In April 2025, ICEBERG’s researchers braved the extreme Arctic conditions of Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, to investigate how contaminants travel through snow and ice. Their findings may reshape our understanding of pollution pathways into one of the planet’s most fragile ecosystems.
The ICEBERG team from Italy’s Institute of Polar Sciences of the National Research Council (CNR-ISP), arrived in Ny-Ålesund in early April – a crucial time when the Arctic snowpack reaches its highest level. Over two weeks, they carefully collected snow samples from both the village center and five remote glaciers: Broggerbreen, Midtre Lovenenbreen, Edithbreen, Kongsvegen, and Comfortlessbreen.
The goal was twofold: to map how atmospheric deposition of pollutants occurs on the surface snow and to track how pollutants have built up in the snow over the past year and how they varied during the seasonal snow accumulation.
“By using a sampling grid in the village and targeted snowpits on the glaciers, we ensured we captured both the most representative spatial distribution and the glacier snowpack, known as the areas with the least contamination,” explains Beatrice Ulgelmo, a CNR-ISP researcher on the project.
Arctic fieldwork is never without hazards, and the ICEBERG team faced their share of them. Before heading out each day, the team carefully checked the weather forecast. One of the most dramatic moments came when a sudden change in weather plunged the scientists into a whiteout.
“In just a few seconds, everything around us turned white. We couldn’t even tell where we had arrived from. It was completely disorienting,” recounts Beatrice. “That’s the Arctic: conditions can change instantly, and you have to be ready.”
Alongside the weather, the team also had to pay close attention to glacier conditions, consulting GPS routes and past surface observations to identify potential hazards like hidden crevasses. On site, they used safety probes and slings to test the area before beginning work. Despite these challenges, they successfully gathered all required samples.
The guard is always up when working in extreme environments, especially when working in these polar bear areas. For this reason, while the team is working, it is always necessary to have someone to act as a “sentry” in case a bear arrives.
With the fieldwork now complete, the samples are being divided for detailed analysis. Part of the collection will soon be shipped to the CNR-ISP laboratory in Venice for advanced instrumental analysis. Meanwhile, 20 selected samples were already pre-concentrated on-site using a cartridge system in the wet laboratory at the Dirigibile Italia Station in Ny-Ålesund for further chemical analyses at ONIRIS in Nantes.
The researchers are focusing on emerging contaminants like benzothiazoles, bisphenols, fragrances, UV filters, and PFAS compounds. One of the aims of the studies is to understand the sources of these contaminants, by distinguishing local ones from the long range transport ones due to the global atmospheric currents. They could probably accumulate in the Arctic snowpack offering a snapshot of human impact on this remote environment.
“The data we’re generating will help us understand how pollutants move and concentrate in the Arctic,” said Beatrice. “This knowledge is vital not only for local ecosystems but also for understanding the global transport of contaminants and the hidden pathways of environmental change.”
While the fieldwork in Ny-Ålesund is now complete, the ICEBERG project continues through the spring and summer with research campaigns in the central and southern parts of Svalbard, as well as in the Fram Strait, in Iceland, and in Greenland. These upcoming efforts will further expand the project’s understanding of Arctic pollution pathways.
Text: Beatrice Ulgelmo (CNR-ISP).
Photos: Beatrice Ulgelmo (CNR-ISP), Federico Scoto (CNR-ISP), François Burgay (Basel Universität), Manuel Bensi (OGS National Institute).
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SubscribeProf. Thora Herrmann
University of Oulu
thora.herrmann@oulu.fi
Dr Élise Lépy
University of Oulu
elise.lepy@oulu.fi
Marika Ahonen
Kaskas
marika.ahonen@kaskas.fi
Innovative Community Engagement for Building Effective Resilience and Arctic Ocean Pollution-control Governance in the Context of Climate Change
ICEBERG has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe Research and innovation funding programme under grant agreement No 101135130
