Research project Arctic Ocean Methylmercury-Methane interactions – from microscale processes to Pan-Arctic cycling
Mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant; its organic form, methylmercury (MeHg), is a neurotoxin that bioaccumulates in marine food webs, impacting human and wildlife health in the Arctic. The interaction between Hg and methane (CH4) cycling in Arctic sediment remains unknown, despite significant CH4 emissions.
This project will be a unique opportunity to better understand the fate of methylmercury (MeHg), a harmful neurotoxin, and its interactions with methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas, in the Arctic Ocean (AO) sediment compartment. A large part of my research will determine the yet unknown mechanisms driving microbial co-metabolic degradation of MeHg and CH4, particularly through to the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM). These results are essential to understanding the geochemical cycling of Mercury (Hg) in this vulnerable and unique Ocean.