Meeting of the Scientific Club

8.5.2025

On May 8, the Department of Chemistry, Geography and Earth Sciences of the Educational and Research Institute of Natural and Agrarian Sciences held a regular meeting of the Scientific Club “Scientific Achievements in Chemistry and Earth Sciences.”

As part of this event, a second-year bachelor’s  student in the Earth Sciences program, Yelyzaveta Vetrova, presented a scientific report on the topic: “Arctic Soils of Greenland.” In her presentation, she comprehensively, convincingly, and accessiblely revealed the features of the soil cover of the largest island on the planet – Greenland.

During her speech, the speaker focused on a number of important questions, including:

• What makes Greenland a unique territory for studying Arctic soils?
• What types of soils prevail in tundra conditions and in permafrost zones?
• What impact does the melting of permafrost have on the ecological situation and geochemical characteristics of soils?
• What is the practical significance of the island’s soils, and what mineral resources are hidden in its subsoil?
• How do the soils of open Arctic landscapes differ from those located under permanent ice cover?

Particular attention was paid to the interdisciplinary importance of studying Arctic soils for modern geoecologists. In the context of global warming and increased transformations of natural processes in high latitudes, the study of Arctic soils is gaining strategic importance. This knowledge is important for:

• conducting ecological monitoring of areas sensitive to climate change;
• assessing potential risks of degradation of Arctic landscapes;
• planning sustainable nature management in conditions of extreme climate regimes;
• modeling and forecasting changes in global geosystems.

The participants of the meeting came to a common conclusion that Greenland is not only an icy desert, but an extremely important territory in the context of global climate stability. Its soils are:

• a kind of natural archives containing information about climate changes over the millennia;
• sources of strategically important minerals, including rare earth metals, uranium, gold;
• extremely vulnerable ecosystems that require careful scientific study and protection.

We sincerely thank Yelyzaveta Vetrova for a high-quality, scientifically sound and relevant report! Her speech became a vivid example of the integration of modern scientific information into the process of professional training of future specialists in the field of Earth sciences.

Department of Chemistry, Geography and Earth Sciences