SOME MACROFAUNAL EFFECTS OF LOCAL POLLUTION AND GLACIER-INDUCED SEDIMENTATION, WITH INDICATIVE CHEMICAL-ANALYSES, IN THE SEDIMENTS OF 2 ARCTIC FJORDS

Macrofaunal (> 1 mm) and chemical sediment sampling was carried out in August 1992 close to the garbage dumping sites of the coal-mining ind ustrialised settlements Longyearbyen (Adventfjord) and Barentsburg (Gr onfjord), located in the Isfjord system, Svalbard. Six stations were s ampled with respect to chemical parameters and fauna, while three stat ions were sampled with respect to only chemical parameters that compri sed total organic carbon, total nitrogen, heavy metals (Hg, Cd, Pb, Cu ), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and chlorinated hydrocarbons (5-CB, HCB, gamma-HCH, DDT, PCB7). The concentrations of PCB7, PAH an d HCB were, respectively, up to 5, 16 and 30 times higher than assumed background concentrations, presumably as a result of terrestrial wate r drainage of coal particles originating from local coal-stores and in dustrial activities in general. The faunal diversities across the samp led areas were relatively low (e.g. Shannon-Wiener indices between 2.0 and 3.2), probably mainly as a result of glacier-induced fine-particu lated inorganic impacts. A relatively high faunal abundance, and a qua ntitative dominance of the opportunistic polychaete taxa Capitella cap itata and Chaetozone/Tharyx sp. in the Adventfjord indicated an additi onal source of perturbation, which was related to the untreated local sewage effluents and/or drainage water from the garbage dumping sites.