Mercury contamination history of an estuarine floodplain reconstructed from a 210Pb-dated sediment core (Berg River, South Africa)

Abstract

Mercury deposition histories have been scarcely documented in the southern hemisphere. A sediment core was collected from the ecologically important estuarine floodplain of the Berg River (South Africa). We establish the concentration of Hg in this 210Pb-dated sediment core at <50 ng g −1 Hg T throughout the core, but with 1.3 ng g −1 methylmercury in surface sediments. The 210Pb dating of the core provides a first record of mercury deposition to the site and reveals the onset of enhanced mercury deposition in 1970. The ratio of methylmercury to total mercury is relatively high in these sediments when compared to other wetlands.