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. (2018). Accumulate or eliminate? Seasonal mercury dynamics in albatrosses, the most contaminated family of birds (Vol. 241).
Abstract: Albatrosses (Diomedeidae) are iconic pelagic seabirds whose life-history traits (longevity, high trophic position) put them at risk of high levels of exposure to methylmercury (MeHg), a powerful neurotoxin that threatens humans and wildlife. Here, we report total Hg (THg) concentrations in body feathers from 516 individual albatrosses from 35 populations, including all 20 taxa breeding in the Southern Ocean. Our key finding is that albatrosses constitute the family of birds with the highest levels of contamination by Hg, with mean feather THg concentrations in different populations ranging from moderate (3.8??g/g) to exceptionally high (34.6??g/g). Phylogeny had a significant effect on feather THg concentrations, with the mean decreasing in the order Diomedea?>?Phoebetria?>?Thalassarche. Unexpectedly, moulting habitats (reflected in feather ?13C values) was the main driver of feather THg concentrations, indicating increasing MeHg exposure with decreasing latitude, from Antarctic to subtropical waters. The role of moulting habitat suggests that the majority of MeHg eliminated into feathers by albatrosses is from recent food intake (income strategy). They thus differ from species that depurate MeHg into feathers that has been accumulated in internal tissues between two successive moults (capital strategy). Since albatrosses are amongst the most threatened families of birds, it is noteworthy that two albatrosses listed as Critical by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) that moult and breed in temperate waters are the most Hg-contaminated species (the Amsterdam and Tristan albatrosses). These data emphasize the urgent need for robust assessment of the impact of Hg contamination on the biology of albatrosses and they document the high MeHg level exposure of wildlife living in the most remote marine areas on Earth.
Keywords: Antarctica Feathers Foraging Methylmercury Moult Seabirds Southern ocean Stable isotopes
Programme: 109
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. (2017). From Antarctica to the subtropics: Contrasted geographical concentrations of selenium, mercury, and persistent organic pollutants in skua chicks (Catharacta spp.) (Vol. 228).
Keywords: Bioaccumulation Blood Chick HCB Southern Ocean Stable isotopes
Programme: 109
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. Microplastic pollution in the Greenland Sea: Background levels and selective contamination of planktivorous diving seabirds (Vol. 219).
Keywords: Arctic Little auk Plastic Sea ice Selective uptake Zooplankton
Programme: 388
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. (2016). Does temporal variation of mercury levels in Arctic seabirds reflect changes in global environmental contamination, or a modification of Arctic marine food web functioning? (Vol. 211).
Keywords: Arctic Bio-indicator Little auk Metal Temporal trend Zooplankton
Programme: 388
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. (2018). Mercury exposure and short-term consequences on physiology and reproduction in Antarctic petrels (Vol. 237).
Keywords: Antarctica Bioaccumulation Body condition Breeding success Stable isotopes Trophic position
Programme: 388
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A. Jaffal, N. Givaudan, S. Betoulle, A. Terreau, S. Paris-Palacios, S. Biagianti-Risbourg, E. Beall, H. Roche. (2011). Polychlorinated biphenyls in freshwater salmonids from the Kerguelen Islands in the Southern Ocean (Vol. 159).
Keywords: Kerguelen Islands PCB accumulation Salmonids Sub-Antarctic area
Programme: 409
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. (2017). Recent 210Pb, 137Cs and 241Am accumulation in an ombrotrophic peatland from Amsterdam Island (Southern Indian Ocean) (Vol. 175-176).
Keywords: Am Cs Pb Peat Radionuclides Southern indian ocean
Programme: 1133
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Alba Zanini, Silvia Vernetto, Vicente Ciancio, Gustavo Di Giovan, Paolo Morfino, Alessandro Liberatore, Gianrossano Giannini, Guillaume Hubert. (2019). Environmental radiation dosimetry at high southern latitudes with Liulin type instruments (Vol. 208-209).
Abstract: Because of the geomagnetic field shape, the polar regions are the most exposed to secondary particles and radiation produced by primary cosmic rays in the atmosphere. At present, only few experimental measurements of environmental dose are reported in literature at high southern latitudes. A three year campaign has been carried out in two different locations, Ushuaia (Argentina, 54.80? S, 68.30? W) and Marambio (Antarctica, 64.24? S, 56.63? W), using a Liulin type detector, allowing to measure the total environmental radiation flux and dose. The Liulin type instrument, measuring the energy deposition in a silicon detector, is especially suitable to evaluate the dose, separating the low and high LET (Linear Energy Transfer) components. The instrument was installed at the GAW Station in Ushuaia and inside the LAMBI Laboratory at the Marambio Antarctic base. In December 2017 preliminary measurements have been carried out at the French-Italian base Dome C, at 3233?m a.s.l., with a Liulin-AR, a new version of Liulin spectrometer, specifically built for this application by the Space Research and Technology Institute of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. In this paper the environmental dose values obtained in the different southern high latitude locations are compared and discussed.
Keywords: Antarctic Cosmic rays Dosimetry High latitudes Liulin
Programme: 1112
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J. Mouginot, E. Rignot, Y. Gim, D. Kirchner, E. Le Meur. (2014). Low-frequency radar sounding of ice in East Antarctica and southern Greenland (Vol. 55).
Keywords: Antarctic glaciology ground-penetrating radar radio-echo sounding remote sensing
Programme: 1053
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. (2020). (Vol. 46).
Abstract: In Beringia, as in many other parts of the world, stone tools are the main diagnostic cultural artifact for understanding prehistoric societies. The analysis of lithic assemblages is the basis for establishing connections between sites and techno-complexes. Through highlighting major technological trends, archaeologists are able to interpret processes such as cultural continuity and migrations. Here we present a fine-grained analysis of two assemblages to perceive in detail the individuals behind the lithic productions, more specifically apprentice knappers. Although recognition of apprenticeship in a prehistoric context is not new, this is the first such study for Alaska and Beringia. We focus on two distinct assemblages with microblade technology: the late Pleistocene component of Swan Point CZ4b (Tanana valley) and the early Holocene component of Little Panguingue Creek C2 (Nenana valley), both in central Alaska.
Keywords: Alaska apprenticeship lithic technology microblade prehistory
Programme: 1217
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