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Benthic Foraminafera as Indicators of Heavy Metal Pollution. A New Method of Biological Monitoring of the Mediterranean Sea

Ziel

- To understand the effects of man made pollution of the Mediterranean sea with heavy metals on foraminifera in order to use these as bioindicators for monitoring marine pollution;
- To understand the environmental evolution of the Iskenderun, Atlit and Haifa Bays in the last 10.000 years due to natural and anthropogenic causes.
- Four marine sampling cruises have been successfully carried out. A large number of specialists from many fields, including botany, ecology, ecotoxicology, geology, palaeontology, chemistry and oceanography have worked together to analyse the samples collected at the 229 stations (each station was sampled at two different seasons). An extensive data base has been compiled for the two study regions. This data base includes environmental chemical-physical parameters of the sea water and sediments, benthic foraminiferal population characteristics and concentration and distribution of heavy metals.
- To achieve the primary goal of the project, the following tasks have been accomplished :
- taxonomic composition, assemblage structure, relative abundance, richness, diversity and ecology of benthic foraminifera;
- influence of oceanographic and sedimentological parameters on foraminiferal distribution;
- influence of primary productivity on foraminiferal distribution;
- influence of heavy metals on foraminiferal distribution;
- influence of heavy metals on test morphology and biochemistry;
- influence of heavy metals on defence mechanisms of foraminifera.

- After three years of research, the following achievements can be drown :
- Benthic foraminifera are very sensitive to wastes disposed into their environment;
- Benthic foraminifera have several defence mechanisms that protect them from toxins. The stunting decrease in population density and the deformation of the tests are all outward manifestations that different levels of these biological barriers have been breached;
- Heavy metals are responsible for tests' deformities. Deformed tests are characterised by elevate concentration of Mg compared with non-deformed tests;
- The Turkish coast-line suffered more contamination that the Israeli coasts, however in both areas a considerable concentration of Chernobyl-derived radiocesium has been detected. High concentration of heavy metals such Cr, Cu, Pb, Cd and Zn were detected in the sediments recovered nearby the iron-steel complex in Iskenderun Bay;
- The Israeli northern shelf is potentially dangerous for endemic disease of biota because of very high concentration of Cd and As.

- To achieve the secondary goal of the project, the following tasks have been accomplished :
- relation between substrata and distribution of benthic foraminifera in sediments from cores;
- relation between environmental parameters and distribution of benthic foraminifera in the surface sediments compared with their distribution in sediments from the cores;
- age determination of sediments in the cores by 14C dating;
- general geology of the area in the collisional contest of the eastern Mediterranean area.

Follow-up

- Although the project is formally ended, further work is planned. It will be focused on culture experiments for monitoring the response of foraminifera to various levels of selected trace metals. This research will enable to reveal biological defence mechanisms of foraminifera as well as to determine which metal at what degree of pollution induces various deformations of foraminiferal tests. The work in the incoming year will also include tests on the influence of heavy metal pollution on foraminiferal tests with geochemical, morphological, morphometrical and crystallographic analyses and the continuation of investigations on cores.
- Field studies including sampling and treatment of sediment and living foraminiferal samples, in-situ measurements of environmental parameters (i.e. temperature, salinity, pH), coring in strategic areas closed to pollution sources;
- Laboratory analyses of water and sediment samples (grain size and chemical analyses of sediment from grab and core samples for heavy metals concentration), chemical analyses of sea water for nutrients determination (i.e. phosphates and nitrates), organic carbon content, microstructures, anthropogenic pollution evidence in the sediment and in the benthic foraminifera;
- Laboratory treatment of foraminifera, taxonomic studies, biochemical analyses of foraminiferal tests, crystallographic analyses of foraminiferal tests;
- Culturing experiments over six months period to grow selected species at various controlled quantities of specific trace metals;
- Statistical treatment of all collected data.

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Finanzierungsplan

CSC - Cost-sharing contracts

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THE UNIVERSITY OF MILANO
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Letzte Aktualisierung: 25 August 1998

Mein Booklet

Permalink: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/AVI*920007/de

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