Geothermal Arsenic Impacts on Stream Animals
- Location
- Waipapa Stream, New Zealand; Taupo Volcanic Zone
- Conference
- New Zealand Geothermal Workshop
- Year
- 1992
- Session
- Keynote Presentations
- Language
- English
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Abstract
Freshwater snails, exposed to a mean water concentrationof arsenic of 0.088 in a stream receiving geothermal fluid, did not contain more arsenic than snails exposed to water concentrationsof arsenic less than 0.001 Irrespective of the exposure, arsenic in the snailswas concentrated onto the outer surface of their shells. An abiotic mechanism is postulated. The reason for the low arsenic concentrations in the snail soft body parts was shown to be the low concentrationsin the main component of the snail diet, chain diatoms. Snails with filamentous green algae containing high concentrations of arsenic, accumulated arsenic to high levels in their soft body parts.
Copyright 1992, University of Auckland. Readers who download papers from this site should honour the copyright of the original authors, and may not copy or distribute the work further without the permission of the original publisher.