Mercury in Tropical Aquatic and Terrestrial Systems

The fate of Hg in water, sediments and soils in gold mining areas has been studied mostly in large surveys at a great number of mining sites, few however, have been studied in detail. Among the many sites, the Amazon region, including Brazil and Venezuela, Mindanao Island in the Philippines and a few last century USA gold rush sites, has been the subject of longterm studies concerning the fate of Hg in the environment. Unfortunately, however, even in these areas, few studies have dealt with geochemical and biogeochemical processes controlling Hg concentrations in water, sediments and soils.