Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

Recent environmental change and trace metal pollution in World Heritage Bathurst Harbour, southwest Tasmania, Australia

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Paleolimnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Bathurst Harbour in World Heritage southwest Tasmania, Australia, is one of the world’s most pristine estuarine systems. At present there is a lack of data on pollution impacts or long-term natural variability in the harbor. A ca. 350-year-old 210Pb-dated sediment core was analysed for trace metals to track pollution impacts from local and long-range sources. Lead and antimony increased from AD 1870 onwards, which likely reflects remote (i.e. mainland Australian and global) atmospheric pollution sources. Variability in the concentrations of copper and zinc closely followed the history of mining activities in western Tasmania, which began in the AD 1880s. Tin was generally low throughout the core, except for a large peak in AD 1989 ± 0.5 years, which may be a consequence of input from a local small-scale alluvial tin mine. Changes in diatom assemblages were also investigated. The diatom flora was composed mostly of planktonic freshwater and benthic brackish-marine species, consistent with stratified estuarine conditions. Since mining began, however, an overall decrease in the proportion of planktonic to benthic taxa occurred, with the exception of two distinct peaks in the twentieth century that coincided with periods of high rainfall. Despite the region’s remoteness, trace metal analyses revealed evidence of atmospheric pollution from Tasmanian and possibly longer-range mining activities. This, together with recent low rainfall, appears to have contributed to altering the diatom assemblages in one of the most pristine temperate estuaries in the world.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Al-Handal AY, Wulff A (2008) Marine epiphytic diatoms from the shallow sublittoral zone in Potter Cove, King George Island, Antarctica. Bot Mar 51:411–435

    Google Scholar 

  • ANZECC (2000) National water quality management strategy paper no. 4. Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality. Volume 1: the Guidelines. Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council and Agriculture and Resource Management Council of Australia and New Zealand

  • Appleby PG (2001) Chronostratigraphic techniques in recent sediments. In: Last WM, Smol JP (eds) Tracking environmental change using lake sediments volume 1: basin analysis, coring and chronological techniques. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp 171–203

  • Appleby PG (2008) Three decades of dating recent sediments by fallout radionuclides: a review. Holocene 18:83–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Appleby PG, Oldfield F (1978) The calculation of 210Pb dates assuming a constant rate of supply of unsupported 210Pb to the sediment. Catena 5:1–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett NS, Edgar GJ (2010) Distribution of benthic communities in the fjord-like Bathurst Channel ecosystem, south-western Tasmania, a globally anomalous estuarine protected area. Aquat Conserv 20:397–406

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Battarbee RW, Jones VJ, Flower RJ, Cameron NG, Bennion H, Carvalho L, Juggins S (2001) Diatoms. In: Smol JP, Birks HJB, Last WM (eds) Tracking environmental change using lake sediments volume 3: terrestrial, algal and siliceous indicators. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp 155–202

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett KD (1996) Determination of the number of zones in a biostratigraphical sequence. New Phytol 132:155–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bindler R, Anderson NJ, Renberg I, Malmquist C (2001) Palaeolimnological investigation of atmospheric pollution in the Søndre Strømfjord region, southern West Greenland: accumulation rates and spatial patterns. Geol Greenl Surv 189:48–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Birks HJB, Gordon AD (1985) Numerical methods in quaternary pollen analysis. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • BOM (2012) Precipitation data. http://www.bom.gov.au/tas (February 2012)

  • Bradbury P, Cumming B, Laird K (2002) A 1500-year record of climatic and environmental change in Elk Lake, Minnesota III: measures of past primary productivity. J Paleolimnol 27:321–340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brush GS (2001) Natural and anthropogenic changes in Chesapeake Bay during the last 1000 years. Hum Ecol Risk Assess 7:1283–1296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cattaneo A, Couillard Y, Wunsam S (2008) Sedimentary diatoms along a temporal and spatial gradient of metal contamination. J Paleolimnol 40:115–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cook ER, Buckley BM, D’Arrigo RD, Peterson MJ (2000) Warm-season temperatures since 1600 BC reconstructed from Tasmanian tree rings and their relationship to large-scale sea surface temperature anomalies. Clim Dyn 16:79–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dick J, Haynes D, Tibby J, Garcia A, Gell P (2011) A history of aquatic plants in the Coorong, a Ramsar-listed coastal wetland, South Australia. J Paleolimnol 46:623–635

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dodson JR, Mooney SD (2002) Assessment of historic human impact on south-eastern Australian environmental systems, using late Holocene rates of environmental change. Aust J Bot 50:455–464

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edgar G, Cresswell GR (1991) Seasonal changes in hydrology and the distribution of plankton in the Bathurst Harbour estuary, southwestern Tasmania, 1988-89. Pap Proc R Soc Tasman 125:61–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Edgar GJ, Last PR, Barrett NS, Gowlett-Holmes K, Driessen M, Mooney P (2010) Conservation of natural wilderness values in the Port Davey marine and estuarine protected area, south-western Tasmania. Aquat Conserv 20:297–311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellegaard M, Clarke A, Reuss N, Drew S, Weckström K, Juggins S, Anderson NJ, Conley DJ (2006) Multi-proxy evidence of long-term changes in ecosystem structure in a Danish marine estuary, linked to increased nutrient loading. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 68:567–578

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenaway CM, Paterson AM, Keller BW, Smol JP (2012) Dramatic diatom species assemblage responses in lakes recovering from acidification and metal contamination near Wawa, Ontario, Canada: a paleolimnological perspective. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 69:656–669

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grose MR, Barnes-Keoghan I, Corney SP, White CJ, Holz GK, Bennett JB, Gaynor SM, Bindoff NL (2010) General climate impacts. Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, Hobart

    Google Scholar 

  • Guiry MD, Guiry GM (2012) AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. http://www.algaebase.org (May 2012)

  • Harle KJ, Britton K, Heijnis H, Zawadzki A, Jenkinson AV (2002) Mud, mines and rainforest: a short history of human impact in western Tasmania, using pollen, trace metals and lead-210. Aust J Bot 50:481–497

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison J, Heijnis H, Caprarelli G (2003) Historical pollution variability from abandoned mine sites, Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, New South Wales, Australia. Environ Geol 43:680–687

    Google Scholar 

  • Haynes D, Skinner R, Tibby J, Cann J, Fluin J (2011) Diatom and foraminifera relationships to water quality in The Coorong, South Australia, and the development of a diatom-based salinity transfer function. J Paleolimnol 46:543–560

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodgson DA, Vyverman WG, Tyler PA (1997) Diatoms of meromictic lakes adjacent to the Gordon River, and of the Gordon River estuary in south-west Tasmania. In: Lange-Berlot H, Kociolek P (eds) Bioliotheca diatomologica band 35. Gebruder Borntraeger, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodgson DA, Vyverman WG, Chepstow-Lusty A, Tyler PA (2000) From rainforest to wasteland in 100 years: the limnological legacy of the Queenstown mines, western Tasmania. Arch Hydrobiol 149:153–176

    Google Scholar 

  • Hollins SE, Harrison JJ, Jones BG, Zawadzki A, Heijnis H (2011) Reconstructing recent sedimentation in two urbanised coastal lagoons (NSW, Australia) using radioisotopes and geochemistry. J Paleolimnol 46:579–596

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horton BP, Corbett R, Culver SJ, Edwards RJ, Hillier C (2006) Modern saltmarsh diatom distributions of the Outer Banks, North Carolina, and the development of a transfer function for high resolution reconstructions of sea level. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 69:381–394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2007) Forth assessment report on addressing uncertainties. Intergovernmental panel on climate change working group 1: the physical science basis. http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/contents.html (January 2010)

  • John J (1983) The diatom flora of the Swan River Estuary Western Australia, vol 64. Bibliotheca Phycologica, Vaduz

    Google Scholar 

  • Juggins S (2007) C2 Version 1.5. Software for ecological and palaeoecological data analysis and visualization, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne

  • Juggins S (2012) Rioja: analysis of quaternary science data version: 0.7–3. http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/rioja/index.html (August 2012)

  • Julen H (1974) The early history of the Tasmanian west coast. Foot & Playsted Pty. Ltd., Launceston

    Google Scholar 

  • Kauppila P, Weckström K, Vaalgamaa S, Korhola A, Pitkanen H, Reuss N, Drew S (2005) Tracing pollution and recovery using sediments in an urban estuary, northern Baltic Sea: are we far from ecological reference conditions? Mar Ecol Prog Ser 290:35–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee Y, Rosman KJR, Barbante C, Boutron CF (2008) Atmospheric pollution for trace elements in the remote high-altitude atmosphere in central Asia as recorded in snow from Mt. Qomolangma (Everest) of the Himalayas. Sci Total Environ 404:171–181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Logan B, Taffs KH (2011) The Burrum River estuary: identifying reference sites for Australian sub-tropical estuarine systems using paleolimnological methods. J Paleolimnol 46:613–622

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Logan B, Taffs KH, Eyre BD, Zawadski A (2011) Assessing changes in nutrient status in the Richmond River estuary, Australia, using paleolimnological methods. J Paleolimnol 46:597–611

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mackey DJ, Butler ECV, Carpenter PD, Higgins HW, O’Sullivan JE, Plaschke RB (1996) Trace elements and organic matter in a pristine environment: Bathurst Harbour, Southwestern Tasmania. Sci Total Environ 191:137–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marx SK, Kamber BS, McGowan HA, Zawadzki A (2010) Atmospheric pollutants in alpine peat bogs record a detailed chronology of industrial and agricultural development on the Australian continent. Environ Pollut 158:1615–1628

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McMinn A, Hallegraeff GM, Thomson P, Jenkinson AV, Heijnis H (1997) Cyst and radionucleotide evidence for the recent introduction of the toxic dinoflagellate Gymnodinium catenatum into Tasmanian waters. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 161:165–172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McMinn A, Augustinus P, Barton C (2003) Diatom analysis of late Holocene sediment cores from Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania. Alcheringa 27:135–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MRT (2012) Mineral resources Tasmania. http://www.mrt.tas.gov.au (September 2012)

  • Oksanen J, Kindt R, Legendre P, O’Hara RB (2007) Vegan: community ecology package version 1.8–5. http://cran.r-project.org/ (February 2010)

  • R Development Core Team (2009) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. http://www.R-project.org (February 2010)

  • Reid CM, James NP, Kyser TK, Barrett N, Hirst AJ (2008) Modern estuarine siliceous spiculites, Tasmania, Australia: a non-polar link to Phanerozoic spiculitic cherts. Geology 36:107–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts D, McMinn A (1998) A weighted-averaging regression and calibration model for inferring lakewater salinity from fossil diatom assemblages in saline lakes of the Vestfold Hills: a new tool for interpreting Holocene lake histories in Antarctica. J Paleolimnol 19:99–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruggiu D, Lugli A, Cattaneo A, Panzani P (1998) Paleoecological evidence for diatom response to metal pollution in Lake Orta (N. Italy). J Paleolimnol 20:333–345

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryves DB, Clarke AL, Appleby PG, Amsinck SL, Jeppesen E, Landkildehus F, Anderson JN (2004) Reconstructing the salinity and environment of the Limfjord and Vejlerne Nature Reserve, Denmark, using a diatom model for brackish lakes and fjords. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 61:1988–2006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saunders KM (2010) A diatom dataset and diatom-salinity inference model for southeast Australian estuaries and coastal lakes. J Paleolimnol 46:525–542

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saunders KM, McMinn A, Roberts D, Hodgson DA, Heijnis H (2007) Recent human-induced salinity changes in Ramsar-listed Orielton lagoon, southeast Australia. Aquat Conserv 17:51–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saunders KM, Hodgson DA, Harrison J, McMinn A (2008) Palaeoecological tools for improving the management of coastal ecosystems: a case study from Lake King (Gippsland Lakes) Australia. J Paleolimnol 40:33–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saunders KM, Hodgson DA, McMinn A (2009) Quantitative relationships between benthic diatom assemblages and water chemistry in Macquarie Island lakes and their potential for reconstructing past environmental changes. Antarct Sci 21:35–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saunders KM, Kamenik C, Hodgson DA, Hunziker S, Siffert L, Fischer D, Fujak M, Gibson JAE, Grosjean M (2012) Late Holocene changes in annual precipitation in northwest Tasmania and its potential links to shifts in the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds. Global Planet Change 92–93:82–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seen A, Townsend A, Atkinson B, Ellison J, Harrison J, Heijnis H (2004) Determining the history and sources of contaminants in sediments in the Tamar Estuary, Tasmania, using 210Pb dating and stable Pb isotope analyses. Environ Chem 1:49–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sloss CR, Jones BG, Brooke BP, Heijnis H, Murray-Wallace CV (2011) Contrasting sedimentation rates in Lake Illawarra and St Georges Basin, two large barrier estuaries on the southeast coast of Australia. J Paleolimnol 46:561–577

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smol JP (2008) Pollution of lakes and rivers: a paleoenvironmental perspective, 2nd edn. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Sonneman JA, Sincock A, Fluin J, Reid MA, Newall P, Tibby JC, Gell P (2000) An illustrated guide to common stream diatom species from temperate Australia. Cooperative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology, Albury

    Google Scholar 

  • Taffs KH, Farago LJ, Heijnis H, Jacobsen G (2008) A diatom-based Holocene record of human impact from a coastal environment: Tuckean Swamp, eastern Australia. J Paleolimnol 39:71–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tuovinen N, Weckström K, Salonen VP (2012) Impact of mine drainage on diatom communities of Orijarvi and Maarjarvi, lakes in SW Finland. Boreal Environ Res 17:437–446

    Google Scholar 

  • Van de Velde K, Vallelonga P, Candelone JP, Rosman KJR, Gaspari V, Cozzi G, Barbante C, Udisti R, Cescon P, Boutron CF (2005) Pb isotope record over one century in snow from Victoria Land, Antarctica. Earth Planet Sci Lett 232:95–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van de Vijver B, Frenot Y, Beyens L (2002) Freshwater diatoms from Ile de la Possession (Crozet Archipelago, Subantarctica). In: Lange-Berlot H, Kociolek P (eds) Bioliotheca diatomologica band 46. Gebruder Borntraeger, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Vyverman W, Vyverman R, Hodgson DA, Tyler PA (1995) Diatoms from Tasmanian mountain lakes: a reference dataset (TASDIAT) for environmental reconstructions and a systematic auteocological study. In: Cramer J (ed) Bioliotheca diatomologica band 33. Gebruder Borntraeger, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Wachnicka A, Gaiser E, Collins LS (2013) Correspondence of historic salinity fluctuations in Florida Bay, USA, to atmospheric variability and anthropogenic changes. J Paleolimnol 49:103–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weckström K (2006) Assessing recent eutrophication in coastal waters of the Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea) using subfossil diatoms. J Paleolimnol 35:571–592

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weckström K, Juggins S (2006) Coastal diatom-environment relationships from the Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea. New Phycol 42:21–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xiong L, Palmer JG (2000) Reconstruction of New Zealand temperatures back to AD 1720 using Libocedrus bidwillii tree rings. Clim Change 45:339–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and University of Tasmania are gratefully acknowledged for financial support. K. Saunders was funded by an Australian Postgraduate Award with additional funding from the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering. We would like to thank the Department of Primary Industries, Water and the Environment for a permit to undertake the fieldwork; Albert Thompson for field assistance; Andrew Wakefield for geological advice; Ashley Townsend for trace metal advice; Henri Wong for ICP-MS measurements; Karthigah Shanmugarajah for grain size measurements and Stuart Hankin for Fig. 1. We would also like to thank John Gibson for discussions, Martin Grosjean and Katazyna Dziegielewska for valuable comments and proof-reading the manuscript, and two reviewers and the editor for their considered comments and suggestions, which helped improve the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geography and the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, 3012, Bern, Switzerland

    Krystyna M. Saunders

  2. Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, 7000, Australia

    Krystyna M. Saunders & Andrew McMinn

  3. Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, NSW, 2234, Australia

    Jennifer J. Harrison

  4. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Casuarina, NT, 0811, Australia

    Edward C. V. Butler

  5. British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK

    Dominic A. Hodgson

Authors
  1. Krystyna M. Saunders
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jennifer J. Harrison
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Edward C. V. Butler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Dominic A. Hodgson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Andrew McMinn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Krystyna M. Saunders.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Saunders, K.M., Harrison, J.J., Butler, E.C.V. et al. Recent environmental change and trace metal pollution in World Heritage Bathurst Harbour, southwest Tasmania, Australia. J Paleolimnol 50, 471–485 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-013-9740-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-013-9740-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation