Lack of increase in mercury contamination in coastal Western Australia since European settlement

Current knowledge of long-term mercury (Hg) deposition is predominantly based on studies from the Northern Hemisphere, leading to a geographical bias in the comprehension of the global Hg cycle. Aiming to contribute to fill this knowledge gap, our study presents a high-resolution Hg record of a seag...

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Autores: Dahl, Martin, Schneider, Larissa, Biester, H., Bindler, R., Martínez Cortizas, Antonio, Lavery, Paul S., Mateo, Miguel Ángel, Serrano, Oscar
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2026
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/418116
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/418116
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/105013649802
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Australia
Coastal ecosystems
Environmental contamination
Holocene
Paleoreconstruction
Posidonia
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spelling Lack of increase in mercury contamination in coastal Western Australia since European settlementDahl, MartinSchneider, LarissaBiester, H.Bindler, R.Martínez Cortizas, AntonioLavery, Paul S.Mateo, Miguel ÁngelSerrano, OscarAustraliaCoastal ecosystemsEnvironmental contaminationHolocenePaleoreconstructionPosidoniaCurrent knowledge of long-term mercury (Hg) deposition is predominantly based on studies from the Northern Hemisphere, leading to a geographical bias in the comprehension of the global Hg cycle. Aiming to contribute to fill this knowledge gap, our study presents a high-resolution Hg record of a seagrass Posidonia australis sedimentary archive encompassing the last 3300 years in the Waychinicup estuary (Western Australia, WA). This setting is an ideal site for studying the natural Hg cycle, as it is located in the southwest of the state, outside the prevailing wind patterns that transport emissions from major Hg sources. Our results show that Hg concentrations fluctuated from ∼1300 BCE to 100 CE with a shift in the paleorecord around 350 BCE, which could potentially be associated with an intensified El Niño Southern Oscillation period. From around 100 until ∼1880 CE, the Hg concentration remained relatively constant (∼2 μg kg-1) with an increase up to 8 μg kg-1 from 1880 CE until present. Although Hg accumulation doubled since European settlement in WA (from 2.4 to 4.8 μg m-2 yr-1), such an increase can be explained by enhanced organic carbon accumulation, rather than changes in external Hg fluxes. Therefore, our study showcases the importance of considering biogeochemical processes when reconstructing long-term Hg accumulation based on sedimentary archives. Furthermore, the results demonstrate the key role of seagrass meadows as natural paleoarchives of environmental contamination, providing valuable insights into human impacts on coastal areas and to establish pre-anthropogenic baseline metal concentrations.This work was supported by I + D + i projects RYC2019-027073-I funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and FEDER, and MEDCHANGE funded by AEI.Peer reviewedElsevierConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (España)Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España)Mateo, Miguel Ángel [0000-0001-7567-0277]Serrano, Oscar [0000-0002-5973-0046]Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]202620262026info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501Publisher's versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10261/418116https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/105013649802reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSICinstname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)Inglés#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI//RYC2019-027073-IThe underlying dataset has been published as supplementary material of the article in the publisher platform at DOI 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2025.118600https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2025.118600Síinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:digital.csic.es:10261/4181162026-05-22T06:33:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Lack of increase in mercury contamination in coastal Western Australia since European settlement
title Lack of increase in mercury contamination in coastal Western Australia since European settlement
spellingShingle Lack of increase in mercury contamination in coastal Western Australia since European settlement
Dahl, Martin
Australia
Coastal ecosystems
Environmental contamination
Holocene
Paleoreconstruction
Posidonia
title_short Lack of increase in mercury contamination in coastal Western Australia since European settlement
title_full Lack of increase in mercury contamination in coastal Western Australia since European settlement
title_fullStr Lack of increase in mercury contamination in coastal Western Australia since European settlement
title_full_unstemmed Lack of increase in mercury contamination in coastal Western Australia since European settlement
title_sort Lack of increase in mercury contamination in coastal Western Australia since European settlement
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Dahl, Martin
Schneider, Larissa
Biester, H.
Bindler, R.
Martínez Cortizas, Antonio
Lavery, Paul S.
Mateo, Miguel Ángel
Serrano, Oscar
author Dahl, Martin
author_facet Dahl, Martin
Schneider, Larissa
Biester, H.
Bindler, R.
Martínez Cortizas, Antonio
Lavery, Paul S.
Mateo, Miguel Ángel
Serrano, Oscar
author_role author
author2 Schneider, Larissa
Biester, H.
Bindler, R.
Martínez Cortizas, Antonio
Lavery, Paul S.
Mateo, Miguel Ángel
Serrano, Oscar
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (España)
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España)
Mateo, Miguel Ángel [0000-0001-7567-0277]
Serrano, Oscar [0000-0002-5973-0046]
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Australia
Coastal ecosystems
Environmental contamination
Holocene
Paleoreconstruction
Posidonia
topic Australia
Coastal ecosystems
Environmental contamination
Holocene
Paleoreconstruction
Posidonia
description Current knowledge of long-term mercury (Hg) deposition is predominantly based on studies from the Northern Hemisphere, leading to a geographical bias in the comprehension of the global Hg cycle. Aiming to contribute to fill this knowledge gap, our study presents a high-resolution Hg record of a seagrass Posidonia australis sedimentary archive encompassing the last 3300 years in the Waychinicup estuary (Western Australia, WA). This setting is an ideal site for studying the natural Hg cycle, as it is located in the southwest of the state, outside the prevailing wind patterns that transport emissions from major Hg sources. Our results show that Hg concentrations fluctuated from ∼1300 BCE to 100 CE with a shift in the paleorecord around 350 BCE, which could potentially be associated with an intensified El Niño Southern Oscillation period. From around 100 until ∼1880 CE, the Hg concentration remained relatively constant (∼2 μg kg-1) with an increase up to 8 μg kg-1 from 1880 CE until present. Although Hg accumulation doubled since European settlement in WA (from 2.4 to 4.8 μg m-2 yr-1), such an increase can be explained by enhanced organic carbon accumulation, rather than changes in external Hg fluxes. Therefore, our study showcases the importance of considering biogeochemical processes when reconstructing long-term Hg accumulation based on sedimentary archives. Furthermore, the results demonstrate the key role of seagrass meadows as natural paleoarchives of environmental contamination, providing valuable insights into human impacts on coastal areas and to establish pre-anthropogenic baseline metal concentrations.
publishDate 2026
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2026
2026
2026
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
Publisher's version
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10261/418116
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/105013649802
url http://hdl.handle.net/10261/418116
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/105013649802
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv #PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI//RYC2019-027073-I
The underlying dataset has been published as supplementary material of the article in the publisher platform at DOI 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2025.118600
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2025.118600
Sí
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
instname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
instname_str Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
reponame_str DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
collection DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
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