Multidisciplinary team
Four Portuguese research centres gathered joining a wide range of skills from physiology, to biogeochemistry and analytical chemistry.
MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre
BioISI - Biosystems and Integrative Sciences Institute
CESAM - Environmental and Marine Studies Centre
Unravelling Interactions between phyto- and zooplankton and mercury cycling in Deception Island waters impacted by volcanic-mercury
Hg-Planktarctic
CQE - Centre for Structural Chemistry
Deception Island
Deception is a donut-shaped island in the north of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Plankton
Phyto- a zooplankton were sampled in Hg-contaminated and non-contaminated sites.
Polar Summer
Sampling took place during the austral summer, in January 2017.
Sampling
Two sites were considered: Fumarolas bay (Hg-impacted) and the Spanish Gabriel de la Castilla base (control).
Volcanic Hg
Mantle-derived Hg enters the surface environment at tectonic settings including hydrothermal vents.
Antarctic Treaty
All procedures were preformed according to the rules established in the Antarctic Treaty, including a zero-environmental impact policy.
Fumarolas Bay
The major source of Hg into the Deception Island ecosystem
Hg from Volcanic emissions
Hg is a non-essential metal for organisms and its toxicity to aquatic organisms ranks first among trace metals.
The largest natural source of Hg in the environment comes from Earth’s crust degassing, emissions from volcanoes and hydrothermal vents.
The marine environment adjacent to Fumarola bay at Deception Island provides a natural laboratory for the study of trace metals.
