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mercury (Hg)

People in orange work suits crouch next to small clear cylinders with brown material inside.
Posted inNews

In the Deepest Ocean Reaches, a Potent Pollutant Comes to Rest

by Sean Cummings 9 December 20229 December 2022

Surprising amounts of mercury settling into deep-sea trenches may provide a fuller picture of the metal’s path through the environment, but pulling it to the surface is no easy feat.

In the foreground sits a yellow-beige pond, with tree trunks scattered about its surface. Two dredges that appear to be made of wood float by the banks, smoke rising from between them. In the background, the green rain forest towers, the blue sky smudged with white smoke.
Posted inNews

Mercury-Based Gold Mining Haunts Peruvian Rain Forests

by Alka Tripathy-Lang 15 December 202115 December 2021

In Peru, gold mining harms rain forests and human health. Satellite data can now track forest recovery in protected areas and the migration of informal miners to less regulated areas.

A group of snailfish, animals that live in deep-sea ecosystems, feeding on a dead fish
Posted inNews

Sinking Fish May Fast-Track Mercury Pollution to the Deep Sea

by Carolyn Wilke 22 December 202018 March 2022

Isotopic analysis indicates that mercury found in deep-sea organisms may have an origin in carrion from near the surface.

Chart showing mercury stable isotope concentrations in tree rings
Posted inEditors' Highlights

Trees Are Watching Us and Our Actions

by Ankur R. Desai 31 March 20205 May 2022

Annual growth rings in trees tell us more than climate history; they can also document the rise and fall of human industrial activities.

Microscopic image of a Chaetoceros large-cell diatom
Posted inResearch Spotlights

New Models Give Global Picture of Mercury Content in Oceans

by David Shultz 30 March 202012 October 2022

Concentrations of methylated mercury in high latitudes show the importance of sunlight and biological activity for cycling the metal.

Forest at the foot of Hailuogou Glacier, China
Posted inNews

The Give and Take of Mercury in Glacial Landscapes

by Sarah Derouin 11 February 20206 February 2023

As glacial ice melts, toxic mercury is released into the environment. But a new study shows vegetation may be an effective cleanup crew.

Posted inNews

A Volcanic Trigger for Earth’s First Mass Extinction?

by L. Joel 30 May 201730 January 2023

Abnormally high levels of mercury in Ordovician rocks may imply that a huge surge of volcanism took place at a time when much of the planet’s ocean life vanished.

Posted inNews

Despite Stalled Regulations, U.S. Mercury Emissions Decline

by K. Klein 9 December 201521 December 2022

Newly published measurements made downwind of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio coal-burning plants reveal steep, unexpected drops in atmospheric mercury concentrations since 2006.

Posted inResearch Spotlights

Drought Changes How Peat Bogs Cycle Mercury and Sulfur

by L. Strelich 11 November 20151 April 2022

Drought conditions dictate whether atmospherically deposited sulfate stays locked in a peatland or is mobilized to stimulate the bacterial methylation of mercury.

Posted inResearch Spotlights

Humans Greatly Increase Mercury Levels in the Ocean

by S. Palus 22 April 201525 August 2022

A study of the natural cycle of mercury reveals that humans are to blame for a five- to sixfold increase in the oceanic concentrations of the potentially toxic element.

Features from AGU Journals

RESEARCH SPOTLIGHTS
JGR: Solid Earth
“New Tectonic Plate Model Could Improve Earthquake Risk Assessment”
By Morgan Rehnberg

EDITORS' HIGHLIGHTS
AGU Advances
“Eminently Complex – Climate Science and the 2021 Nobel Prize”
By Ana Barros

EDITORS' VOX
Perspectives of Earth and Space Scientists
“New Directions for Perspectives of Earth and Space Scientists”
By Michael Wysession


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