The biotic and abiotic mercury at the coastal zone of Gulf of Gdańsk

Concentration of neurotoxin Hg (mercury) was determined monthly form 01.2012 to 05.2013 (total and suspended) in the surface microlayer and the surface water as well as in: phytoplankton, zooplankton, epilithon, epifithon, phytobenthos (macroalgae and angiosperms), zoobenthos, and in the sediment. The study was conducted in the coastal zone of the Puck Lagoon (Osłonino and Chałupy) and the Gulf of Gdańsk (Gdynia).  Mercury data were compiled with the abundance and biomass of individual species of: phytoplankton, phytobentos, zoobenthos;  abundance of individual species of zooplankton; water temperature; salinity; pH; suspended particulate matter concentration; concentration of  particulate organic carbon and nitrogen (in the surface microlayer and the surface water); δ13C and δ15N in the suspended matter; sediment parameters like: moisture, fine sediment fraction, LOI and redox condition. Results indicate influence of warming of cold season (from late autumn to early spring) on Hg concentration in biotic and abiotic components of marine coastal zone. Increase annual average mercury concentration in trophic web of gulf.