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Historical sedimentary trends of mercury and other trace elements from two saltmarshes of the Marano and Grado lagoon (northern Adriatic Sea)

  • ISEB 2015: Biogeochemical Dynamics of Sediment-Water Systems: Processes and Modelling
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

Previous research conducted in the Marano and Grado lagoon (northern Adriatic Sea) has shown that this environment has been affected by trace metal contamination, especially by mercury (Hg), from both industrial (the chlor-alkali plant) and mining activities (Idrija mine, Slovenia). Sediment cores were collected from two different saltmarshes of this lagoon environment to evaluate the degree of the anthropogenic enrichments and the geochronology of Hg accumulation.

Materials and methods

Core subsampling was performed by cutting 1-cm thick slices at discrete intervals. Mercury determination was done differently from the other parameters in that the two long cores were subsampled at 1-cm intervals to obtain continuous concentration profiles. Samples were completely decomposed, using a mixture of mineral acids in a closed microwave system before being analysed for trace metal content using ICP-OES. Total Hg content in the solid phase was determined by DMA-80. 137Cs was measured via gamma spectrometry. 210Pb activity was measured via alpha-counting of its daughter, 210Po, assuming secular equilibrium between the two isotopes.

Results and discussion

In saltmarsh sediments, Fe, Co, Li, Sc and V show no enrichment at both sites thus suggesting that they are essentially lithogenic elements. Conversely, enrichments are minimal (EF = <2) for As, Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn and moderate (EF = 2–5) for Cu and Mn and also for Pb and Zn but only in some levels of the sedimentary sequences. An exception is Hg, as expected due to the long-term input proceeding from the historical mining activity which has especially affected the eastern sector of the lagoon.

Conclusions

The core collected from the saltmarsh in the eastern lagoon (Grado) displays a better time resolution during the last century although the Hg background level has not been reached. Conversely, the core collected in the western sector (Marano) has recorded a longer and more complete history of Hg contamination, from the beginning of the peak of Hg extraction activity at the Idrija mine (1850). Both saltmarshes still receive Hg inputs and the sediment accumulation rates in the upper section appear to have increased over the last 10–20 years (from 0.30 to 0.45 cm year−1 at Marano and from 0.30 to 0.74 cm year−1 at Grado). Many of these morphological structures suffer erosive processes thus representing a potential source of contaminants associated with sediments, in particular Hg. Conservation and monitoring of saltmarshes should be taken into consideration also from this environmental point of view.

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Acknowledgements

This work was primarily supported by the University of Trieste (Finanziamento di Ateneo per progetti di ricerca scientifica—FRA 2009, ref. Stefano Covelli) and was partially carried out in the framework of the “RITMARE—la Ricerca ITaliana per il MARE (2012–2016)” Flagship Project, financed by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR). The authors are especially grateful to Roberto Cattelan of Veritas Laboratories for ICP-OES analyses. Thanks are due to Mauro Bussi and Cristiano Landucci from DMG Trieste for their assistance in grain-size and CHN analyses. A special thanks are due to Jadran Faganeli and an anonymous reviewer for their constructive comments to the early version of the manuscript. Karry Close is warmly acknowledged for proof reading. This is contribution number 1910 of the CNR-ISMAR of Bologna.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Geoscience, University of Trieste, Via Weiss 2, 34128, Trieste, Italy

    Stefano Covelli, Elisa Petranich & Andrea Emili

  2. Co. N.I.S. Ma. Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare, Piazzale Flaminio 9, 00196, Rome, Italy

    Stefano Covelli

  3. CNR, Istituto di Scienze Marine (ISMAR), via Gobetti 101, 40129, Bologna, Italy

    Leonardo Langone

  4. ARPA FVG, Environmental Protection Agency of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Via Cairoli 14, 33057, Palmanova, Udine, Italy

    Alessandro Acquavita

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  1. Stefano Covelli
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  4. Andrea Emili
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Correspondence to Stefano Covelli.

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Covelli, S., Petranich, E., Langone, L. et al. Historical sedimentary trends of mercury and other trace elements from two saltmarshes of the Marano and Grado lagoon (northern Adriatic Sea). J Soils Sediments 17, 1972–1985 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-016-1618-8

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