Researcher Pedro Pina from the University of Coimbra (UC) is studying and monitoring the evolution of natural rock circles in Antarctica formed 10,000 years ago when glaciers began to retreat. “In polar and high mountain areas, it is common to find natural patterns of rock fragments that form, above all, in ice-free regions such as ‘permafrost’, where the soil, due to seasonal temperature variations, creates stone circles on the surface, which can be between one and four metres in diameter,” he explains. According to Pina, professor and researcher in the Department of Earth Sciences at the Faculty of Science and Technology, the study and monitoring of the evolution of these stone circles – carried out using satellite images and, more recently, drones – is very important for understanding the progress of climate change.
Coimbra researcher studies natural stone circles in Antarctica
Coimbra university scientist Pedro Pina
