Global warming trends are most strongly reflected in the dynamics of the upper lithosphere, especially in polar ecosystems. The influence of exogenous processes on the components of ecosystems and the biosphere-lithosphere relations, i.e. in soils, leads to transformation of elemental cycles, including those of nutrients, in different time ranges. Polar ecosystems, and in particular those in the Antarctic, are characterized by a predominance of primitive soils – this is especially characteristic of the southern Shetland Islands, where the presence of soil cover prevails.

Data on the soil organic matter system of sub-Antarctic islands are currently insufficient. In the Bulgarian Antarctic Base on Livingstone Island, soil research was conducted in the period 1993-1994 as part of a national scientific program and continues in 2017-2018. Soil research on the territory of King George Island began in 2002 and continued in 2008, 2010, 2016 and now. Research efforts in the polar regions of Antarctica and the soil component there provide an opportunity for scientists to collect primary material for analysis of soil morphology and composition, to supplement the global database of information on biogenic accumulation processes.

The problem of assessment of organic stocks in soils is of extreme importance for modeling the transformation of organic matter and to move from quantitative to qualitative assessment at different levels in the organization of soil organic matter. In this regard, the most important task of modern soil science and polar ecology is the parallel assessment of the content and reserves of organic matter in soils and the study of the degrees of its stabilization, incl. mineralization, humification and related processes.