Non-marine diatoms from Deception Island (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica)

VAN DE VIJVER, B.; VINOCUR, A.; MATALONI, G.

Mobile, Alabama

Simposio; North American Diatom Symposium; 2005

Deception Island belongs to the South Shetland Islands and is located on a rift actively separating the main arch from the Antarctic Peninsula. It constitutes in fact the remains of a primitive volcano with a flooded caldera (Port Foster) connecting with the Bransfield Strait through a narrow opening. Numerous eruptions and earthquakes during the XIX and XX centuries produced succesive topographic changes in the area. This renders Deception Island a unique place to observe ecological processes such as colonization, succesion and recovery from disturbance. For this purpose, 5 terrestrial areas of Deception Island are comprised in the ASPA (Antarctic Specially Protected Area) No. 140. This poster aims to show the incredible diatom species diversity from Deception Island. Both freshwater and soil communities are taken into consideration.