Nome, Alaska

Lasora BK, Cittemam. 1991. Segmental analysis of mercury in hair in 80 women of Nome, Alaska. 

In Nome, Alaska, gold mining is responsible, in part, for the elevated mercury levels (max. 0.45 mg/kg DW) measured in modern beach sediments. However, higher concentrations (max. 0.6 mg/kg) routinely occur in buried Pleistocene sediments immediately offshore and in modem nearby unpolluted beach sediments (1.3 mg Hg/kg). This suggests that the effects of mercury contamination from mining are less than natural concentration processes in the Seward Peninsula region of Alaska. 

Thurston S. P. (1985) Structure, petrology, and metamorphic history of the nome group blueschist terrane, Salmon Lake area, Seward Peninsula, Alaska. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 96, 600-617. 

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