Metals emitted by the young submarine volcano Tagoro (El Hierro, Canary Islands): quantification in seawater and plankton and their potential impact
Authors
Oosterbaan, M. (Marijn)Date
2016-07Type
master thesisKeywords
El Hierro submarine volcanoTagoro volcano
heavy metal seawater
plancton
bioaccumulation
Abstract
The concentrations of twenty metal elements in seawater and in plankton around
the recently erupted submarine volcano Tagoro just South of the island El Hierro
(Canary Islands, Spain) were investigated in order to assess their potential hazard
to the marine environment. Samples of the seawater and the plankton were
collected from 2013 to 2016 during the Vulcano and Vulcana monitoring cruises,
using a rosette with Niskin bottles and a WP2 net (200 m mesh size). Significantly
higher concentrations of many metals were found in both the seawater and
the plankton around the volcano compared to reference stations. The amount of
metals emitted by the volcano appeared to be decreasing over the years following
the eruption in 2011-2012, which greatly reduced the biomass of the plankton
living in the area of influence of the volcano. In 2013 the metal concentrations
found in the plankton living in the area were very high, but a decrease in concentrations
was found towards 2016. Around ...
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