CASCADA (CAscading impacts of peruvian glacier Shrinkage on biogeochemical Cycling and Acid Drainage in Aquatic ecosystems) is a joint UK-Peruvian research project investigating the impacts of shrinking glaciers on water quality in the Peruvian Andes.

The CASCADA research project is based in the Cordillera Blanca, a mountain range in central Peru that contains 40% of the country’s glaciers. Glacial meltwater is crucial to the lives of the quarter of a million people in the region who use this water for drinking, agriculture and to generate power. As the glaciers in this region have shrunk, some rivers are becoming acidic with high levels of metals in the water, which can be toxic for people and animals to consume.

CASCADA logo

Website: https://projectcascada.wordpress.com

PI: Prof. Jemma Wadham, University of Bristol

NOC PI: Dr Alex Beaton
Email: Alex.Beaton at noc.ac.uk

Dates
–
Funding

NERC – Strategic Research

Aim

As part of CASCADA, OTEG have manufactured and deployed four cutting-edge and unique lab-on-chip (LOC) iron sensors to provide high resolution measurements of dissolved iron in the glacial streams. These measurements will contribute to enhanced understanding of the processes resulting in metal contamination of glacial fed rivers. The iron sensors have been installed in two contrasting glacial-fed catchments in the Cordillera Blanca, at upstream and downstream sites. The highest deployment site is at almost 5,000m altitude in the Peruvian Andes.

The LOC iron sensors perform wet chemical analysis using the colourimetric ferrozine method. The sensors are required to cover a large analytical range: iron levels vary from 2nM in the pristine catchment to over 20µM in the acidified catchment.

Alongside the iron sensors, we are also deploying a suite of off-the-shelf sensors optimised for measuring glacial meltwater that we developed via a previous project (DELVE). This measures temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, pH and turbidity.

OTEG personnel (Alex Beaton and Sam Monk) visited the field sites in Peru to deploy the sensors during August 2019 and February 2020.