Hydrocarbons in the Antarctic marine environment: monitoring and background

The Antarctic marine ecosystem is proposed as an environment in which to monitor global hydrocarbon background levels. Hydrocarbon concentrations are probably uniform throughout the Southern Ocean and it is difficult to resolve low levels of contamination against this background. Indices for identifying anthropogenic hydrocarbons have been found to be ambiguous, but principal component analysis has successfully identified potentially polluted inshore waters. Hydrocarbon contamination in the Antarctic occurs only at a small number of coastal locations and is limited in extent. This paper is a review of the work on hydrocarbons in the Southern Ocean by the British Antarctic Survey in the Bransfield Strait and Scotia Sea regions. Analytical methods are discussed and a monitoring programme is developed.