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Abstract

Previous studies of impacted sites near Casey Station, Antarctica, have revealed elevated concentrations of metals and metalloids, particularly Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb, Sn and Zn in marine sediments. However, attempts to understand the availability and mobility of contaminant elements have not provided a true understanding of speciation. The current work shows, for the first time, that sediments in Brown Bay, an embayment adjacent to the Thala Valley waste disposal site, have elevated concentrations of sulfide, well in excess of that required to bind contaminant metals such as Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn. Furthermore, sediment characterisation using the BCR sequential extraction scheme has shown metal partitioning consistent with sulfides being the controlling factor in metal availability, thus explaining the low porewater concentrations of these metals. The speciation of Sn in Brown Bay, however, is still unclear with the BCR sequential extraction scheme partitioning Sn predominantly into the residual fraction despite Sn being readily extracted by dilute HCl.

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Larner, BL and Seen, AJ and Palmer, AS and Snape, I
Keywords:	Brown Bay; Metal and metalloid contaminants; BCR sequential extraction; Partial extraction; AVS
Journal or Publication Title:	Chemosphere
Publisher:	Pergamon-Elsevier
ISSN:	0045-6535
DOI / ID Number:	10.1016/jchemosphere.2006.11.059
Additional Information:	The definitive version is available at http://www.sciencedirect.com
Item Statistics:	View statistics for this item

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