Geochemical features of heavy metal bioaccumulation in the Guaymas Basin of the Gulf of California

Atomic absorption spectroscopy (flame and graphite furnace techniques) and instrumental neutron activation analysis were used for determining the Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd, Ag, Co, Cr, As, Se, Sb, Ba, Au, and Hg contents in 25 samples of different tissues and whole organisms inhabiting the southern trough in the Guaymas Basin (Gulf of California) and in several samples of its bottom waters. It is shown that the habitat environment of this hydrothermal field with high primary production of both photosynthetic and bacterial chemosynthetic origin influences the Fe and Mn ratios in the waters of the microbiotopes and the distribution patterns of the metals in the external and internal organs of the benthic animals. In the dominant specialized taxa, the maximal bioaccumulation of metals is registered both in the organs related to bacterial chemosynthesis such as the trophosome of Vestimentifera Riftia pachyptila and the gills of the vesicomyid clam Archivestica gigas and in other organs. The other organisms such as the mollusks Nuculana grasslei, actinias Paraphelliactis pabista, Actinaria, and Spongia and the crabs Munidopsis alvisca demonstrate high bioaccumulation properties as well. The metal concentration coefficient is highly variable ranging from 10 to 10⁴. The changes in the molar Fe/Mn ratio values imply the partitioning of these two metals in the following migration succession: microbiotope water-external organs-internal organs.