Antarctic Sediment Contamination Effects on Infauna Recruitment

A field experiment dataset examines the effects of hydrocarbon and heavy metal contamination on soft-sediment infauna recruitment in Antarctica. The study includes 104 recruitment samples collected from three bays near Casey Station over a three-month deployment from December to February. Data was collected by the Australian Antarctic Data Centre.

Use Cases

• Analyze differences in Species recruitment counts between Treatment types (control, hydrocarbon, heavy metal) across three Location sites.
• Model correlations between specific contaminant concentrations (Arsenic, Cadmium, Copper, Lead, Silver, Zinc, SAB, Lube, TPH) and observed Toxicity or faunal abundance.
• Compare pre-deployment contaminant levels with 'surrounding' sediment concentrations to assess experimental isolation or natural attenuation.
• Investigate spatial variability in community response by comparing results from the polluted Brown Bay site with control sites O'Brien Bay and Sparkes Bay.

Strengths

• 104 recruitment samples provide a basis for statistical analysis of treatment effects.
• Data includes concentrations for 9 specific contaminants (6 metals, 3 hydrocarbons) enabling detailed toxicological study.
• Experimental design includes control sites and pre-deployment measurements for baseline comparison.

Limitations

• Sample size of 104 may limit power for detecting subtle effects or rare species responses.
• Temporal coverage is limited to a single 3-month summer season, missing seasonal or annual variability.
• Geographic scope is restricted to three bays near a single Antarctic station, limiting generalizability.

Provenance

Source

Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AU_AADC), accessed via NASA EarthData.

Collection Method

Field experiment with defaunated sediments artificially contaminated and deployed at ~15m depth for 3 months. Samples sieved at 500 μm and sorted to species.

Time Range

Experiment deployed from December to February (Antarctic summer), with data last updated in 1999.

Freshness

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Geography

Casey Station, East Antarctica; specifically Brown Bay, O'Brien Bay, and Sparkes Bay.