Abstract
Technosols are anthropogenic soils that may be strongly impacted by heavy metal deposition, which have not yet been described in Antarctica. In this paper, we present a chemical study of what is supposedly the oldest manmade soil from Antarctic Peninsula, developed in the vicinity of Trinity House and Nordenskjold Hut at Hope Bay. Chemical and morphological soil attributes indicate that a former ornithogenic site (penguin rookery) was further subjected to human disturbance, following local exploration since 1903. We detected very high amounts of heavy metals such as Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn. For the most impacted site, pseudototal concentrations of these elements reach 47, 2,082, 19,381, and 5,225 mg kg−1, respectively. Enrichment factors were calculated using Zr as reference element, and high values were found for these contaminated sites, qualifying some of them as extremely polluted. Also, both the mobilizable and mobile fraction of Cd and Pb indicate the need of intervention in the affected area. These findings are all consistent with the human impacts and strong contamination. Strong positive correlation between the pseudototal concentrations of Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn indicates a similar source of pollution. These soils may represent the oldest Technosols in Antarctic Continent.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (Processes 07/04515-4, 09/09481-6, and 08/08260-3), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior for financial support; to the Brazilian Navy for the logistic support, and to Dr. Carlos Pérez for the analysis of SR-XRF at Laboratório Nacional de Luz Síncrotron (Processes XRF 7045 and 7046). This work is a contribution of the TERRANTAR laboratory of the INCT Criosfera (CNPq – Brazil). The authors also thank the anonymous reviewers for the contributions.
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Braga Bueno Guerra, M., Schaefer, C.E.G.R., de Freitas Rosa, P. et al. Heavy Metals Contamination in Century-Old Manmade Technosols of Hope Bay, Antarctic Peninsula. Water Air Soil Pollut 222, 91–102 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-011-0811-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-011-0811-z