Seasonal variation of heavy metals in oysters from Darwin Harbor, Northern Territory, Australia

Journal Article · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1992 · Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00197480· OSTI ID:7235805

Peerzada, N; Kozlik, E ^[1]

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1. Northern Territory Univ., Darwin (Australia)

In this study the authors report the seasonal variation in the concentrations of zinc, lead, cadmium, copper, and iron in oysters over a period of eight months from five different sites in Darwin Harbor. The site selection was based on previous work, with the exception of Darwin Wharf. Seasonal variation of heavy metals in marine organisms, especially bivalves, has been reported by many workers. The highest concentrations of zinc and copper were found in the summer month of January and the lowest at the end of winter month of October. Darwin Harbor lies well within the tropics and is subjected to two weather systems. The dry season extends from April to October approximately, when southeast trade winds prevail, and the wet season extends from November to April, when the northwest monsoon prevails. Sea-surface temperatures of Darwin Harbor show no great variation between wet and dry seasons. It is virtually constant during the wet season (about 28-29C) and only a few degrees lower during the dry season (25-28C). Salinity ranges from 27.8 to 35.5 ppt between the months of February and September.

• OSTI ID: 7235805
• Journal Information: Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology; (United States), Vol. 48:1; ISSN 0007-4861
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
METALS
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
OYSTERS
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
AUSTRALIA
CADMIUM COMPOUNDS
COPPER COMPOUNDS
IRON COMPOUNDS
PRECIPITATION
ZINC COMPOUNDS
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
AUSTRALASIA
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ELEMENTS
INVERTEBRATES
MOLLUSCS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
VARIATIONS
560300* - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology