Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T17:34:26.767Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Brown Seaweed as an Indicator of Heavy Metals in Estuaries in South-West England

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

G. W. Bryan  and
L. G. Hummerstone
G. W. Bryan
Affiliation:
The Plymouth Laboratory
L. G. Hummerstone
Affiliation:
The Plymouth Laboratory
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Concentrations of copper, zinc, lead, manganese and iron in the brown seaweed Fucus vesiculosus have been measured in samples collected over its range of distribution in four estuaries having different degrees of metal contamination. Factors controlling the concentrations in the weed have been studied and include the concentrations of metals in the water, seasonal changes, the position of the weed in the intertidal zone and the particular portion of the plant which is analysed. It is concluded that analysis of the weed gives a reasonable indication of average conditions in the water at points along an estuary and provides a method of making comparisons with the same estuary in subsequent years or with other estuaries.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 53 , Issue 3 , August 1973 , pp. 705 - 720
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1973

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

Black, W. A. P. & Mitchell, R. L., 1952. Trace elements in the common brown algae and sea water. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 30, 575–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryan, G. W., 1969. The absorption of zinc and other metals by the brown sea weed Laminaria digitata. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 49, 225–43.Google Scholar
Bryan, G. W., 1971. The effects of heavy metals (other than mercury) on marine and estuarine organisms. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B, 177, 389–410.Google ScholarPubMed
Bryan, G. W. & Hummerstone, L. G., 1971. Adaptation of the polychaete Nereis diversicolor to estuarine sediments containing high concentrations of heavy metals. I. General observations and adaptation to copper. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 51, 845–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butler, E. I. & Tibbitts, S., 1972. Chemical survey of the Tamar Estuary. I. Properties of the waters. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 52, 681–99.Google Scholar
Dines, H. G., 1956. The Metalliferous Mining Region of South-West England, 2, 795 pp. London: H.M. Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Gutnecht, J., 1965. Uptake and retention of cesium 137 and zinc 65 by seaweeds. Limnology and Oceanography, 10, 58–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nickless, G., Stenner, R. & Terrille, N., 1972. Distribution of cadmium, lead and zinc in the Bristol Channel. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 3, 188–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Preston, A., Jefferies, D. F., Dutton, J. W. R., Harvey, B. R. & Steele, A. K., 1972. British Isles coastal waters: the concentrations of selected heavy metals in sea water, suspended matter and biological indicators - a pilot survey. Environmental Pollution, 3, 69–82.Google Scholar
Taylor, S. R., 1964. Abundance of chemical elements in the continental crust: a new table. Geochimica et cosmochimica acta, 28, 1273–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, E. G. & Langille, W. M., 1958. The occurrence of inorganic elements in marine algae of the Atlantic provinces of Canada. Canadian Journal of Botany, 36, 301–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar