Mercury accumulation in hydrothermal vent mollusks from the southern Tonga Arc, southwestern Pacific Ocean

A Model of Mercury Distribution in Tuna from the Western and Central Pacific Ocean: Influence of Physiology, Ecology and Environmental Factors

“…43 The ARCHm region also has island arc volcanism and Hg hydrothermal inputs. 62 Interestingly, the southern latitudinal increase in bioaccumulated MeHg concentrations in tuna between WARMm and ARCHm regions shows an opposite trend to that of its dissolved counterpart. Kim et al 63 and Munson et al 16 documented that MeHg concentrations, besides increasing classically with depth, were relatively higher in the highly productive Equatorial regions of the WCPO, relative to depth profiles obtained in the less productive southern latitudes (down to 15°S and 25°S).…”

“…Finally, differences in Hg sources and/or net MeHg production rates in the water column could also be hypothesized to drive a part of the latitudinal trend given the strong contrasts that exist in terms of water stratification, current dynamics, nutrient regimes, and biogeochemistry in the WCPO . The ARCHm region also has island arc volcanism and Hg hydrothermal inputs . Interestingly, the southern latitudinal increase in bioaccumulated MeHg concentrations in tuna between WARMm and ARCHm regions shows an opposite trend to that of its dissolved counterpart.…”

Mercury (Hg) speciation in coral reef systems of remote Oceania: Implications for the artisanal fisheries of Tutuila, Samoa Islands

“…Denton et al (2006) found enhanced Hg concentrations in sediments in the Tanapag Lagoon in Saipan (Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, and later (Denton et al, 2011) were able to show that a source of some problems (including Hg in local fish species) was a hospital incinerator that was used for all waste including batteries, thermometers and fluorescent bulbs. Recently Lee et al (2015) measured the Hg in mollusc tissues in hydrothermal vents in the Tonga Arc and found total Hg contents of 11-66 µg/g dry weight with MeHg species being <0.1% of the total.…”

Diversity and characterization of bacterial communities of five co‐occurring species at a hydrothermal vent on the Tonga Arc

“…The uptake rates of dissolved gases and chemical compounds are influenced by their concentrations and molecular weights, environmental conditions, and species-specific anatomical features of the gill (Black & McCarthy, 1988;Hayton & Barron, 1990;Jørgensen, 1974;Perry & Laurent, 1993). In chemosynthetic hydrothermal vent environments, gills also function as a point of entry for highly concentrated toxic materials, such as cadmium, copper, mercury, sulfur, and methane, into the internal tissues (Cavanaugh et al, 1981;Serafim et al, 2006;Felbeck, 1981;Lee et al, 2015;Vetter, 1985). Bacterial symbionts related to gills are assumed to play key roles in supporting host metabolism and other physiological functions, such as carbon fixation, detoxification of metals, and oxidation of sulfides and methane (Cavanaugh et al, 1988;Childress et al, 1986;Jannasch, 1985;Ponsard et al, 2013;Powell & Somero, 1986;Zbinden et al, 2015).…”

“…The South-West Pacific Area biogeographic province, our study area, covers a large area of hydrothermal vents in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. These vents are relatively young (<10 Mya) and are enriched in CO 2 , SO 2 , H 2 S, Fe, and particularly Hg compared to vent fields in other oceans (Auzende et al, 1988;Lee et al, 2015). The water masses surrounding the area are well mixed by the South Equatorial Current system (Desbruyères et al, 2006;Mitarai et al, 2016).…”