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4. ASAC_1163_Soil_Tox_Pet

Description

Taken from the abstract of the referenced paper:

Sub-Antarctic islands have been subjected to petroleum hydrocarbon spills, yet no information is available regarding the toxicity of petroleum hydrocarbons to these subpolar soils. The purpose of the present study was to identify soil biogeochemical toxicity end points for petroleum hydrocarbon contamination in Sub-Antarctic soil. Soil from Macquarie Island, a sub-Antarctic island south of Australia, was collected end exposed to concentrations of Special Antarctic Blend (SAB) diesel fuel, ranging from 0 to 50,000 mg fuel/kg soil, for a 21-d period. The sensitivity of nitrification, denitrification, carbohydrate utilisation, and total soil respiration to SAB fuel was assessed. Potential nitrification activity was the most sensitive indicator of SAB contamination assessed for nitrogen cycling, with an IC20 (concentration that results in a 20% change from the control response) of 190 mg fuel/kg soil. Potential denitrification activity was not as sensitive to SAB contamination, with an IC20 of 950 mg fuel/kg soil for nitrous oxide production. Nitrous oxide consumption was unaffected by SAB contamintation. Carbohydrate utilisation (respiration caused by sucrose) was a more sensitive indicator (IC20, 16 mg fuel/kg soil) of SAB contamination than total respiration (IC20, 220 mg fuel/kg soil). However, total soil respiration was a more responsive measurement end point, increasing soil respiration over a 72-h period by 17 mg of CO2, compared to a change of only 2.1 mg of CO2 for carbohydrate utilisation. Our results indicate that IC20s varied between 16 to 950 mg fuel/kg soil for Macquarie Island soil spiked with SAB diesel fuel. These results indicate that current cleanup levels derived from temperate zones may be too liberal for soil contamination in sub-Antarctic islands.

This work was completed as part of ASAC project 1163 (ASAC_1163).

Quality

Taken from a section of the materials and methods. For full details, see the referenced paper.

Soil characterisation
Soil from Macquarie Island was collected on March 19, 2003. in a capped, 80.4 x 5.4 cm polyvinyl chloride core and stored at 4 degrees C. The soil was stored in this fashion for approximately 19 months. A storage temperature of 4 degrees C was chosen to mimic the typical climatic conditions on Macquarie Island. The soil core was not sealed airtight, allowing some gas exchange to occur. It is anticipated that the storage period did not change the microbial community significantly. The top 65 cm of soil (~900 g) from the core were combined. The soil was characterised for soil moisture content, particle size, and total organic matter. The soil characteristics were as follows: Gravimetric water content, 22.2%; total organic matter, 4.46%. The particle size analysis revealed gravel content (greater than 2 mm) of 4.16%, coarse sand content (0.25-1.0mm) of 66.35%, fine sand content (0.125-0.25mm) of 5.65%, and coarse silt content or finer (less than 0.063mm) of 1.7%

Access

A copy of the referenced paper is available for access by AAD staff only from the provided URL.

Temporal Coverages

• Start date: 2003-03-19 - Stop date: 2005-10-31

Spatial Coverages

Science Keywords

• EARTH SCIENCE > HUMAN DIMENSIONS > ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS > BIOCHEMICAL RELEASE
• EARTH SCIENCE > HUMAN DIMENSIONS > ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS > CONTAMINANT LEVELS/SPILLS
• EARTH SCIENCE > HUMAN DIMENSIONS > ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS > OIL SPILLS
• EARTH SCIENCE > HUMAN DIMENSIONS > ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
• EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > DENITRIFICATION RATE
• EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > ORGANIC MATTER
• EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > SOIL MOISTURE/WATER CONTENT
• EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > SOIL RESPIRATION
• EARTH SCIENCE > SOLID EARTH > EARTH GASES/LIQUIDS > PETROLEUM
• EARTH SCIENCE > HUMAN DIMENSIONS > ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE/MANAGEMENT > ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS

Use Constraints

This data set conforms to the CCBY Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Please follow instructions listed in the citation reference provided at http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/citation.cfm?entry_id=ASAC_1163_Soil_Tox_Pet when using these data.