Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Pollution
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1429998

Source, bioavailability, and toxicity of metals in modern fjord sediments, west Spitsbergen, and their influence on sediment-associated biota

Provisionally accepted
Shabnam Choudhary Shabnam Choudhary 1*Syed M. Saalim Syed M. Saalim 2Rahul Mohan Rahul Mohan 3Manish Tiwari Manish Tiwari 3
  • 1 National Institute of Oceanography, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Dona Paula, Goa, India
  • 2 Patna University, Patna, Bihar, India
  • 3 National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Vasco da Gama, Goa, India

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Metal contamination in the Arctic region has increased over the years despite its remote and isolated location. Thus, to evaluate the bioavailable fractions of various metals and their effects on sediment-associated biota, the surface sediments from the fjords were analyzed for bulk concentration of metals and their speciation in different fractions. Metals concentrations were higher in the inner fjord region and decreased towards the outer fjord, supported by the terrigenous influence (TI%) calculated. Cr and Pb showed higher excess values attributed to their additional source other than the catchment rocks. So, to assess the metal-related ecological risk, the bulk concentration of metals was compared with Arctic sediment quality guidelines (ASQGs). Cr, Cd, and Pb concentrations were high, indicating potential adverse biological effects in the area. To avoid the risk of overestimation, metal speciation was conducted, showing that overall metal concentrations were higher in the residual fraction; however, higher concentrations of Mn in labile phases pose a moderate risk to the sediment-associated biota. Additionally, the population density of foraminifera in the sediments was calculated to assess the influence of bioavailable metal on benthic foraminifera. It was found that the presence of metals in bioavailable fractions affected the abundance of the foraminifera. However, no morphological abnormalities were observed in the species

    Keywords: Fjord, Metals, Terrigenous influence, Excess values, Foraminifera, Ecological risk, sediment-associated biota

    Received: 09 May 2024; Accepted: 07 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Choudhary, Saalim, Mohan and Tiwari. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Shabnam Choudhary, National Institute of Oceanography, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Dona Paula, 403004, Goa, India

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.