Mercury, biogeochemical cycle

Mercury provides an excellent example of the importance of metal speciation in understanding biogeochemical cycling and the impact of human activities on these cycles. Mercury exists in solid, aqueous, and gaseous phases, and is transported among reservoirs in all these forms. It undergoes precipitation-dissolution, volatilization, complexation, sorption, and biological reactions, all of which alter its mobility and its effect on exposed populations. The effect of all... 

Mason, R. P., Fitzgerald, W. F. and Morel, F. M. M. (1994). The biogeochemical cycling of elemental mercury Anthropogeruc influences. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 58, 3191-3198. 

Hudson RJM, Gherini SA, Watras CJ, Porcella DB. 1994. Modeling the biogeochemical cycle of mercury in lakes the Mercury Cycling Model (MCM) and its application to the MTL study lakes. In Watras CJ, Huckabee JW, editors. Mercury pollution integration and synthesis. Boca Raton (FL) Lewis Publishers, CRC Press Inc., p. 473-523. 

Lucotte M, Montgomery S, Caron B, Kainz M. 1999a. Mercury in natural lakes and unperturbed terrestrial ecosystems of northern Quebec. In Lucotte M, Schetagne R, Therien N, Langlois C, Tremblay A, editors. Mercury in the biogeochemical cycle. Berlin, Germany Springer, p. 55-88. 

Fitzgerald WF, Mason RP. 1997. Biogeochemical cycling of mercury in the marine environment. In Sigel A, Sigel H, editors. Metal ions in biological systems, Vol. 34, Mercury and its effects on environment and biology. New York (NY) Marcel Dekker, p. 53-110. 

The release of mercury into the environment, its introduction in the biogeochemical cycle, and its concentrated propagation along the food chain due to changes in climate are a worldwide concern. The problem of mercury in the society is not new, it has long been considered as toxic element of concern owing to its mobility,... 

Mason RP, Fitzgerald WF, Morel FMM (1994) The Biogeochemical Cycling of Elemental Mercury - Anthropogenic Influences. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 58 3191-3198... 

Mason RP, Fitzgerald WF, Hurley J, Hanson AKJr, Donaghay PL, Sieburth JM. 1993. Mercury biogeochemical cycling in a stratified estuary. Limnology and Oceanography 38 1227-1241. 

Gill, G.A. and Fitzgerald, W.F. (1987) Mercury in surface waters of the open ocean. Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 1, 199-212. 

A brief overview of the marine biogeochemical cycle of mercury was presented in the introduction. Here, a broader picture of the reactions and species-specific interactions involving mercury in natural waters appears in Figure 7. This mechanistic scheme, taken from Fitzgerald and Mason (1997), is derived in part from the simulation of... 

Benesch J. A., Gustin M. S., Schorran D. E., Coleman J., Johnson D. A., and Lindberg S. E. (2001) Determining the role of plants in the biogeochemical cycling of mercury on an ecosystem level. Presented at the 6th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant. Minamata, Japan, October. 

In situ sulphate stimulation of mercury methylation in a boreal peatland toward a link between acid rain and methylmercury contamination in remote environments. Global Biogeochem. Cycles 13(3), 743-750. 

Mason R. P. and Fitzgerald W. F. (1993) The distribution and biogeochemical cycling of mercury in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. Deep-Sea Res. 40, 1897-1924. 

Mason R. P. and Fitzgerald W. F. (1996) Sources, sinks and biogeochemical cycling of mercury in the ocean. In Global and Regional Mercury Cycles Sources, Fluxes and Mass Balances. NATO ASl Series 2. Environment (eds. W. Baeyens, R. Ebinghaus, and O. Vasiliev). Kluwer, Boston, vol. 21, pp. 249-272. 

Mason, RP Baier, RW University of Maryland Solomons, MD Biogeochemical cycling and air-sea exchange of mercury in the south Atlantic National Science Foundation, Division of Ocean Sciences... 

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