Invited Speaker

Abstract: Antarctica is one of the most pristine places on our Planet, where natural background levels of the elements can still be determined. The element distribution in the separate components of the Antarctic ecosystem represents the result of natural processes. The determination of element concentrations in different Antarctic lacustrine components for a relatively long period of time allows us to detect whether this ecosystem is polluted from human activities or, conversely, to confirm the absence of local and/or global anthropogenic contamination in the Antarctic areas investigated, to understand the biogeochemical cycle of the elements in this ecosystem and identify the baseline concentrations in these compartments. For these reasons, we have studied different Antarctic lacustrine matrices in several projects within the framework of the Italian National Antarctic Research Program. In particular, we have determined the element composition in water, sediment, algae and suspended particulate matter samples in six shallow Antarctic lakes located in Terra Nova Bay, namely Carezza, Edmonson Point 14 and 15a, Inexpressible Island, Tarn Flat and Gondwana, and in moss and soil samples collected near the these lakes. In these studies, we found that the lake water composition is mainly influenced by sea spray and lake geographical position and partially by meltwater input. The lacustrine sediments and soils sampled around the lakes show a similar mineralogical and chemical composition, as evidence that rock- and soil-weathering processes occur only during the warm summer periods, when the lakes are partially ice-free. Finally, trace element levels, mainly those of heavy metals, are very low and this can be considered a confirmation of absence of local and global anthropic contamination due to metal ions. Our results represent new important data about metal concentrations in lacustrine systems in Antarctica, furnishing ranges of values that can be considered as a reference. These data, therefore, could be used to detect or monitor future local and/or global anthropogenic contaminations.

Keywords: Lacustrine waters; Suspended particulate material; Lake sediments; Terra Nova Bay (Antarctica); Elements; Pattern Recognition

Biography: Dr. Mery Malandrino was born in Turin (Italy) on June 27, 1974. She graduated in Chemistry in 1998 and worked as Associate Professor in the Chemistry Department, University of Turin since 2018. The main results of her research activity are: identification of emission sources for atmospheric particulate matter in the Piedmont Region and their temporal evolution; installation, assisted by other Italian research groups, of a sampling station for atmospheric particulate matter in the Arctic; source apportionment and temporal evolution of trace elements in PM₁₀ collected near to Ny-Ålesund (Arctic); evaluation of the effect of different cryospheric features on water characteristics in alpine lakes; identification of an economic and easy-to-use system for in situ recovery of soil contaminated by heavy metals; interpretation of climate changes that occurred in the past through their "storage" in Antarctic marine sediment cores; definition of possible background values in Antarctic lakes and study of biogeochemical cycles of the elements in these ecosystems.