Estimating input of mercury from historical local sources and long range transport into the coastal marine system of Kongsfjorden, Svalbard

• Main Authors: Steenhuisen, Frits, van den Heuvel-Greve, M.J., van den Heuvel, M., Klaassen, Michiel
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: Life Science; Kongsfjord*; Kongsfjorden; Svalbard
• Online Access: https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/estimating-input-of-mercury-from-historical-local-sources-and-lon

Contaminants present in coal mine tailings are transported from the mine location to the marine ecosystem by fresh water runoff. Organisms take up these contaminants via water and sediment. As contaminants move through the food web, they become more concentrated at higher trophic levels. Mercury (Hg) is found to accumulate in top predators of the Arctic ecosystem in levels thatcan affect the functioning of organisms. Mercury in the Arctic environment also originates from global sources due to long-range transport. The main global sources of mercury emissions to air are coal fired power stations and small scale gold mining (map 1).