“Hydrothermal vents are the most important direct source of natural mercury in the ocean,” Sven Petersen, co-author of the study and a geoscientist at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research in Kiel, said in a media statement. “But until now, the data on how much mercury they contribute has varied between 20 and 2,000 tons per year.”
Petersen explained that the data discrepancy is mainly because previous studies have only measured the hot solutions escaping from the sources.
For the current study, however, he and his colleagues analyzed not only the escaping fluids but also clouds of suspended matter known as plumes, seawater and rocks.
The samples were collected during the GEOTRACES and ODP (Ocean Drilling Program, predecessor of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, IODP) expeditions. GEOTRACES expeditions focus on the study of trace metals and their distribution in the oceans, while ODP expeditions drill rock…
