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Antarctic iron-mercury abundance ratios: Evidence for mercury depletion in an active volcanic zone

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Abstract

Antarctic sediments, clays and rock fines collected on Ross Island and in the Wright Valley (L. Vanda, Don Juan Pond) are depleted in Hg relative to Fe. Average Fe/Hg values ofca 9 to 48 × 106 were found. These abundance ratios compare with general terrestrial values of 0.03 to 2.32 × 106 for sedimentary and residual materials andca 3 × 106 for igneous surfaces. Lowest ratios were found in New Zealand clays and mud and in volcanic soils. Algal mats from the Wright and Taylor Valleys averagedca 5 × 106 in Fe/Hg value whereas those from Hawaii and Iceland were < 0.2 × 106. Algal abundance ratios may reflect both exceptionally high Fe content and bio-volatilization of Hg, but sediments, fines and soils with more or less normal Fe content may have lost Hg by leaching as well as evaporation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 96822, Honolulu, Hawaii, HI, U.S.A.

    S. M. Siegel

  2. Pacific Biomedical Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 96822, Honolulu, Hawaii, HI, U.S.A.

    B. Z. Siegel

  3. Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 96822, Honolulu, Hawaii, HI, U.S.A.

    G. McMurtry

Authors
  1. S. M. Siegel
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  2. B. Z. Siegel
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  3. G. McMurtry
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Siegel, S.M., Siegel, B.Z. & McMurtry, G. Antarctic iron-mercury abundance ratios: Evidence for mercury depletion in an active volcanic zone. Water Air Soil Pollut 15, 465–469 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00279427

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00279427

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