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UNIVERSITY

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Jens Søndergaard (PI) – AU, Roskilde Lis Bach – AU, Roskilde Anders Mosbech – AU, Roskilde Norman Halden – Univ. of Manitoba

MARINE WP 10: OTOLITHS AND MUSSEL SHELLS AS RECORDERS OF POTENTIAL FUTURE POLLUTION ON A TRANSECT FROM NUUK TO THE PROPOSED ISUA IRON-MINE

18. DECEMBER 2013

AARHUS

UNIVERSITY

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PROJECT IDEA

›Otoliths and mussel shells as new tools to assess mining pollution in Greenland?

Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled

Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-

MS)

AARHUS

UNIVERSITY

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PROJECT IDEA

›Otoliths and mussel shells as new tools to assess mining pollution in Greenland?

›Main focus on otoliths from shorthorn sculpins

› Establish baseline knowledge prior to the

proposed Isua mine

› Evaluate the technique based on sampling from

a range of other locations in Greenland incl.

previously mining impacted areas and Nuuk

Harbour

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FIELD WORK

›Nuuk, 6-16 September 2013

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FIELD WORK

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SAMPLING

› Isua mine port/outlet point • Shorthorn sculpins (12) • Blue mussels (5) • Atlantic cod (7)

› Nuuk Harbour • Shorthorn sculpins (20) • Blue mussels (5)

› Reference site 1 (Parallel Is.) • Shorthorn sculpins (20)

› Reference site 2 (Kangeq) • Shorthorn sculpins (20)

› Previously collected shorthorn sculpin otoliths from other locations in Greenland (Ivittut, Maarmorilik, Thule, Disko, Nalunaq, Scoresbysund) (3 from each location)

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LAB WORK

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FURTHER WORK

›Sample preparation for LA-ICP-MS analyses (University of Manitoba, on-going)

› LA-ICP-MS analyses (University of Manitoba, February 2014)

›Data treatment, article writing (2014-spring 2015)

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UNIVERSITY

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EXPECTED PAPERS

1. Otoliths and mussel shells as recorders of past, present and future anthropogenic impact in the Nuuk Fiord, Greenland.

2. Trace element distributions in sculpin otoliths from a range of locations in Greenland: Time-resolved recorders of natural and human-induced variations in water chemistry and food-supply.

AARHUS

UNIVERSITY

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THANKS:

›ARC for funding ›Special thanks to: › Søren Rysgaard

› Egon Frandsen

› Christina Levisen

› Lotte Sørensen

› Bjarne Jensen

› Ole Geertz-Hansen

› Jose Nymand

› Ivali Lennert