Effects of Nutrient Loading and Mercury Chemical Speciation on the Formation and Degradation of Methylmercury in Estuarine Sediment

Net formation of methylmercury (MeHg) in sediments is known to be affected by the availability of inorganic divalent mercury (Hg-II) and by the activities of Hg-II methylating and MeHg demethylating bacteria. Enhanced autochthonous organic matter deposition to the benthic zone, following increased loading of nutrients to the pelagic zone, has been suggested to increase the activity of Hg-II methylating bacteria and thus the rate of net methylation. However, the impact of increased nutrient loading on the biogeochemistry Of mercury (Hg) is challenging to predict as different geochemical pools of Hg may respond differently to enhanced bacterial activities. Here, we investigate the combined effects of nutrient (N and P) supply to the pelagic zone and the chemical speciation of Hg-II and of MeHg on MeHg formation and degradation in a brackish sediment-water mesocosm model ecosystem. By use of Hg isotope tracers added in situ to the mesocosms or ex situ in incubation experiments, we show that the MeHg formation rate increased with nutrient loading only for Hg-II tracers with a high availability for methylation. Tracers with low availability did not respond significantly to nutrient loading. Thus, both microbial activity (stimulated indirectly through plankton biomass production by nutrient loading) and Hg-II chemical speciation were found to control the MeHg formation rate in marine sediments.