The sediments of lake on the Ardley Island, Antarctica: Identification of penguin-dropping soil

• Main Authors: Liguang, Sun, Zhouqing, Xie, Junlin, Zhao
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Polar Research Institute of China - PRIC 2001
• Subjects: Antarctic; Pacific; Guano; Ardley; Ardley Island; Advances in Polar Science; Antarc*; Antarctica; Polar Science
• Online Access: http://library.arcticportal.org/2210/; http://library.arcticportal.org/2210/1/A200101000.pdf

During CHINARE-15 (Dec. 1998 - Mar. 1999), a lake core 67.5 cm in length, was sampled in Y2 lake, which is located on the Ardley Island, Antarctica. The concentrations of some chemical elements in Y2 lake sediments were analyzed. According to comparative research on elementary characters of sediments in Antarctic West Lake, fresh penguin dropping as well as guano soil on the Ardley Island and Pacific Island in South China Sea, it presents that the Y2 lake sediments were ameliorated by penguin dropping. The result of element cluster analysis shows that the type of elements in the sediment impacted by penguin dropping include Sr, F, S, P, Ca, Se, Cu, Zn and Ba. This can provide a base for further interpreting the climatic and environmental event recorded in the sediment.