SRE4 Effects of hydrocarbons on Antarctic Marine Sediment Ecosystems

Sediment Recruitment Experiment 4 (SRE4) was a large, long term (5 year) field experiment run at Casey Station (from 2001 to 2006) testing the effects of 4 different hydrocarbons on marine sediment ecosystems. Four different types of hydrocarbons were individually mixed with defaunated marine sediments and deployed in trays on the seabed at O'Brien Bay-1. Trays were collected after deployment periods of 5 weeks, 56 weeks, 62 weeks, 2 years and 5 years. In addition there was a bioturbation treatment using the burrowing urchin Abatus (at 56 weeks only). Samples were collected from 4 replicate trays of each treatment at each sampling time. Analyses were done of sediment hydrocarbon chemistry, microbial communities, meiofaunal communities, macrofaunal communities and diatom communities. The hydrocarbon treatments were: a synthetic Mobil lubricating oil; the same Mobil lubricating oil after 125? hours use in a vehicle engine; a Fuchs synthetic lubricating oil marketed as highly biodegradable; and Special Antarctic Blend diesel fuel (SAB). A control uncontaminated sediment treatment was used for comparison.

沉积物招募实验4（Sediment Recruitment Experiment 4，简称SRE4）是一项大型长期（为期5年）野外实验，于2001年至2006年间在凯西站（Casey Station）开展，旨在探究4种不同烃类物质对海洋沉积物生态系统的影响。研究人员将4种不同烃类分别与脱除后生动物的海洋沉积物（defaunated marine sediments）混合，随后将混合物置入奥布莱恩湾1号（O'Brien Bay-1）海域海床的托盘内进行布设。托盘分别在布设时长为5周、56周、62周、2年及5年后完成回收。此外还设置了一项生物扰动处理组，仅在56周采样时引入穴居海胆属（Abatus）物种开展实验。每个处理组在每个采样时间点均采集4个重复托盘样本。后续针对沉积物烃类化学组成、微生物群落、小型底栖生物群落、大型底栖生物群落以及硅藻群落开展了系统性分析检测。本次实验的烃类处理组具体包括：一款美孚（Mobil）合成润滑油；一款在汽车发动机中使用125小时后的同款美孚合成润滑油；一款以高生物降解性为宣传卖点的福斯（Fuchs）合成润滑油；以及特种南极混合柴油（Special Antarctic Blend diesel fuel，简称SAB）。同时设置了未受污染的对照沉积物处理组用于对照比较。