Model of Mercury Flux Associated with Volcanic Activity

Volcanic activity is one of the primary sources of mercury in the earth’s ecosystem. In this work, volcanic rocks from four geotectonically distinct localities (the Czech Republic – intraplate, rift-related alkaline basaltic rocks; Iceland – hotspot/rift-related tholeiitic basaltic rocks; Japan – island arc calc-alkaline andesites; and Alaska – continental arc calc-alkaline dacites) were studied. Ultra-trace Hg contents in all samples ranged from 0.3 up to 6 µg/kg. The highest Hg content was determined for volcanic ash from Mount Redoubt (Alaska, USA). In the case of basaltic volcanic rocks, the obtained results are about two orders of magnitude smaller than values formerly assumed for primary mercury contents in basaltic lavas. They are close to predicted Hg contents in the mantle source, i.e. below 0.5 µg/kg. Hg degassing is probably a key process for the resulting Hg contents in material ejected during volcanic eruption, which is previously enriched by Hg in the shallow-crust.