Marine Pollution Bulletin 73 (2013) 306–313

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Marine Pollution Bulletin

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Trace metals associated with deep-sea tailings placement at the Batu Hijau
copper–gold mine, Sumbawa, Indonesia
Brad M. Angel a,⇑, Stuart L. Simpson a, Chad V. Jarolimek a, Rob Jung a, Jorina Waworuntu b,
Grant Batterham b
a
Centre for Environmental Contaminants Research, CSIRO Land and Water, Locked Mailbag 2007, Kirrawee, NSW 2232, Australia
b
PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, Batu Hijau Project, Sumbawa Barat, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Indonesia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Keywords: The Batu Hijau copper–gold mine on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia operates a deep-sea tailings place-
Copper ment (DSTP) facility to dispose of the tailings within the offshore Senunu Canyon. The concentrations of
Arsenic trace metals in tailings, waters, and sediments from locations in the vicinity of the DSTP were determined
Mercury during surveys in 2004 and 2009. In coastal and deep seawater samples from Alas Strait and the South
Deep sea tailings placement
Coast of Sumbawa, the dissolved concentrations of Ag, As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Pb and Zn were in the sub lg/L
range. Dissolved copper concentrations ranged from 0.05 to 0.65 lg/L for all depths at these sites. Dis-
solved copper concentrations were the highest in the bottom-water from within the tailings plume inside
Senunu Canyon, with up to 6.5 lg Cu/L measured in close proximity to the tailings discharge. In general,
the concentrations of dissolved and particulate metals were similar in 2004 and 2009.
Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The Batu Hijau copper–gold mine is located on the southwest
corner of the island of Sumbawa in the province of West Nusa
Tenggara, Indonesia (Fig. 1). The mine is operated by PT Newmont
Nusa Tenggara (PTNNT) and processes ore at a rate of approxi-
mately 130,000 t/d. The open-pit mine is at an elevation of
450 m above sea level. Crushed ore is processed through a grinding
circuit and flotation-based concentrator for copper and gold
extraction. The tailings slurry from the operation consists of finely
ground rock that is disposed of by a deep-sea tailings placement
(DSTP) facility. This method of disposal was determined to have
several advantages over on-land disposal and was approved by
the Government of Indonesia (ANDAL, 1996). The tailings, which
typically comprise approximately 60% solids, are conveyed by
gravity in a pipeline from the process plant to the outfall discharge
point at the head of a steep submarine canyon (the Senunu Can-
yon) located 3.2 km off shore at 110 m depth. From the point of
discharge, the tailings, flow down the steep off-shore canyon as a
bottom-attached density current and are ultimately deposited in
the deep oceans at depths in excess of 3000 m.
The use of DSTP for mining operations is not uncommon in
Indo-Pacific archipelagic nations, and has also been used by
mines in the northern hemisphere (Apte and Kwong, 2004; Jones
and Ellis 1995; Poling et al., 2002; SAMS, 2010) (Supplementary
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 297106851; fax: +61 297106800.
E-mail address: brad.angel@csiro.au (B.M. Angel).
Table S1). The existing DSTP facilities of PTNNT deposit tailings
at depths of between 1000 and 3000 m, which are considerably
deeper than a number of past marine disposal operations that
have deposited at depths of between 80 and 500 m (e.g. Island
Copper, Kitsault – Canada; Atlas Copper – Philippines; Black An-
gel – Greenland; Minahasa Raya – Indonesia). The justification
for selecting DSTP for tailings management is usually based on
the challenges in maintaining on-land tailings storage facilities
in high rainfall, mountainous and seismically active terrain and
the proximity to deep oceanic canyons. The DSTPs are engineered
to ensure that tailings density, seabed gradients and oceano-
graphic currents and upwelling characteristics at the pipeline exit
point minimise material rising into the surface waters. The Batu
Hijau copper/gold mine is one of the larger examples of DSTP in
the world and deposits tailings at the greatest depth.
The discharged tailings slurry contains elevated concentra-
tions of a range of metals that have the potential to impact on
the marine environment. However, the dilution in the receiving
environment is predicted to result in concentrations being below
those predicted to cause effects to aquatic biota (ANZECC/ARM-
CANZ, 2000). The present study investigated the water-borne
and benthic sediment metal concentrations in Senunu Canyon,
the South Coast of Sumbawa Island, and Alas Strait, which sepa-
rates Sumbawa and Lombok Islands. Depth profile sampling was
performed at a range of locations to allow comparison of dis-
solved metals near the discharge point with those in the sur-
rounding environment and with internationally accepted water
quality guidelines.

0025-326X/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.04.013
 B.M. Angel et al. / Marine Pollution Bulletin 73 (2013) 306–313
Fig. 1. Location of the sampling sites in the water off Sumbawa Island, Indonesia.
2. Methods
2.1. Field site
This study involved two water sampling surveys undertaken in
October 2004 and April 2009 in the area shown in Fig. 1. The study
area included five reference sites in Alas Strait, between the islands
of Sumbawa and Lombok, that were sufficiently distant (20–
40 km) to not be impacted by the DSTP. There were twelve sites
on the south-western side of Sumbawa, within 4–8 km of the DSTP,
and six sites in the Senunu Canyon (sites with code ‘‘S’’) within
1.5 km of the DSTP.
2.2. Water sample collection and treatment
High purity deionised water (18 MX/cm, Milli-Q, Millipore) was
used in all equipment washing procedures and for the preparation
of metal standards. One-litre low-density polyethylene (LDPE)
(Nalgene) bottles were used for sampling waters for all metals
other than mercury and 1-L fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP)
(Nalgene) bottles were used for sampling waters for mercury anal-
yses. The LDPE bottles were cleaned rigorously before use, using a
three-stage sequential washing procedure. This involved soaking
bottles and caps in 2% detergent solution (Extran) for at least 2 h,
then soaking in 10% HNO3 (Merck, Analytical Reagent grade) for
at least 24 h, and then soaking in 1% high purity nitric acid (Merck
Tracepur) for at least 48 h, with at least five rinses with Milli-Q
water between each step. The 1-L FEP bottles were cleaned by
307
soaking in 50% analytical grade (AR) nitric acid for 48 h, and then
soaking in 10% ultra-pure grade hydrochloric acid (Merck Trace-
pur) for at least 72 h, and then soaked in Milli-Q water for at least
48 h, with at least five rinses with Milli-Q water, between each
step. Each bottle was stored inside two polyethylene sealable bags
for transport to and from the field.
Samples were collected from between 2 and 4 depths at each
site using acid-washed (10% HNO3 v/v) NiskinÒ samplers. The Ni-
skinÒ was suspended at the sample depths of 3, 50, and 120 m
below the surface and approximately 10 m above the sea floor
(varied depending on site) for approximately 10 min to rinse
the sampler with sample before triggering the device to obtain
the sample. Ultratrace sampling techniques were employed in
the field similar to those described by Ahlers et al. (1990). Two
people were involved in the sampling operation and both wore
powderless vinyl gloves (Bioclean 100, Nitritex Ltd). One person
operated the Niskin sampler by releasing the pressure valve and
releasing the tap to dispense the sample. The second person han-
dled the LDPE and FEP bottles, which involved removing bottles
from zip-lock bags, removing the lids and filling with the sample
that was dispensed from the Niskin sampler, closing the lid, and
replacing the bottle back into two zip-lock bags. For purposes
of quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) during sampling of
waters, at least 10% site duplicates and 10% field blanks (air
blanks) were collected.
Following collection, samples were stored in ice-filled cooler
boxes until return to the laboratory. The samples were then filtered
(Angel et al., 2010a; Hatje et al., 2003) within 8 h of collection
using acid-washed (10% HNO3, Tracepur, 24 h) polycarbonate filter
308 B.M. Angel et al. / Marine Pollution Bulletin 73 (2013) 306–313
rigs (Sartorius) fitted with membrane filters (50 mm, type HA, Mil-
lipore). Filtrates were transferred into 1 L LDPE and FEP bottles
(Nalgene) following a rinse with the initial filtrate. The filtrates
were preserved by addition of 2 mL/L concentrated HNO3 (Merck
Tracepur).
2.3. Physicochemical measurements
A CTD probe (STD-12 Plus profiler with dissolved oxygen (DO)
sensor and transmissometer) was deployed at every water sam-
pling site and measurements of water density, light transmission,
dissolved oxygen, salinity, and temperature profiles were under-
taken prior to sample collection.
2.4. Chemical analyses
The total dissolved arsenic concentrations were determined by
hydride-generation atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), using
procedures based on the standard methods described by APHA
(2012). Samples were first digested by addition of potassium per-
sulfate (1% m/v final concentration) and heating to 120 °C for
30 min in an autoclave followed by the addition of concentrated
hydrochloric (3 M final concentration). Arsenic (V) was then re-
duced to arsenic (III) by addition of potassium iodide (1% m/v final
concentration) and ascorbic acid (0.2% m/v final concentration)
and left standing for at least 30 min at room temperature. Arsenic
concentrations were then measured by hydride-generation AAS
operating under standard conditions recommended by the manu-
facturer (Varian VGA). Arsenic (III) in solution was reduced to ar-
sine by borohydride, which was stripped with nitrogen gas into a
silica tube and electrically heated at 925 °C. Heating converted ar-
sine into arsenic vapour whose atomic adsorption was measured.
Dissolved cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc were analysed using
a dithiocarbamate complexation/solvent based on a modification
of the procedure described by Magnusson and Westerlund
(1981). The chelation solution combined sodium bicarbonate buf-
fer, ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (APDC) and diet-
hyldithiocarbamic acid (DDC) complexing reagents, which were
extracted into 1,1,1-trichloroethane in place of Freon (1,1,2-tri-
chlorotrifluoroethane) (Angel et al., 2010a; Apte and Gunn 1987).
The chelation solution was cleaned before use by extracting with
two 10 mL aliquots of 1,1,1-trichloroethane to remove any trace
metals remaining after rinses with deionised water. Sample vol-
umes (250 mL) were buffered to approximately pH 5 by addition
of the chelation solution, and extracted with two 10 mL portions
of triple-distilled trichloroethane in acid-washed (50% nitric acid,
48 h) Teflon separation funnels (Oak Ridge TeflonÒ FEP). The ex-
tracts were combined in Teflon centrifuge tubes (Oak Ridge TeflonÒ
FEP) and the metals back-extracted into 1 mL of concentrated ni-
tric acid (Merck, Tracepur). The back extracts were diluted to a fi-
nal volume of 10 mL with Milli-Q water, and analysed by
inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (ICP-MS, Agilent
7500CE) using operating conditions recommended by the manu-
facturer. The method resulted in a pre-concentration factor of
approximately 25 for the samples.
The total dissolved chromium was analysed by graphite furnace
AAS (Perkin Elmer, AAnalyst 600) using standard addition and
inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-
AES) (Varian 730 ES) was used for manganese. Matrix-matched
standards (QCD Analysts) were used and operating conditions rec-
ommended by the manufacturer.
Total dissolved mercury was determined by cold vapour atomic
fluorescence spectrometry (Liang and Bloom 1993; Liang et al.,
1994). A sample volume of 80 mL was dispensed into a Pyrex-glass
purging vessel and a 0.4 mL aliquot of bromine monochloride
(0.2 M) in hydrochloric acid added to allow oxidation of any
organic mercury present to inorganic mercury. After at least
90 min a 50 lL volume of hydroxylamine solution (3 M) was added
to destroy any residual BrCl. The vessel was connected to a custom-
built purge trap system and 0.5 mL stannous chloride solution
(20% m/V) was added to reduce the inorganic mercury to elemental
mercury. The elemental mercury was purged from solution in a
nitrogen stream (20 min purge time) and trapped on a gold-coated
sand trap. The trap was transferred to a thermal desorption unit
interfaced to a Brooks Rand AFS. The trap was connected to a mer-
cury-free helium gas stream and rapidly heated to 320 °C. The re-
leased mercury was quantified by the AFS.
As part of QA/QC for each method, 10% of samples had spike
recoveries and analytical duplicates determined, and at least one
certified reference seawater was analysed per batch of samples.
The certified reference seawaters included CASS-4 obtained from
the National Research Council Canada and BCR-579 obtained from
the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements at the
European Commission Joint Research Centre.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Water quality
Dissolved oxygen was 5.7–6.5 mg/L at the surface for all sites
during the 2004 and 2009 studies and decreased with depth to less
than 2 mg/L in the depths of Senunu Canyon. Surface temperatures
were between 25 and 27 °C during the 2004 study and between 28
and 30 °C during the 2009 study. The thermocline in each study
was measured between 20 and 200 m depth in the Senunu Canyon,
with temperatures decreasing to less than 10 °C at 300–400 m depth
and reported to be 1–2 °C at depths of 2000–4000 m (LIPI, 2004).
Thermoclines were detected at depths between 75–100 and 130–
140 m in 2004, and between 40–60 and 90–110 m in 2009.
From the transmissivity profiles, the tailings plume was only
detected at sites within the Senunu Canyon in 2004 (S28, S15
and S16) and 2009 (S28, S16, and CI8) studies. During the 2004
study, the top of the plume was encountered at a depth of
140 m, and during the 2009 study the plume was detected at
approximately 190 m, both plumes being below the discharge
depth (112 m in 2004 and 125 m in 2009). Low transmissivity
values (<60%) were only detected at depths greater than 250 and
220 m during the 2004 and 2009 studies, respectively, which oc-
curred close to the canyon floor and tailings flow from the dis-
charge point. Light transmissivity at other South Coast and Alas
Strait sites showed no evidence of suspended tailings particles,
being consistent with the southward currents through Alas Strait
and to the south of Sumbawa Island that transport suspended par-
ticles offshore (LIPI, 2004).
3.2. Dissolved metal concentrations
The QC data for the dissolved metals analyses were excellent.
The analytical detection limits achieved for the two surveys were
in the range 0.04–0.1 lg As/L, 1.2–2.0 ng Cd/L, 4–10 ng Cu/L, 0.2–
0.13 ng Hg/L, 0.3–1 lg Mn/L, 17–20 ng Pb/L, and 6–33 ng Zn/L,
which were similar to those reported for previous ultratrace metal
studies (Apte et al., 1998; Mackey et al., 2002; Angel et al., 2010a).
The analytical recovery of mercury in the reference seawater BCR-
579 was 101% in 2009 and for CASS-4, recoveries were between 85
and 104% for As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Mn, Pb and Zn in both surveys. Spike
recoveries were in the range 87–112%. Site and method duplicate
coefficient of variance was generally less than 10% except for sam-
ples with metal concentrations which were close to the analytical
detection limit (mean ± SD of 10 ± 9% for Cd, 11 ± 9% for Cr,
17 ± 11% for Hg, 28 ± 18% for Mn, and 12 ± 9% for Zn).
 B.M. Angel et al. / Marine Pollution Bulletin 73 (2013) 306–313 309

Dissolved copper concentrations were in the low or sub-lg/L
range and fairly uniform in the surface water sites in the 2004
and 2009 surveys (Supplementary Fig. 1 and Tables 1–3). The dis-
solved copper was similar at most depths sampled in the Alas
Strait and South Coast zones and did not generally exhibit a trend
with depth. However, some of the deeper samples at sites in close
proximity to the point of discharge were much higher than the
afore-mentioned sites and in the low lg/L) range. In the 2004 sur-
vey, the highest concentrations were 1.5, 6.5 and 4.3 lg/L mea-
sured in the bottom waters of sites S28, S15 and S16,

Table 1
The concentration of dissolved metals measured at sites sampled in Senunu Canyon.

Site Depth (m) Arsenic (lg/L) Cadmium (lg/L) Chromium (lg/L) Copper (lg/L) Manganese (lg/L) Mercury (ng/L) Lead (lg/L) Zinc (lg/L)
2004 2009 2004 2009 2004 2009 2004 2009 2004 2009 2004 2009 2004 2009 2004 2009
S09 3 1.20 – 0.010 – <1 – 0.11 – <1 – – – 0.06 – 0.11 –
S09 Bottom 1.15 – 0.011 – <1 – 0.09 – <1 – – – <0.02 – 0.09 –
S12 3 1.13 1.25 0.009 0.007 <1 0.1 0.07 0.10 <1 0.5 1.0 0.5 <0.02 <0.02 0.05 0.07
S12 50 1.23 1.28 0.016 0.008 <1 0.1 0.09 1.17 <1 0.7 0.4 0.9 0.02 0.63 0.14 2.61
S12 Bottom 1.22 1.50 0.028 0.019 2 0.1 0.12 0.11 <1 0.3 0.5 1.8 0.02 0.02 0.11 0.14
S15 3 1.24 – 0.013 – <1 – 0.10 – <1 – 0.4 – 0.03 – 0.20 –
S15 50 1.13 – 0.036 – <1 – 0.39 – <1 – 0.4 – 0.12 – 1.0 –
S15 Bottom 1.27 – 0.083 – 2 – 6.5 – 6 – 0.5 – 0.06 – 0.84 –
S16 3 1.28 1.30 0.013 0.006 <1 0.2 0.08 0.09 <1 1.1 0.4 1.3 0.03 <0.02 0.14 0.05
S16 50 1.34 1.43 0.031 0.01 – 0.2 0.13 0.10 <1 0.6 0.4 0.5 – 0.02 – 0.08
S16 120 – 1.62 – 0.035 <1 0.2 – 0.10 – 1.3 – 0.6 0.03 0.12 0.15 0.20
S16 Bottom 1.40 1.76 0.085 0.063 <1 0.2 4.3 4.02 3 10 0.5 0.7 0.05 0.16 0.50 1.01
S23 3 1.19 1.29 0.008 0.006 <1 0.1 0.07 0.11 <1 0.3 0.4 1.4 0.02 <0.02 0.06 0.08
S23 50 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
S23 Bottom 1.12 1.43 0.010 0.009 <1 0.1 0.08 0.10 <1 <0.3 0.6 0.3 0.02 <0.02 0.05 0.08
S28 3 1.26 1.23 0.013 0.004 <1 0.1 0.11 0.10 <1 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.04 0.01 0.26 0.06
S28 50 1.31 1.32 0.034 0.007 <1 0.1 0.14 0.08 <1 0.5 0.5 0.6 <0.02 0.02 0.17 0.06
S28 120 – 1.57 – 0.032 – 0.2 – 0.12 – <0.3 – 0.4 – <0.02 – 0.14
S28 Bottom 1.42 1.66 0.059 0.051 <1 0.2 1.5 1.76 <1 3.6 0.5 0.5 0.04 0.11 0.36 0.71

Table 2
The concentration of dissolved metals measured at sites sampled in waters off the South Coast of Sumbawa Island.

Site Depth (m) Arsenic (lg/L) Cadmium (lg/L) Chromium (lg/L) Copper (lg/L) Manganese (lg/L) Mercury (ng/L) Lead (lg/L) Zinc (lg/L)
2004 2009 2004 2009 2004 2009 2004 2009 2004 2009 2004 2009 2004 2009 2004 2009
SC1 3 1.27 1.30 0.012 0.004 <1 0.1 0.07 0.08 <1 0.3 – 0.6 0.05 <0.02 0.12 0.07
SC1 50 1.38 1.40 0.031 0.010 <1 0.1 0.10 0.13 <1 0.4 – 0.6 0.04 0.03 0.17 0.42
SC1 120 – 1.65 – 0.034 – 0.2 – 0.09 – 0.5 – 1.9 – <0.02 – 0.13
SC1 Bottom 1.40 1.71 0.060 0.052 <1 0.3 0.16 0.18 <1 0.3 – 0.4 0.06 <0.02 0.35 0.23
SC2 3 1.32 1.25 0.008 0.003 <1 0.1 0.07 0.08 <1 0.4 – 1.6 0.03 <0.02 0.08 0.11
SC2 50 1.23 1.36 0.018 0.009 <1 0.2 0.08 0.09 <1 0.4 – 0.3 0.04 <0.02 0.12 0.12
SC2 Bottom 1.35 1.47 0.020 0.008 <1 0.2 0.09 0.16 1 0.5 – 1.0 0.04 <0.02 0.11 0.16
CI8 50 – 1.48 – 0.017 – 0.1 – 0.07 – 0.4 – 1.1 – <0.02 – 0.10
CI8 Bottom – 1.56 – 0.032 – 0.2 – 0.09 – 0.3 – 0.8 – <0.02 – 0.11
CI11 50 – 1.40 – 0.007 – 0.2 – 0.09 – 0.6 – 0.8 – 0.06 – 0.13
CI11 120 – 1.59 – 0.027 – 0.2 – 0.07 – 0.4 – 0.7 – 0.02 – 0.11
CO2 3 – 1.24 – 0.005 – 0.1 – 0.09 – 0.5 – 0.5 – <0.02 – 0.39
CO2 50 – 1.32 – 0.006 – 0.1 – 0.08 – 0.3 – 0.9 – 0.03 – 0.12
CO2 120 – 1.72 – 0.063 – 0.1 – 0.19 – 0.5 – 0.8 – 0.02 – 0.21
CO2 Bottom – 1.57 – 0.033 – 0.1 – 0.10 – 0.3 – 0.4 – <0.02 – 0.14
CO3 3 – 1.26 – 0.004 – 0.1 – 0.08 – 0.4 – 0.6 – <0.02 – 0.07
CO3 50 – 1.45 – 0.014 – 0.2 – 0.09 – 0.4 – 0.4 – <0.02 – 0.08
CO3 120 – 1.59 – 0.033 – 0.2 – 0.10 – <0.3 – 0.9 – <0.02 – 0.12
CO3 Bottom – 1.68 – 0.053 – 0.2 – 0.65 – 1 – 0.7 – 0.04 – 0.27

Table 3
The concentration of dissolved metals measured at sites sampled in Alas Strait.

Site Depth (m) Arsenic (lg/L) Cadmium (lg/L) Chromium (lg/L) Copper (lg/L) Manganese (lg/L) Mercury (ng/L) Lead (lg/L) Zinc (lg/L)
2004 2009 2004 2009 2004 2009 2004 2009 2004 2009 2004 2009 2004 2009 2004 2009
AS1 3 – 1.22 – 0.004 – 0.1 – 0.11 – 0.5 – 0.5 – <0.02 – 0.08
AS1 Bottom – 1.55 – 0.014 – 0.2 – 0.05 – 0.7 – 0.7 – <0.02 – 0.11
B05 3 1.23 1.26 0.007 0.005 <1 0.1 0.07 0.30 <1 0.8 – 0.4 0.02 0.09 0.06 0.31
B05 Bottom 1.11 1.38 0.010 0.008 <1 0.1 0.08 0.08 <1 0.5 – 0.5 0.03 0.02 0.10 0.06
BCM 3 1.07 1.22 0.008 0.004 <1 0.2 0.05 0.29 <1 0.5 – 1.0 0.03 0.12 0.07 0.44
BCM Bottom 1.14 1.35 0.008 0.006 <1 0.1 0.06 0.09 <1 0.7 – 0.6 <0.02 0.10 0.10 0.08
KR1 3 1.23 1.25 0.006 0.005 <1 0.1 0.05 0.26 <1 1 – 0.5 0.02 0.04 0.08 0.24
KR1 Bottom 1.26 1.45 0.011 0.011 <1 0.2 0.06 0.07 <1 0.4 – 0.4 <0.02 0.04 0.07 0.10
TJ1 3 1.23 1.61 0.005 0.025 <1 0.2 0.05 0.07 <1 <0.3 – 0.5 0.03 0.04 0.09 0.15
TJ1 Bottom 1.45 1.25 0.039 0.004 <1 0.1 0.10 0.20 <1 0.5 – 0.7 0.02 0.04 0.17 0.34
310 B.M. Angel et al. / Marine Pollution Bulletin 73 (2013) 306–313

Table 4
Dissolved trace metal concentrations in oceans and industrialised waters around the world.

Location Arsenic Cadmium Copper Mercury (lg/L) Lead (lg/L) Manganese Nickel Zinc (lg/L) References
(lg/L) (lg/L) (lg/L) (lg/L) (lg/L)
Sumbawa, Indonesia (this study)
Alas Strait 1.28 ± 0.15 0.010 ± 0.008 0.11 ± 0.08 0.0006 ± 0.0002 0.034 ± 0.032 0.54 ± 0.17 0.18 ± 0.02 0.14 ± 0.11 This study
East sumbawa 1.44 ± 0.16 0.023 ± 0.019 0.12 ± 0.12 0.0008 ± 0.0004 0.024 ± 0.017 0.46 ± 0.19 0.22 ± 0.05 0.16 ± 0.10 This study
Senunu Canyon 1.33 ± 0.16 0.025 ± 0.023 0.75 ± 1.55 0.0006 ± 0.0004 0.259 ± 0.117 1.23 ± 2.09 0.23 ± 0.08 0.33 ± 0.52 This study
Offshore and ocean waters (worldwide)
Torres straight & Gulf – <0.001– 0.036– – – – 0.94–4.60 – Apte and Day
of Papua 0.029 0.986 (1998)
Pacific ocean – 0.0003–0.11 – – – – – 0.015– Bruland et al.
0.52 (1994)
Tasman sea – 0.0025 0.03 <0.0014 0.01 – 0.18 <0.022 Apte et al. (1998)
North pacific – 0.0011 0.04 – – – 0.12 – Mackey et al.
(2002)
North atlantic – 0.0007 0.068 – 0.136 – – – Kremling and Pohl
(1989)
Southern GBRMPa – <0.0015– <0.019– – <0.01–0.12 – 0.11–0.19 <0.03– Angel et al. (2010a)
0.004 0.085 0.14
North pacific ocean – – – 0.0004 - – – – Gill and Fitzgerald
(1988)
Atlantic ocean 0.94–1.39 – – – – – – – Cutter and Cutter
(1995)
Chatham rise, pacific 1.20–1.50 – – – – – – – Ellwood and
ocean Maher (2002)
Guideline valuesb NV c
5.5 1.3 0.4 d
44 NV c
70 15 ANZECC/ARMCANZ
(2000)
a
Great barrier reef marine park.
b
ANZECC/ARMCANZ, 2000 trigger value for 95% species protection in marine waters.
c
NV = Insufficient toxicological data available for derivation of guideline trigger value.
d
Trigger value for inorganic mercury. There is insufficient toxicological data for the derivation of methyl mercury guideline trigger value.

respectively. In the 2009 survey, the highest concentrations were
1.8, 4.0, and 1.2 lg/L measured in the bottom waters of S28 and
S16 in the Senunu Canyon and the middle depth of S12 (site near-
est to the point of tailings discharge), respectively. These were
much higher than the dissolved copper concentrations measured
at any other sites (Tables 1–3), and are indicative of a tailings sig-
nature. The dissolved copper concentrations in the tailings liquid
ranged from 0.18 to 5.3 lg/L (Table S2) and, given the likely dilu-
tion from mixing with ocean water, would indicate that some re-
lease of copper must be occurring from tailings particulates.
During the operation of the DSTP, the area in the vicinity of the
turbulent tailings flow is likely devoid of most life-forms due to the
physical impacts of the tailings. Inputs of copper to nearby seawa-
ter are likely to occur because of a combination of dissolved copper
in the tailings discharge and rapid desorption of copper from the
tailings sediments as they mix with seawater. As the Senunu Can-
yon zone adjacent to the discharge is physically impacted by the
tailings flow, it is not expected that many aquatic organisms would
reside in this zone to receive chronic impacts from dissolved met-
als. Many organisms also have the ability to avoid contaminants
(Weber, 1997), and short, pulsed exposures to dissolved copper
may have significantly less effect than constant chronic exposures
(Bearr et al., 2006; Angel et al., 2010b). While the dissolved copper
concentrations were below the Indonesian receiving water stan-
dard for the protection of marine life (8 lg/L; Kepmen LH 51/
2004) at all sites, the concentration at the bottom sites of S15
and S16 was above the guideline concentration of 1.3 lg/L applied
to marine waters in Australia (ANZECC/ARMCANZ, 2000).
At the time of sampling mostly fresh ore was being processed
and the current study represents a snap-shot under these condi-
tions. When the mill is processing stockpiled ore, that may be par-
tially oxidised, dissolved copper concentrations have been
observed to exceed the guidelines in the bottom Senunu Canyon
waters (Jorina Waworuntu, personal communication).
Dissolved zinc concentrations were in the sub-lg/L range and
fairly uniform at most sites during the 2004 and 2009 surveys
(Supplementary Fig. 1 and Tables 1–3). The mean concentration
(mean ± SD) for all marine sites was 0.25 ± 0.46 lg/L, which is
well below the guideline concentration of 15 lg/L applied for
marine waters in Australia (ANZECC/ARMCANZ, 2000). The dis-
solved zinc did not generally exhibit a trend with depth, although
some sites had higher dissolved zinc concentrations at greater
depth. This was most evident at deeper samples in close proxim-
ity to the point of discharge, which had concentrations in the low
lg/L range. The highest concentration in 2004 was 1.0 lg/L mea-
sured at 50 m depth at site S15. The concentrations of dissolved
zinc measured in 2009 at the bottom sites S28 and S16 in the Se-
nunu Canyon and the middle depth of S12 were 0.71, 1.01, and
2.61 lg/L, respectively. These were much higher than any other
dissolved zinc concentrations measured, and are likely to indicate
a signature of the tailings plume. However, even the highest con-
centration measured at the middle depth (50 m) at site S12 was
more than an order of magnitude below guideline concentrations.
Sample sites in the Senunu Canyon and South Coast that were
further from the point of tailings discharge had similar zinc con-
centrations to those measured in Alas Strait, indicating that the
tailings plume only had a localised effect. The dissolved zinc con-
centrations in the tailings liquid ranged from 0.08 to 0.8 lg/L
(Table S2) and were lower than or similar to some samples close
to the tailings discharge, indicating zinc is released from the tail-
ings particulates.
The concentrations of dissolved arsenic were fairly uniform dur-
ing the 2004 study, but exhibited a marginal increase with depth in
the 2009 study (Supplementary Fig. 1 and Tables 1–3). The average
concentration for all sites sampled in 2004 was 1.13 ± 0.38 lg/L,
while the average concentration of all sites sampled in 2009 was
1.41 ± 0.16 lg/L. There did not appear to be a seawater signature
from the tailings discharge and the dissolved arsenic concentra-
tions were typical of open ocean waters (Cutter and Cutter, 1995;
Duan et al., 2010; Ellwood and Maher, 2002). Dissolved arsenic
was also lower than the conservative low reliability guideline con-
centrations of 2.3 and 4.5 lg/L for As (III) and As (V), respectively,
 B.M. Angel et al. / Marine Pollution Bulletin 73 (2013) 306–313
indicating a low risk of organism toxicity from arsenic exposure
(ANZECC/ARMCANZ, 2000).
The concentrations of dissolved cadmium at the Alas Strait,
South Coast and Senunu Canyon sites were in the ng/L range and
relatively low in both the 2004 and 2009 studies (Supplementary
Fig. 1). A similar trend in the depth profile of concentrations was
observed in both studies with dissolved cadmium exhibiting a
clear increase with depth at sites within the Senunu Canyon and
at some of the South Coast locations. These depth profiles are con-
sistent with typical nutrient-like depth profile distributions of dis-
solved cadmium in the open ocean, but may also indicate a small
contribution from the tailings plume in the Senunu Canyon. Inputs
of cadmium into nearby seawater are likely to occur because of a
combination of dissolved cadmium in the tailings discharge and
desorption of cadmium from the tailings sediments as they mix
with entrained seawater. Cadmium is likely to be one of the more
mobile metals in the tailings plume, as chloride complexation facil-
itates the partitioning of cadmium into the dissolved phase. The
highest cadmium concentrations were 0.085 lg/L in the bottom
water at site S16 during the 2004 study, and 0.063 lg/L in the bot-
tom water at site S16 during the 2009 study. The dissolved cad-
mium concentrations in the tailings liquid ranged from 0.10 to
0.66 lg/L (Table S2) and given the dilution with seawater, would
indicate that release from the tailings particulates influence the
dissolved cadmium concentration of sites in close proximity to
the discharge. All dissolved cadmium concentrations were much
lower than the guideline concentration of 5.5 lg/L applied to mar-
ine waters in Australia (ANZECC/ARMCANZ, 2000).
The concentrations of dissolved chromium were below the
detection limit of 1 lg/L at all sites except the S12 and S15 waters
in the 2004 study, where 2 lg/L was found (Tables 1–3). A lower
detection limit for dissolved chromium was achieved in the 2009
study, which resulted in concentrations being measured above
the detection limit in all samples. The concentration of dissolved
chromium was fairly uniform and relatively low at all locations
and depths and the mean concentration (mean ± SD) for all marine
sites was 0.14 ± 0.06 lg/L. There did not appear to be a seawater
signature of dissolved chromium from the tailings discharge.
The concentrations of dissolved mercury were in the low or
sub-ng/L range and uniformly low in waters at all locations and
depths sampled in the 2004 and 2009 studies (Supplementary
Fig. 1 and Tables 1–3). The mean concentration (mean ± SD) for
all marine sites was 0.7 ± 0.4 ng/L, which is typical of open ocean
waters (Apte et al., 1998; Gill and Fitzgerald, 1988). The highest
concentration measured was 1.9 ng/L, at site SC1, which was
approximately 500 times below concentrations of Indonesian reg-
ulatory concern. The concentration of dissolved mercury in the
tailings supernatant ranged from 0.3 to 4.5 ng/L, and there did
not appear to be a seawater signature of dissolved mercury associ-
ated with the tailings discharge.
The concentrations of dissolved lead were in the sub-lg/L range
and similarly low at most sample sites in Alas Strait, the South Coast
and Senunu Canyon in 2004 and 2009 (Supplementary Fig. 1 and
Tables 1–3). The mean concentration (mean ± SD) for all marine
sites was 0.09 ± 0.16 lg/L, and many sites were below the limit of
detection (<0.02 lg/L). Dissolved lead was marginally higher at
some sites in close proximity to the tailings plume, but most sites
had concentrations near or below the detection limit, indicating
that the tailings plume had a low or negligible seawater signature.
The concentrations of dissolved manganese were mostly in the
sub-lg/L range and fairly uniform at nearly all sites in the 2009
survey and were mostly below detection in the 2004 survey (Ta-
bles 1–3). The mean concentration (mean ± SD) for all marine sites
sampled during 2009 was 0.49 ± 0.20 lg/L. Concentrations in the
low lg/L range were measured at two locations in the Senunu Can-
yon in close proximity to the point of discharge in both surveys.
311
The highest concentrations of dissolved manganese measured in
2004 were 3 and 6 lg/L at bottom depths of sites S16 and S15,
respectively, and during 2009 were 3.6 and 10 lg/L at the bottom
depth at sites S28 and S16, respectively. The sites with the highest
concentrations of dissolved manganese also contained some of the
highest concentrations of dissolved copper and zinc, which is fur-
ther evidence of a localised signature from the tailings in these bot-
tom waters of Senunu Canyon.
3.3. Sediment metal concentrations
The concentrations of particulate metals in benthic sediments
determined by aqua-regia digestion are shown in Supplementary
Table S3. A similar range of concentrations were measured in the
2004 and 2009 surveys, and all particulate metals except copper
were less than the sediment quality guideline values (SQG) applied
in Australia (ANZECC/ARMCANZ, 2000). Similar concentrations of
As, Cd, Cr, and Hg were measured at all sediment collection loca-
tions and in the tailings composite sediments, indicating there
was no influence of the tailings discharge on these particulate met-
als. The concentrations of Mn, Pb and Zn at the S01 and S03 sites in
the Senunu Canyon close to the tailings discharge were marginally
higher than the other South Coast and Alas Strait sites and similar
to the tailings composite sediments, indicating the discharge only
had a marginal influence on the concentrations of these metals at
sites in close proximity to the discharge.
Total particulate copper concentrations at sites S01, S03 and
S28 exceeded the SQG high value of 270 mg/kg. The copper con-
centrations at these sites were similar to those in the composite
tailings sediments (Table S3) and much higher than the other
South Coast and Alas Strait sites indicating sediments in close
proximity to the discharge may be predominantly sourced from
the tailings discharge causing localised elevation of particulate
copper. At all other sites the total copper concentrations were be-
low the lower sediment quality guideline (SQG) value of 65 mg/kg.
Total metal concentrations provide little indication of the bio-
availability of metals in sediments (Simpson and Batley, 2007).
The bioavailability of sediment-bound metals can be measured
through their ability to be assimilated by an organism and may be
influenced by the solid-phase chemical speciation, i.e. metal binding
with particulate sulfide, organic carbon, and iron and manganese
(oxy)hydroxide phases. Naturally occurring metals are often present
in highly mineralised forms (insoluble in dilute acids such as 1 M
HCl) and will be less bioavailable to benthic organisms compared
to anthropogenic metals (Simpson and Spadaro, 2011). For analyses
of eight different tailing materials (unpublished study that included
partially oxidised ore feed materials), the mean (± standard devia-
tion) total copper concentrations were 1250 ± 770 mg/kg, compared
to 150 ± 120 mg/kg for the concentration extracted in 1 M HCl (10 to
20% of the total). For the sediments at S01, S03 and S28, the 1-M HCl-
extractable copper concentrations were below SQG value of 65 mg/
kg and should not cause direct toxicity to benthic organisms.
The behaviour of the organisms is considered a significant factor
determining the extent of exposure of an organism and therefore
the magnitude of the hazard and the overall risk the sediment poses
to ecosystem health. Many organisms will avoid sediments with
undesirable properties and limit impacts to their populations
(Lopes et al., 2004; Simpson et al., 2012). During the operation of
the DSTP, the tailings deposition zone within Senunu Canyon is
likely to remain devoid of most benthic invertebrates due to the
ongoing deposition of solids. The ability of meiofauna to recolonisa-
tion the two mine tailings (400–1000 mg Cu/kg) from Batu Hijau
was investigated by Gwyther et al. (2009) using meso- and micro-
cosms deployed in marine waters at a depth of 15 m. They observed
that the period of time required for abundances of meiofauna to in-
crease from zero to levels statistically indistinguishable from
312 B.M. Angel et al. / Marine Pollution Bulletin 73 (2013) 306–313
natural unaffected controls were twice as long for tailings
(203 days) than for defaunated controls (97 days). Furthermore,
colonisation was well established in tailing from freshly mined
ore after 40 days, and in tailing from stockpiled, partially oxidised,
ore after 65 days. That study provided further evidence of the rela-
tively low bioavailability of the copper within the tailing materials.
3.4. Dissolved trace metal distributions
The depth profiles of dissolved metals can be divided into three
categories; those that were fairly uniform (conservative) with
depth (mercury, lead, and nickel), those that were fairly uniform
except at a few locations in the Senunu Canyon in close proximity
to the tailings discharge (manganese and zinc), and those that
exhibited an increase with depth (arsenic, cadmium and copper).
The mercury, lead, and nickel that exhibited conservative behav-
iour are largely biologically and chemically non-reactive (Millero,
1996). Metals such as cadmium and arsenic exhibit natural vari-
ability with depth and often correlate with nutrients such as sili-
cate and phosphate and exhibit depletion in the euphotic zone
due to biological activity and increased concentrations at greater
depths (Cutter and Cutter, 1995; Cutter et al., 2001; De Baar
et al., 1994; Ellwood and Maher, 2002). An increase in dissolved
copper at depth was only pronounced in the Senunu Canyon at a
few sites in close proximity to the tailings discharge, indicating
localised mobilisation from sediments and tailings.
The localised elevation of dissolved copper, manganese and zinc
above background concentrations close to the discharge correlated
with the localised elevation of these metals in the sediments close
to the discharge in the Senunu Canyon. The increase in dissolved
copper, manganese and zinc may be caused by a combination of di-
rect contribution of dissolved metals in the tailings liquid (Supple-
mentary information Table S2) and also from desorption of metals
from solids (Supplementary information Table S3). Higher metal
concentrations at the bottom-water sites of Senunu Canyon may
also be the result of local diagenetic processes occurring in settled
tailings. Deep-ocean seawater is oxygenated (typical dissolved
oxygen concentrations range from 2 to 5 mg/L) resulting in oxida-
tion of the surface layer of sulfidic material and release of dissolved
metals depending on the oxygen concentrations and the various
sulfide oxidation kinetics (Kwong and Hynes, 2003). Bacterial
activity may also contribute to the release of dissolved metals
although there is often low biological productivity in deep oceans.
Continuous tailings deposition will bury the previous deposited
materials, leading to a change in the redox to more reducing con-
ditions in the underlying sediments, and stabilisation of the sulfide
material from oxidation. The development of reducing conditions
is likely to lead to the release of metals associated with iron and
manganese oxides (especially arsenic, if present) (Schulz and Zabel,
2000; Sundby, 2006).
When compared to the concentrations previously measured in
open-ocean surface waters in the Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans
(Table 4), the concentrations of dissolved cadmium, copper and
zinc measured in surface waters in the current study were margin-
ally elevated. The concentrations of As, Ni and Hg in the surface
waters of the current study were similar to concentrations mea-
sured in the surface waters in previous studies (Table 4).
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the staff of PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, and
in particular Tonny Gultom, Windy Prayogo, Rissa Anungstri, Joh-
ana Muljadi and Tonny Bachtiar, for logistical assistance during
the field work. Loren Bardwell, James Charlesworth, Leigh Hales,
Josh King, Chris Vardenga and Samuel Swain (CSIRO) are thanked
for technical assistance with sample analyses.
Appendix A. Supplementary material
Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in
the online version, at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.
04.013.
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