Abstract:

Antarctic environment has some invaluable baseline information for understanding the global changes. The objectives of this study were to investigate the human impacts on the environment of Fildes Peninsula of George Island. Based on the investigation results and the sampling analysis of the environmental elements of Fildes Peninsula, it was shown that there are some artificial radioactive element 137 Cs in the Antarctic environment: the radioactivity of 137 Cs in the surface soil, the surface moss, the fruticose lichen and crustaceous lichen are 6.00 ￣14.80, 25.07, 29.04 and 58.07 Bq/kg separately; the radioactivity of 137 Cs in the surface soil and crustaceous lichen in northern China are 6.4-37.3 and 294-312 Bq/kg separately, i.e. the sequence of 137 Cs activity is as follows: crustaceous lichen>fruticose lichen>surface moss>surface soil.It was shown that the crustaceous lichen is one of the most sensitive monitors for the effect of the long term diffusion of the 137 Cs . The impacts of the activities of Antarctic expedition on the partial environment include: (1)the change of the landscape or the soil material has made the strong freezing thawing processes, which decrease the stability of the ground surface, cause the degradation of the vegetation; (2)the accumulation of solid waste material in the low lying land around lake causes the change of the thermal equilibrium and water equilibrium in the areas, which increases the seasonal fluctuation of the lake level or makes the lake dried up in March or April; (3)during the progresses of building the expedition and the roads, some moss-banks have been damaged. The biomass (esp. lichen ) and the water body in the Antarctic are very susceptible to damage caused by the presence of man. In the surrounding area of the expedition stations, the concentration of Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in the lichen and the waters are evidently higher than that of the contrasting area, the organic matter content of the water is also evidently higher than that of the contrasting area. Fildes Peninsula is one of the most crowded areas of expedition stations, at some extent, the environment and terrestrial ecosystem of Fildes Peninsula have been affected by the human activities. The conservation of the environment and ecosystem have been an important aspect of the Antarctic environmental sciences.