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（SRE4，全称Sediment Recruitment Experiment 4）是一项在南极凯西考察站开展的大型长期野外实验，实验周期为5年（2001年至2006年），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。实验将4种不同的烃类物质分别与脱除动物区系的海洋沉积物（defaunated marine sediments）混合，随后将混合物放置于奥布莱恩湾1号站位的海底托盘装置中。分别在部署5周、56周、62周、2年及5年后回收托盘。此外，实验还设置了生物扰动处理（bioturbation treatment）：仅在56周采样时，使用穴居海胆属（Abatus）物种对沉积物进行扰动。每个处理组在每个采样时间点均设置4个重复托盘以采集样本。实验对沉积物的烃类化学组成、微生物群落、小型底栖生物群落（meiofaunal communities）、大型底栖生物群落（macrofaunal communities）及硅藻群落（diatom communities）开展了分析检测。本次实验的烃类处理组包括：合成美孚润滑油、经车辆发动机使用125小时后的同款美孚润滑油、福斯宣传为高生物降解性的合成润滑油，以及南极专用混合柴油（SAB，全称Special Antarctic Blend diesel fuel）。同时设置未受污染的沉积物对照组用于对照比较。