Measuring Mercury

WHOI geochemist Carl Lamborg worked with Bill Martin of WHOI and Mike Bothner of the U.S. Geological Survey to determine the amounts of different forms of mercury in sediments from Hull Bay, Mass. Bacteria in sediments are one source of highly toxic monomethyl mercury (MMHg), which accumulates in popular seafood species such as tuna and shark. Bothner is leading a long-term study of the Hull Bay area’s recovery following decades of pollution by sewage.

(Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)