The study entitled ‘Contribution to environmental studies of the Amazon using geothermal methods’, received support through the Amazonas State Research Support Foundation (Fapeam), via the Infrastructure Program for Young Researchers – First Projects Program (PPP).
Photo: Elizabeth Tavares Pimentel/Personal collection
According to the research coordinator, PhD in Geophysics, Elizabeth Tavares Pimentel, from the Federal University of Amazonas (Ufam-Campus Humaitá), the first part of the work considered the indications of descending waters in shallow wells, in which it was possible to verify that there is interaction between surface water and subsurface water in this region, including contributing to the recharge of groundwater, which is a type of water layer that limits the saturated part of the subsoil with the sandy part, forming a zone of free water, which It is generally captured through shallow artesian wells.
The second part of the study, Elizabeth explains that it referred to the assessment of climate changes that occurred in recent centuries in the Amazon region, using the geothermal method and analyzes of the direct method and Functional Space Inversion (FSI), in which it was possible to examine the nature of temperature variations in the soil subsurface for 25 locations in the district of Manaus, located in the central part of the province of Amazônia (Brazil).
Photo: Elizabeth Tavares Pimentel/Personal collection
The results obtained were based on the analysis of temperature records from wells, as well as remote sensing data derived from changes in vegetation cover. According to results derived from FSI of borehole temperature data, the cooling event that occurred during the period 1600 to 1850 was responsible for a decrease in temperature in the study region.
“This episode roughly coincides with the period of the ‘little ice age’ in the Southern Hemisphere. A warming event then followed. However, according to the results of the work, the most dramatic increase in surface temperature in the area study occurred in recent years, which coincides with the result of deforestation activities in the Amazon during the period from 2008 to 2020”,
explained Elizabeth Pimentel.
For the researcher, the results of the research have an impact in showing, through the method used, that there has been warming in the Amazon region in the last millennium, which affects the entire population of the region, and reinforces the need to be careful with anthropogenic actions, that are carried out by human beings that negatively or positively affect the environment, including deforestation, fires, air and water pollution.
“Minimizing the impacts of global warming in the Amazon depends on factors that go beyond the object of this research, however it is essential for the population to be aware of the need to preserve the environment to guarantee better conditions for survival on Earth”,
alerts the researcher.
Researchers from the National Observatory of Rio de Janeiro/ON, Suze Pereira Guimarães and Fábio Pinto Vieira, participated in the study.
Research Portfolio
This and other research coordinated exclusively by women scientists working in the capital and in the interior of Amazonas, with the support of the State Government, are available in the Portfolio of Investments and Research Results of Amazonas – Vol.03, organized by Fapeam, being a total of 50 studies already completed.
Tags: Research carried Amazonas analyzes temperature earths subsurface
