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Mercury Redox Chemistry in the Negro River Basin, Amazon: The Role of Organic Matter and Solar Light

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Abstract

Pristine water bodies in the Negro River basin, Brazilian Amazon, show relatively high concentrations of mercury. These waters are characterized by acidic pH, low concentrations of suspended solids, and high amounts of dissolved organic matter and are exposed to intense solar radiation throughout the year. This unique environment creates a very dynamic redox chemistry affecting the mobility of mercury due to the formation of the dissolved elemental species (Hg0). It has been shown that in this so-called black water, labile organic matter from flooded forest is the major scavenger of photogenerated H2O2. In the absence of hydrogen peroxide, these black waters lose their ability to oxidize Hg0 to Hg2+, thus increasing Hg0 evasion across the water/atmosphere interface, with average night time values of 3.80 pmol m−2 h−1. When the dry period starts, labile organic matter inputs gradually diminish, allowing the increasing concentration of H2O2 to re-establish oxidative water conditions, inhibiting the metal flux across the water/atmosphere interface and contributing to mercury accumulation in the water column.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Prof. C. H. Collins for revising the manuscript. We also thank an anonymous reviewer for numerous suggestions. This work was supported by FAPESP.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UNICAMP, Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas, POB 6154, Campinas, SP, 13084-971, Brazil

    Wilson F. Jardim

  2. UNESP, Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas, Universidade Estadual Paulista, “Júlio de Mesquita Filho”, Departamento de Química e Ciências Ambientais, R. Cristóvão Colombo 2265, São José do Rio Preto, SP, 15054-000, Brazil

    Márcia Cristina Bisinoti

  3. Departamento de Química, UFSCar, Rod. Washington Luiz km 235, CP 676, São Carlos, SP, 13565-905, Brazil

    Pedro Sérgio Fadini

  4. Departamento Acadêmico de Química, Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Maranhão, Av. Getúlio Vargas, no 04, Monte Castelo, São Luís, MA, 65025-000, Brazil

    Gilmar Silvério da Silva

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  1. Wilson F. Jardim
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  2. Márcia Cristina Bisinoti
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  3. Pedro Sérgio Fadini
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  4. Gilmar Silvério da Silva
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Correspondence to Márcia Cristina Bisinoti.

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Jardim, W.F., Bisinoti, M.C., Fadini, P.S. et al. Mercury Redox Chemistry in the Negro River Basin, Amazon: The Role of Organic Matter and Solar Light. Aquat Geochem 16, 267–278 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-009-9086-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-009-9086-z

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