A manipulative field experiment examining the effect of heavy metal and hydrocarbon contaminated sediment on the recruitment of soft-sediment infauna.

The effects of hyrdocarbon and heavy metal contamination of marine sediments on recruitment of soft-sediment assemblages were examined in a field experiment at Casey Station, East Antarctica. Three locations were used, a polluted bay adjacent to an old disused tip site (Brown Bay) and two control locations (O'Brien Bay and Sparkes Bay). At each location three types of defaunated sediment (hydrocarbon treated, heavy metal treated and control) were placed at approximately 15 m depth and left in place for 3 months, from December to February. Sediments were artificially contaminated with hydrocarbons and metals at concentrations which were representative of levels found in sediments at contaminated sites around Casey Station.There were large differences in recruitment between the three locations and significant differences between the control and contaminated sediment. Sediments in the experiment were also examined for evidence of degradation and attenuation of hydrocarbons and heavy metals. A total of 104 recruitment samples were collected. Samples were sieved at 500 micro m and sorted mainly to species. Other work to arise from this experiment includes examination of the effects on diatom communities and microbial communities.Data includes fauna, metals and hydrocarbon concentrations in experiment. Pre-deployment concentrations (before experiment was deployed in water) are indicated as 'pre-deployment'. Concentrations of contaminants in sediments surrounding the experiment (within several metres) are indicated as 'surrounding'.This project also links to ASAC 1100.The fields in this dataset are:LocationSiteTreatment (tmt)Site and replicateSpeciesToxicityArsenicCadmiumCopperLeadSilverZincSpecial Antarctic Blend Fuel (SAB)LubeTPH

本研究于南极东部凯西站（Casey Station）开展野外控制实验，探究海洋沉积物烃类与重金属污染对软沉积群落补充的影响。实验共设置3处采样位点：一处为毗邻旧废弃垃圾填埋场的污染海湾（布朗湾/Brown Bay），另外两处为对照位点（奥布莱恩湾/O'Brien Bay与斯帕克斯湾/Sparkes Bay）。在每个位点，将3种经脱除底栖动物处理的沉积物（烃类污染组、重金属污染组与对照组沉积物）投放至约15米水深的区域，原位放置3个月（当年12月至次年2月）。沉积物的人工污染浓度设置与凯西站周边污染位点沉积物中的实际污染物浓度水平一致。
3个位点的群落补充量差异显著，对照组与污染组沉积物的群落补充量也存在统计学意义上的显著差异。本实验还对沉积物中烃类与重金属的降解与衰减情况进行了检测。共采集104份群落补充样本，样本以500微米孔径的筛网过筛后，主要按物种水平进行分类鉴定。
本实验衍生的其他研究内容还包括探究污染物对硅藻群落与微生物群落的影响。本数据集包含实验中的动物群落、重金属与烃类浓度数据。实验部署前的污染物浓度标注为"pre-deployment"（即实验入水部署前的浓度），实验周边数米范围内沉积物中的污染物浓度标注为"surrounding"。
本项目同时关联ASAC 1100项目。本数据集包含以下字段：位点（Location）、采样点（Site）、处理组（Treatment, tmt）、采样点与重复样本（Site and replicate）、物种（Species）、毒性（Toxicity）、砷（Arsenic）、镉（Cadmium）、铜（Copper）、铅（Lead）、银（Silver）、锌（Zinc）、南极专用混合燃料（Special Antarctic Blend Fuel, SAB）、润滑油（Lube）、总石油烃（Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons, TPH）。