Abstract: To understand the characteristics of major heavy metal pollutants in the surface sediments of Prydz Bay, Antarctica, this study analyzed the content of six heavy metals–copper (Cu), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni) and chromium (Cr)–in samples of surface sediments obtained during the 29th Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition. The potential environmental risks of heavy metals in the surface sediments of Prydz Bay were evaluated by using the potential ecological risk index and geological accumulation index. The results show that Zn had the highest average concentration, followed by Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Co in descending order of concentration. Concentrations were low near shore and high far shore; spatial distributions of the different heavy metals were homologous, indicating similar source supply and deposition processes. Potential ecological risk index showed that ecological risk was low at all survey stations; the geological accumulation index of heavy metal elements was less than zero, indicating clean sediments. The average value of comprehensive potential ecological risk was 7.45. Correlation analysis showed that all heavy metals except Pb were positively correlated with titanium (Ti) and with average sediment particle size, and were  negatively correlated with the sorting coefficient.

Key words: heavy metals, seabed surface sediments, source analysis, ecological environmental risks assessment, Prydz Bay