Millennial mercury records derived from ornithogenic sediment on Dongdao Island,South China Sea  

作　　者：Hong Yan Yuhong Wang Wenhan Cheng Liguang Sun 

机构地区：[1]Institute of Polar Environment, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China [2]National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA

出　　处：《Journal of Environmental Sciences》2011年第9期1415-1423,共9页环境科学学报（英文版）

基　　金：supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (No.40730107);the National Basic Research Program (973) of China (No.2010CB428902)

摘　　要：Two ornithogenic sediment cores,which have a time span of 1000 years and are influenced by red-footed booby （Sula sula）,were collected from Dongdao Islands,South China Sea.The determined mercury concentrations of the two cores show similar and substantial fluctuations during the past millennium,and the fluctuations are most likely caused by the changes in mercury level of the ocean environment and in anthropogenic Hg emission.For the past 500 years,the mercury concentration in the red-footed booby excrement has a striking association with global anthropogenic mercury emission.The mercury concentration increased rapidly after AD 1600 in corresponding to beginning of the unparalleled gold and silver mining in South Central America that left a large volume of anthropogenic mercury pollution.Since the Industrial Revolution,the mercury level has increased at a fast pace,very likely caused by modern coal combustion,chlor-alkali and oil refining industries.The comparison of mercury profiles from different places on earth suggested that anthropogenic mercury pollution after the Industrial Revolution is more severe in Northern Hemisphere than in Antarctica.Two ornithogenic sediment cores,which have a time span of 1000 years and are influenced by red-footed booby （Sula sula）,were collected from Dongdao Islands,South China Sea.The determined mercury concentrations of the two cores show similar and substantial fluctuations during the past millennium,and the fluctuations are most likely caused by the changes in mercury level of the ocean environment and in anthropogenic Hg emission.For the past 500 years,the mercury concentration in the red-footed booby excrement has a striking association with global anthropogenic mercury emission.The mercury concentration increased rapidly after AD 1600 in corresponding to beginning of the unparalleled gold and silver mining in South Central America that left a large volume of anthropogenic mercury pollution.Since the Industrial Revolution,the mercury level has increased at a fast pace,very likely caused by modern coal combustion,chlor-alkali and oil refining industries.The comparison of mercury profiles from different places on earth suggested that anthropogenic mercury pollution after the Industrial Revolution is more severe in Northern Hemisphere than in Antarctica.

关 键 词：South China Sea red-footed booby ornithogenic sediment MERCURY anthropogenic source 

分 类 号：P736.41[天文地球—海洋地质] Q959.12[天文地球—海洋科学]