The Glenn and Susan Buckley Lecture in Environmental Geology

Biogeochemistry of mercury with new insights from mercury stable isotopes

Prof. Joel Blum

University of Michigan

Mercury is a globally distributed toxic metal that displays complex biogeochemical cycling at the Earth’s surface, with its mobility and toxicity controlled largely by speciation and redox state. It is, therefore, important to identify and quantify Hg inputs to the environment from specific natural and anthropogenic sources, and to trace Hg redox transformations. Stable Hg isotope studies are emerging as an important new tool in Hg biogeochemical research. This seminar will introduce Hg stable isotope systematics, including both mass-dependent and mass-independent fractionation, and discuss recent applications of this tool to the investigation of Hg biogeochemistry in atmospheric, marine and terrestrial systems.