Scientists find massive reserves of mercury hidden in permafrost
▻https://phys.org/news/2018-02-scientists-massive-reserves-mercury-hidden.html
Researchers have discovered permafrost in the northern hemisphere stores massive amounts of natural mercury, a finding with significant implications for human health and ecosystems worldwide.
In a new study, scientists measured mercury concentrations in permafrost cores from Alaska and estimated how much mercury has been trapped in permafrost north of the equator since the last Ice Age.
The study reveals northern permafrost soils are the largest reservoir of mercury on the planet, storing nearly twice as much mercury as all other soils, the ocean and the atmosphere combined.
The new study was published today in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.
