Effects of coastal managed retreat on mercury biogeochemistry
Post date: Dec 1, 2015 5:41:56 PM
Check out the audioslides presentation for our paper on the effect of coastal managed retreat on mercury biogeochemistry.
In the paper we describe analysis of mercury in sediment cores collected from an area of land behind a dyke one year before, and one year after, it was intentionally breached as part of a managed retreat project.
We found greater concentrations of total mercury and lower concentrations of methylmercury after the sediments were inundated
These observations led us to conclude that the reduction in methylmercury was due to a low bioavailability of mercury to sulphate reducing bacteria.
Overall we did not find any evidence to suggest that coastal managed retreat resulted in an elevated risk of mercury methylation during the first year after inundation.
