A newly released scientific paper in Nature Publishing’s Scientific Reports Journal has revealed unprecedented amounts of highly toxic mercury are deposited in the deepest trenches of the Pacific Ocean.
The study, a multi-national effort involving scientists from Denmark, Canada, Germany and Japan, reports the first-ever direct measurements of mercury deposition into one of the logistically most challenging environments to sample on Earth, and the deepest at eight to 10 kilometers under the sea.
Lead author Professor Hamed Sanei, Director of the Lithospheric Organic Carbon Laboratory (LOC) at the Department of Geoscience, Aarhus University, stated the amount of mercury discovered in this area exceeds any value ever recorded in remote marine sediments, and is even higher than many areas directly contaminated by industrial releases. [Read more…] about Scientists sound alarm about ‘unprecedented mercury accumulation in Pacific Ocean’
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