title: Mercury in the Mediterranean, part I: spatial and temporal trends.
abstract: The present paper provides an overview of mercury studies performed in the Mediterranean Sea region in the framework of several research projects funded by the European Commission and on-going national programmes carried out during the last 15 years. These studies investigated the temporal and spatial distribution of mercury species in air, in the water column and sediments, and the transport mechanisms connecting them. It was found that atmospheric concentrations of Hg compounds, particularly oxidised Hg species observed at five coastal sites in the Mediterranean Sea Basin, are significantly higher compared with those recorded at five coastal sites distributed across N Europe, most probably due to natural emissions. Hg levels in water are comparable to other oceans. Anthropogenic and natural point sources show locally limited enrichments, while natural diffusive sources influence Hg speciation over larger areas. Results and statistic comparison of mercury species concentrations within Mediterranean compartments will be presented and discussed.
authors: Department of Environmental Sciences, Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI), Jamova 39, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia, joze.kotnik@ijs.si.
authors: Jože
authors: J
authors: Kotnik
authors: Francesca
authors: F
authors: Sprovieri
authors: Nives
authors: N
authors: Ogrinc
authors: Milena
authors: M
authors: Horvat
authors: Nicola
authors: N
authors: Pirrone
mesh_terms: D000388:Air; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005060:Europe; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D062211:Spatio-Temporal Analysis; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D008628:Mercury