding them in this pristine region. This big blue is showing us that they're fibers so they've been in the atmosphere for a long time and coming to the Antarctic. In fact some levels in the water were higher than in the Canadian Arctic. Alex Normandeau and a team plunge deep into the seafloor to pull up meter-long cores of sediment. Describe what we're seeing here. So here we're seeing one of the sediment cores that's where we can see now these these layers and we can also zoom in here and then see all of these all of these little rocks here. Once back they went through cat scans in Nova Scotia showing over a thousand years how past climates impacted glacier retreat. We need to understand how glaciers have behaved in the past with similar or less intense climate change and then we can calibrate those future models and have more accurate models about future climate change. The science still in preliminary stages is attracting a lot of attention at ArcticNet. A science conference in part because the expedition amplified Canada's footprint. To say okay we're here Canada is here in Antarctica and we've come here on our own steam. The Navy's Vice Admiral Angus Topshie initiated the inaugural expedition and we've confirmed is considering a return to Antarctica next year. We are in discussions with the Chilean Navy to contemplate the effectively the use of one of their icebreakers to do an Antarctic expedition of about two weeks duration early in 2026. It's not finalized yet but we're excited at the potential. So is the science team to build out their work and compare what they learn in the south with the rapid changes in our north. Susan Ormiston, CBC News, Calgary.

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