New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts
Heavy metal content of meltwaters
from the Ross Dependency, Antarctica
D. S. SHEPPARD
Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences
P. O. Box 31 312
Lower Hutt, New Zealand
J. M. DEELY
Environment Bay of Plenty
P. O. Box 364
Whakatane, New Zealand
W. H. L. EDGERLEY
Wellington Citilab
P. O. Box 2199
Wellington, New Zealand
Abstract Twenty-eight meltwater samples were collected from
Scott Base, Cape Evans, Cape Royds, Marble Point, Vanda Station, and along the
length of the Onyx River, in the McMurdo Sound area of Antarctica during the
summers of 1992/93 and 1993/94. Samples were analysed for major components, and
for heavy metals at ultra-trace levels. The sample sites included biologically
active ponds, glacier melt water, lake water, roadside drains, and rivers.
Sample salinities varied widely, but heavy-metal concentrations were uniformly
low except where significant human impacts would have been expected.
Concentrations of silver, mercury, lead, copper, cadmium, chromium, nickel, and
zinc were higher at Scott Base than in the other areas and were dominantly
associated with coarse particulates. Natural sources of metals may be local
lithology, but chemical and mechanical processes within the soils and solutions
affect the distributions of different metals.
Keywords Antarctica; contamination; water; trace
metals;baseline; pollution
New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 1997, Vol. 31:
313-325
0028-8330/97/3103-0313 $7.00/0 (c) The Royal Society of New Zealand
1997
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (1137K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
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