CQE, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal.
Chemosphere. 2014 Jan;95:227-33. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2013.08.081. Epub 2013 Sep 27.
This work reports the first integrated mercury study in an Antarctic ecosystem. Sample collection took place in Deception Island, an active volcano in the South Shetland Islands, in several environmental compartments (water, snow, sediments and vegetation) and different locations, during December 2011. The results suggest that volcanic activity is the most important Hg source. Mercury levels in water and sediments sampled at two fumaroles were up to 10,000 times higher than in the other sampling sites. Dissolved methylmercury (MeHg) is below the detection limit in those samples, probably due to the very high temperature found in fumaroles (above 80 °C). On the other hand MeHg accounted for, on average, 23% of total dissolved Hg in the saline waters of Foster bay, which suggests exceptional conditions for Hg methylation. Combined with the high residence time of the water in Foster bay, the results point to the existence of a MeHg pool available for aquatic living organisms.
本工作报道了南极生态系统中首次进行的汞综合研究。2011 年 12 月，在南设得兰群岛的一个活火山——欺骗岛，于多个环境隔室（水、雪、沉积物和植被）和不同地点采集了样本。结果表明，火山活动是最重要的汞源。在两口喷气孔采集的水和沉积物样本中，汞含量高达其他采样点的 10000 倍。在喷气孔中发现的温度（高于 80°C）很高，因此，溶解的甲基汞（MeHg）可能低于检测限。另一方面，在福斯特湾的盐水中，MeHg 平均占总溶解汞的 23%，这表明汞甲基化的条件特殊。再加上福斯特湾水的高停留时间，这些结果表明存在一个可供水生生物利用的 MeHg 库。
