Mercury cycle
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The mercury cycle is a biogeochemical cycle involving mercury. Mercury is notable for being the only heavy metal which is liquid at room temperature. It is a volatile metal and evaporates easily, going into the atmosphere.
Processes of the mercury cycle
Most natural mercury occurs as cinnabar, HgS. Here mercury (Hg2+) is bound very tightly to sulfur, but weathering releases the mercury to the environment slowly. There are also trace amounts of mercury in coal. Mining mercury or burning coal results in releasing mercury. Volcanoes and forest fires are also sources of mercury. Human activities have at least doubled the amount of mercury around the globe.
Chlorine factories, among other sources, release mercury into the atmosphere. This mercury is deposited back onto land and water. Inorganic mercury can be converted by bacteria into the organometallic cation known as methylmercury, MeHg+. This accumulates in fish. Over long periods of time, some mercury recombines with sulfur and is buried in sediments. Then, the cycle repeats itself all over again.
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