Assessment of recent sediment influence in an urban polluted subantarctic coastal ecosystem. Beagle Channel (Southern Argentina).

MÓNICA N. GIL; AMÉRICO I. TORRES; OSCAR A. AMÍN; JOSÉ L. ESTEVES

MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Gran Bretaña; Año: 2011 vol. 62 p. 201 - 207

0025-326X

In this study, baseline information about the environmental status of Ushuaia (UB) and Golondrina (GB) bays is presented. Surface and bottom seawater as well as freshwater discharged from land were evaluated. Multivariate analysis identified different water quality zones within the bays, two of them located next to the north and northwest coastlines of UB, where the majority of human activities are developed. Porosity, total organic matter, biochemical components, ammonium and phytopigments were determined in sediment samples from each quality zone. Benthic fluxes of nutrients and dissolved oxygen were assessed in situ using opaque chambers. In northwest zone of UB, carbon equivalents of proteins and carbohydrates in surficial sediments were the same order as in hypertrophic ecosystems, while ammonium and phosphate released from sediment, greatly exceeded the allochthonous sources. Management of municipal wastewater is required, in order to remediate this chronic pollution.