Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T03:21:27.922Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Trace metals in cyanobacterial mats, phytoplankton and sediments of the Lake Vanda region, Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

J.G. Webster-Brown*
Affiliation:
Chemistry Department, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand
K.S. Webster
Affiliation:
NIWA, PO Box 109 695, Newmarket, Auckland, New Zealand
*
Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

The degree and nature of association between trace metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, Ag, & Cd) and cyanobacterial mats, phytoplankton and sediments has been assessed in the Lake Vanda region of the Wright Valley, Victoria Land. Trace metal:Fe ratios and SEM imaging confirmed that apparent trace metal enrichment in cyanobacterial mats, relative to the sediment beneath, was due to incorporation of fine (sub-micron) sediment particles in the muciligenous matrix of the mat. In suspended particulate material (SPM) filtered from the oxic water of Lake Vanda and the Onyx River, the degree of trace metal binding to the SPM did not appear to correlate with phytoplankton content. Instead a positive correlation was observed between Fe and trace metal content. The SPM at the top of the lake water column, where only the finest sediment remains suspended, had the highest trace metal concentrations. It is concluded that the trace metal content of cyanobacterial mats and phytoplankton samples is primarily due to incorporation of fine sediment particles of high surface area which therefore enhance trace metal adsorption capacity. This reinforces the existing hypothesis that trace metal solubility in this environment is primarily controlled by abiotic processes.

Type
Life Sciences
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beveridge, T.J. & Fyfe, W.S. 1985. Metal fixation by bacterial cell walls. Canadian Journal Earth Science, 22, 18931898.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bratina, B.J., Stevenson, B.S., Green, W.J. & Schmidt, T.M. 1998. Manganese reduction by microbes from oxic regions of the Lake Vanda (Antarctica) water column. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 64, 37913797.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Decker, K.L.M., Potter, C.S., Bebout, B.M., Des Marais, D.J., Carpenter, S. & Discipulo, M. et al. 2005. Mathematical simulation of the diel O, S and C biogeochemistry of a hypersaline microbial mat. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 52, 377395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farias, S., Arisnobarreta, S.P., Vodopivez, C. & Smichowski, P. 2002. Levels of essential and potentially toxic trace metals in Antarctic macro algae. Spectrochimica Acta, B57, 21332140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, W.J., Canfield, D.E., Shengsong, Y., Chave, K.E., Ferdelman, T.G. & Delanois, G. 1993. Metal transport and release processes in Lake Vanda: the role of oxide phases. Antarctic Research Series, 59, 145163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawes, I., Howard-Williams, C. & Pridmore, R. 1993. Environmental control of microbial biomass in the ponds of the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Archiv für Hydrobiologie, 3, 271287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawes, I., Smith, R. & Sutherland, D. 1999. Development of microbial mats on contaminated soils from the former site of Vanda Station, Antarctica. NZ Natural Sciences, 24, 5368.Google Scholar
Howard-Williams, C., Hawes, I. & Schwarz, A.-M. 1997. Sources and sinks of nutrients in a polar desert stream, the Onyx River, Antarctica. In Lyons, B., Howard-Williams, C. & Hawes, I., eds. Ecosystems and processes in Antarctic ice-free landscapes. Rotterdam: Balkema, 155170.Google Scholar
Koelmans, A.A., Gillissen, F. & Lijklema, L. 1996. Influence of salinity and mineralization on trace metal sorption to cyanobacteria in natural waters. Water Research, 30, 853864.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ledin, M. 2000. Accumulation of metals by microorganisms - processes and importance for soil systems. Earth Science Reviews, 51, 131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, C.S. & Wilson, A.T. 1972. Bathymetry and bottom sediments of Lake Vanda, Antarctica. Antarctic Journal of the United States, 7(4), 9799.Google Scholar
Saito, M.A., Sigman, D.M. & Morel, F.M.M. 2003. The bioinorganic chemistry of the ancient ocean: the co-evolution of cyanobacterial metal requirements and biogeochemical cycles at the Archean–Proterozoic boundary. Inorganica Chimica Acta, 356, 308318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schultze-Lam, S., Thompson, J.B. & Beveridge, T.J. 1993. Metal ion immobilization by bacterial surfaces in freshwater environments. Water Pollution Research Journal of Canada, 28, 5181.Google Scholar
Stal, L.J., Van Gemerden, H. & Krumbein, W.E. 1985. Structure and development of a benthic marine microbial mat. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 31, 111125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tazaki, K., Webster, J. & Fyfe, W.S. 1997. Transformation processes of microbial barite to sediments in Antarctica. Japanese Mineralogical Journal, 12, 6368.Google Scholar
Vincent, W.F. & Vincent, C.L. 1982. Factors controlling phytoplankton production in Lake Vanda (77°S). Canadian Journal of Fisheries & Aquatic Science, 39, 16021609.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vincent, W.F., Downes, M.T., Castenholz, R.W. & Howard-Williams, C. 1993. Community structure and pigment organisation of cyanobacteria-dominated microbial mats in Antarctica. European Journal of Phycology, 28, 213221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warren, L.A. & Haack, E.A. 2001. Biogeochemical controls on metal behaviour in freshwater environments. Earth Science Reviews, 54, 261320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webster, J.G. 1994. Trace metal behaviour in oxic and anoxic Ca–Cl brines of the Wright Valley Drainage, Antarctica. Chemical Geology, 112, 255274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webster, J.G., Webster, K.S. & Hawes, I. 1997. Trace metal transport and speciation in Lake Wilson, a comparison with Lake Vanda. In Lyons, B., Howard-Williams, C. & Hawes, I., eds. Ecosystems and processes in Antarctic ice free landscapes. Rotterdam: Balkema, 221230.Google Scholar
Webster, J., Webster, K., Nelson, P. & Waterhouse, E. 2003. The behaviour of residual contaminants at a former station site, Antarctica. Environmental Pollution, 123, 163179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wharton, R.A., Parker, B.C. & Simmons, G.M. 1983. Distribution, species composition and morphology of algal mats Antarctic Dry Valley lakes. Phycologia, 22, 355365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, C., Sayer, J.A. & Gadd, G.M. 1997. Microbial solubilization and immobilization of toxic metals: key biogeochemical processes for treatment of contamination. FEMS Microbiology Reviews, 20, 503516CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed