Levels of Ni and V in seawater from areas affected by the Prestige shipwreck one year after the disaster

• Main Authors: Santos-Echeandía, Juan, Prego, R., Cobelo-García, A.
• Other Authors: Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología, CICYT (España)
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 2005
• Subjects: Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/329634

Simposio sobre Vertidos Accidentales de Petróleo en el Medio Marino = Symposium on Marine Accidental Oil Spills, 13-16 de julio de 2005, Vigo (España) To evaluate the possible contamination by trace metals (Ni and V) derived from the fuel spilt by the Prestige, a new analytical method for the simultaneous determination of both cited metals and Cu has been developed. This method has been applied to measure the concentration of Ni and V in two areas: the water column above the sunk tanker and the Galician continental shelf. According to typical values Northeast Atlantic Ocean no contamination has been found in the studied seawater areas, with the exception of Ni in the shipwreck station, where the concentration of this metal was twice the pristine level. The emulsion of the fuel can release metals to the water column, explaining the increase in Ni levels in certain areas This work is a contribution to the CICYT projects ‘Biogeochemical budget and 3D modelling of metal fluxes in a Galician Ria’ (ref. REN2003-04106-C03) No