Studio dei Suoli Ornitogenici per valutare l'Evoluzione Paleoambientale dopo l'Ultimo Massimo Glaciale nella Terra Vittoria (Antartide). Study of Ornithogenic Soils to investigating the Palaeoenvironmental Evolution after the Last Glacial Maximum in Victoria Land (Antarctica)

The study of ornithogenic soils as indicators of paleoenvironmental variations in the Antarctic continent has been of great interest to theinternational scientific community for few decades. The validity of this approach is confirmed by numerous publications, but new analyticaltechniques could give new relevance to this topic.In this light, the present project is focused on the study of samples of Antarctic ornithogenic soils coming from abandoned nesting sites orabandoned/relict colonies of Adelie penguins from Victoria Land. These soils have been sampled in the past, are currently stored at theDepartment of Earth Sciences of the University of Pisa, and they will be studied with the aim of (1) extending the knowledge on such evidences innot yet studied areas (2) highlight with new techniques their further characteristics.For this reason, the research group, consisting of two units, by the Universities of Milan and Padua, with the external collaboration of theLausanne University (Switzerland), will focus on the geomorphological and chronological contextualization of the sampling sites and, as regardsof the sampled ornithogenic soils, the characterization in the following aspects:- micropedological (microscopic and ultramicroscopic);- geopedological;- of the Soil Organic Matter (as regards of its composition, stability, and maturity);- geochemical and mineralogical.The research will aim to reconstruct the paleoenvironmental evolution of the Victoria Land, after the Last Glacial Maximum: in fact, thediachronic sequence of periods of occupation and abandonment of the nesting sites/colonies by the penguins, as well as the development ofpedogenetic processes in the soils and the preservation of their weathering products, are effective indicators of environmental changes.