| On the island of O'ahu storm water during the December 18 th, 2010 and Jan 12th, 2011 storm came into direct contact with uncovered waste at a landfill (Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill). The run-off water dissolved sewage, sludge and other waste as well as carried solid garbage to the neighboring ocean and coral reef. The run-off posed a potential threat to the coral, and it was not known if the constituents present in the landfill reached and accumulated within the coral community. Using the coral skeleton I looked into this question: did the coral accumulate contamination from the landfill discharge? Coral colonies located at the site (mid-current) of storm water discharge, up-current and down-current from the contamination site were collected. Using LA-ICP-MS (LASER ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry), this study analyzed heavy metals and metalloids (Al, As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sb, Sn, U, V, Y and Zn) in the coral skeleton of Porites lobata at time periods before, during and after the storms. Most metal abundances varied greatly within the coral skeleton. Ba and Zn concentrations increased in corals located at the site (mid-current) during the season of the storm. |
