scholarly journals Temporal Distribution of Arsenic and Metals in Soil From King George Island, Antarctica

2022 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tailisi H. Trevizani ◽  
Rosalinda C. Montone ◽  
Rubens C. L. Figueira

The polar regions are vulnerable to impacts caused by local and global pollution. The Antarctic continent has been considered an environment that has remained little affected by human activities. Direct exposure to contaminants may occur in areas continuously occupied by research stations for several decades. Admiralty Bay on the southeast coast of King George Island, has potential for being affected by human activities due research stations operating in the area, including the Brazilian Commandant Ferraz Antarctic Station (CFAS). The levels of metals and arsenic were determined in soils collected near CFAS (points 5, 6, 7, and 9), Base G and at two points distant from the CFAS: Refuge II and Hennequin. Samples were collected after the fire in CFAS occurred in February 2012, up to December 2018 to assess the environmental impacts in the area. Al and As were related with Base G. Refuge II and Hennequin can be considered as control points for this region. As a consequence of the accident, the increased levels for Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn, especially at point 9 (inside the CFAS) and in the soil surrounding the CFAS in 2013. The results from 2016 to 2018 demonstrated a reduction in levels of all studied metals near CFAS, which may be related to the leaching of metals into Admiralty Bay; it is thus, being important the continue monitoring soil, sediments, and Antarctic biota.

2009 ◽  
Vol 44 (8) ◽  
pp. 891-895 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Gryziak

This work aimed to investigate the ratio of colonization by terrestrial mites on ice-free areas created by the ongoing climate-induced melting of Antarctic glaciers. Glacier retreat opens new ice-free areas for the colonization by vegetation and animals. The study was undertaken on the Antarctic Specially Protected Area no. 128 (West Coast of the Admiralty Bay, King George Island, South Shetlands Islands). Transects marked between the Ecology, Baranowski and Windy Glaciers, and a sea shore were used to collect soil samples. Oribatid mites were found only on near-shore areas, on patches of vegetation of more than 30 years of age. The colonization by mite communities is strongly determined by the presence of plants.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-419
Author(s):  
Karol Zemko ◽  
Krzysztof Pabis ◽  
Jacek Siciński ◽  
Magdalena Błażewicz

AbstractAdmiralty Bay (King George Island) is an Antarctic Specially Managed Area and one the most thoroughly studied small-scale marine basins in the Southern Ocean. Our study provides new data on the isopod fauna in this glacially affected fjord. Twelve species of isopods were recorded in this basin for the first time. Six of them were found for the first time in the region of the South Shetland Islands. The highest number of species new for Admiralty Bay were found in the families Munnopsidae (4 species) and Munnidae (3 species).


2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Márcia C. Bícego ◽  
Eliete Zanardi-Lamardo ◽  
Satie Taniguchi ◽  
César C. Martins ◽  
Denis A.M. da Silva ◽  
...  

AbstractAdmiralty Bay on the King George Island hosts the Brazilian, Polish and Peruvian research stations as well as the American and Ecuadorian field stations. Human activities in this region require the use of fossil fuels as an energy source, thereby placing the region at risk of hydrocarbon contamination. Hydrocarbon monitoring was conducted on water and sediment samples from the bay over 15 years. Fluorescence spectroscopy was used for the analysis of total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in seawater samples and gas chromatography with flame ionization and/or mass spectrometric detection was used to analyse individual n-alkanes and PAHs in sediment samples. The results revealed that most sites contaminated by these compounds are around the Brazilian and Polish research stations due to the intense human activities, mainly during the summer. Moreover, the sediments revealed the presence of hydrocarbons from different sources, suggesting a mixture of the direct input of oil or derivatives and derived from hydrocarbon combustion. A decrease in PAH concentrations occurred following improvement of the sewage treatment facilities at the Brazilian research station, indicating that the contribution from human waste may be significant.


2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mônica A. Varella Petti ◽  
Edmundo Ferraz Nonato ◽  
Rodrigo S.P. Skowronski ◽  
Thaïs Navajas Corbisier

Polychaetes, the dominant macrofaunal taxa of the Antarctic soft sediments, provided more than 40% of the animals found in Martel Inlet. However, little information is available on the composition of meiofaunal communities in polar areas. This study identified the meiofaunal polychaete species and described their bathymetric distribution in the nearshore zone. Sediment cores were taken by divers from 6–25 m depth in the summer of 1991 and 1994 in front of the Brazilian Antarctic Station (Martel Inlet, Admiralty Bay). Additional sampling was done at the 18 m depth in 1994 in order to study the influence of ice scouring. A total of 1895 specimens in 17 families were found. Three species (Apistobranchus glacierae, Leitoscoloplos kerguelensis and Ophryotrocha notialis), all of them belonging to the temporary meiofauna, provided more than 70% of the total polychaete fraction. This meiofaunal component showed similar distributional patterns to those of the macrofaunal polychaetes in this area.


2001 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 337
Author(s):  
JORGE ARIGONY NETO ◽  
JEFERSON CARDIA SIMÕES ◽  
ULISSES FRANZ BREMER ◽  
FRANCISCO ELISEU AQUINO

Ice masses in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, are relatively thin and near or at the melting pressure point. They are, therefore, very sensitive to climatic variations. This work discusses glaciers retreat observed since 1950s in the Antarctic Specially Managed Area (ASMA) of Admiralty Bay in King George Island. From 1956 to 1979 this area lost 4.3 km2 (2%) of its ice cover. Further 4.9 km2 disappeared (10% of the original ice cover, i.e. in 1956). The ice retreat magnitude in this period cannot be attributed to in-built variations of the glacier system. Further, it is associated to similar glaciers retractions and ice shelves collapses in the northern most part of the Antarctic Peninsula. Probably this general ice retreat results from or is enhanced by the atmospheric warming recorded for the region since 1940s.


Polar Record ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 18 (115) ◽  
pp. 379-379

The 15-man expedition did not get off to a good start. The ship originally chartered for the Antarctic voyage, the Repunte, was impounded in a Uruguayan shipyard and vital supplies were sequestered by the Uruguayan customs authorities. It was in a Norwegian vessel, the Rig Mate, that the party eventually landed at Admiralty Bay, on King George Island. The original intention had been to set up a permanent base on Ross Island, but the delay in Montevideo called for a change of plan. So the first Italian base in the Antarctic was established at Admiralty Bay, at a spot named ‘Conca Italia’ by the expedition. The base is well suited for eight people, with an area of 80 m2 instead of the planned 130 m2.


2001 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 8-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jefferson Simões ◽  
F. Ferron ◽  
Matthias Braun ◽  
J. Neto ◽  
F. Aquino

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dieter R. Tetzner ◽  
Elizabeth R. Thomas ◽  
Claire S. Allen

Abstract. The presence of marine microfossils (diatoms) in glacier ice and ice cores has been documented from numerous sites in Antarctica, Greenland, as well as from sites in the Andes and the Altai mountains, and attributed to entrainment and transport by winds. However, their presence and diversity in snow and ice, especially in polar regions, is not well documented and still poorly understood. Here we present the first data to resolve the regional and temporal distribution of diatoms in ice cores, spanning a 20 year period across four sites in the southern Antarctic Peninsula and Ellsworth Land, Antarctica. We assess the regional variability in diatom composition and abundance at annual and sub-annual resolution across all four sites. These data corroborate the dominance of contemporary marine diatoms in Antarctic Peninsula ice cores, reveal that the timing and amount of diatoms deposited vary between low and high elevation sites and support existing evidence that marine diatoms have the potential to yield a novel wind paleoenvironmental proxy for ice cores in the southern Antarctic Peninsula and Ellsworth Land.


2010 ◽  
pp. 50-51
Author(s):  
César de Castro Martins ◽  
Liziane Marcella Michelloti Ceschim ◽  
Edna Wisnieski ◽  
Sabrina Nart Aguiar

2010 ◽  
pp. 171-175
Author(s):  
Thaïs Navajas Corbisier ◽  
Paula Foltran Gheller ◽  
Maria Claúdia Yuri Ujikawa ◽  
Sandra Bromberg ◽  
Mônica A. Varella Petti

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