Abstract:

Microbial exploration of the air, sediment and seawater in the area of the South Shetland Islands was performed during December, 1986-March,1987. The results obtained show that: for terrigenous microbes over the South Shetland Islands and Maxwell Bay, their detection rates were more than 90%and their amounts were generally a few CFU/m 3 ; for marine microbes, their detection rates were more than 50% and their amount only 1 CFU/m 3 . The amounts of air-borne microbes over the area surveyed presented somewhat diurnal variations, They were influenced to some extent by nearby islands.Air temperature and relative humidity, etc. were factors affecting their quantitative variations. The bacterial amount of the outshore surface water in the Great Wall Bay, Antarctica was about n·10 CFU/m 3 (0≤n<10, the same below), the amount of microbes decreased with the monthly decreases of the temperature of seawater and shows some states of diurnal variations. The seawater in the Bay has been fairly clean. Community contained at least thirteen genera, in which Pseudomonas was common. In the intertidal zone of Deception Island, there were only a few CFU of bacteria per cubic meter in seawater; and n·10 CFU/g(w.w) in surface sediment; and n·10 CFU/g(w.w) in the volcano ash. The results reflected the general situation about microbes of air, sea and land in the area of South Shetland Islands. It provides data for further exploration and utilization of microbial resources in the area of South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.