Environmental Distribution Processes of Persistent Organic Pollutants in Polar Regions

• Main Author: Bigot, Marie Amandine Lydia
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Griffith University 2016
• Subjects: Global atmospheric transpor; Persistent Organic Pollutants POPs; Polar biota; Antarctic; Arctic; Indian; Pacific; Southern Ocean; Antarc*; Global warming; Ice Shelves; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25904/1912/2416; https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/handle/10072/366593

Global atmospheric transport has led to the dispersal of many Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) generated at lower latitudes, allowing them to reach Polar latitudes. Although the ice has long been considered simply as a means of immobilising these toxic chemicals, it is in fact an annual source to the local environment during seasonal spring melt. This results in pulse exposure to Polar biota during summer periods of high marine productivity. In the global warming context, the progressive melt of ice shelves is also expected to release historically trapped POPs back into the local environment. This PhD study was designed around a growing need to understand environmental chemical partitioning, as part of resolving biogeochemical cycling uncertainties of these chemicals in the Polar landscape. The aims of this PhD were a) to acquire empirical data regarding POP partitioning and determine the associated air-seawater exchange status in the marine environment of the Indian-Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean, b) to investigate and compare Arctic and Antarctic air/snow/sea-ice/seawater POP reservoirs and their dynamics during spring and c) to evaluate the potential to determine historical POP accumulation levels from archived Antarctic firn cores.