Heavy metal and microbiological analysis of sediments of lake priyadarshini, Indian antarctic station ‘maitri’

The paper presents physico-chemical, heavy metal and microbiological analysis of sediment samples of Lake Priyadarshani, Indian Antarctic station ‘Maitri’. All sediment samples showed neutral pH and conductivity in the range of 0.015–0.069 dS m^-1. Total hardness of the samples was found to be in the range of 300–800 μgml. High levels of iron (3506–20222 μgg^-1) and manganese (92–280 μgg^-1) were detected in the samples. Other heavy metals such as zinc, cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel and lead were also detected in sediment samples. Anaerobic bacterial population representing both psychrophiles and psychrotrophs were determined in sediment samples. The total count of psychrophiles was 88-930x10² g^-1 sediment whereas psychrotrophs were detected less in numbers (3-120x10² g^-1 sediment). The study revealed that psychrophiles were predominant microflora in sediments of Lake Priyadarshini.