Development of geophysical methods for the study of contaminant transport in frozen ground

Project aim

This project will improve the understanding of pathways and mechanisms in contaminant transport in seasonally frozen ground by application of detailed geophysical methods at a known hydrocarbon spill and a former waste disposal site in the Australian Antarctic. Field and laboratory monitoring of temporal changes in geophysical parameters such as electrical conductivity will be undertaken in order to both characterise the properties of Antarctic soils, identify probable sites of active contaminant transport, and to better understand the role of freeze-thaw cycles in the dispersion of contaminants in frozen ground.