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Mercury in the sediments of the Pallanza Basin

Abstract

SURFACE sediment samples (0–3 cm) taken from the Pallanza Basin of Lago Maggiore, Italy, in 1970 have been analysed for mercury, using flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The concentration of mercury in the Maggiore sediments proved to be extremely high when compared with other reported lake sediments (Table 1, and ref. 1). They were checked by another laboratory and both sets of results were in extremely good agreement. Mercury concentrations ranged from 0.2 to 20.1 p.p.m., with a mean of 7.7 p.p.m. and a standard deviation of 4.9 p.p.m.

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References

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DAMIANI, V., THOMAS, R. Mercury in the sediments of the Pallanza Basin. Nature 251, 696–697 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/251696a0

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