Project 4332

Polar Regions are environmental 'sinks' for man-made, Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). The unique
biogeochemical processes governing POP behaviour in the Polar landscape are not understood yet underpin
our ability to predict their impact in Polar ecosystems. The Antarctic seasonal-ice zone provides an archetype
for multi-compartment, temporal observations of POP partitioning in response to the major drivers of POP transfer and fate such as ice
cover and primary productivity. In addition, the major Antarctic POP reservoirs of seawater and ice will be
characterised through this project. Empirical data will be used to parameterise a regional POP mass balance model. Model application to
varying climate scenarios will extend our understanding of POP behaviour and threat in Polar Regions.

During the 2015/16 austral summer season, our team conducted work on the sea-ice in the vicinity of Casey station. The aim was to collect parallel air, sea-ice and sea-water samples over a five week period to account for the partitioning of persistent organics pollutants in response to sea-ice melt. This project is a partner/service project to our current Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Grant by the same name. The experimental design and methods were a complete replicate of our 2015 Arctic season conducted in far north-east Greenland in June/July, 2015. Logistical difficulties meant that fewer samples than planned were able to be collected. Despite this, some samples were salvaged and are currently being analysed under clean room conditions at Environment Canada.

Essential equipment for the project was "winterized" in Antarctica throughout 2016 due to the Aurora Australis misadventure in 2015/16 season. No field work for this project could therefore be undertaken in 2016/17 and the project/funding was postponed for a year to reflect this.

Polar Regions are environmental sinks for man-made, Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). The unique biogeochemical processes governing POP behaviour in the Polar landscape are not understood yet underpin our ability to predict their impact in Polar ecosystems. The Antarctic seasonal-ice zone provides an archetype for multi-compartment, temporal observations of POP partitioning in response to the major drivers of POP transfer and fate such as ice cover and primary productivity. In addition, the major Antarctic POP reservoirs of seawater and ice will be characterised through this project. Empirical data will be used to parameterise a regional POP mass balance model. Model application to varying climate scenarios will extend our understanding of POP behaviour and threat in Polar Regions.