FORMS OF OCCURRENCE OF MERCURY IN A CINNABAR-RIVER WATER SYSTEM

Abstract

In the present paper we consider the mechanism of the processes that will take place when cinnabar reacts with river water. The data obtained from physicochemical modeling indicate that mercury enters the water as a result of the breakdown of mercury-containing minerals, which, particularly in the initial period, may give rise to dangerous mercury concentrations in the water, and subsequently in bottom sediments and the biota, both in the reservoirs of the Katuna hydroelectric station and in other water systems flowing through zones of mercury mineralization. This is indicated in particular by the fact that in natural waters of the Gornyy Altai, with an average mercury content between 0.55 and 0.95 μg/liter, the zones of known mercury mineralization and a value as high as 65 μg/liter has been found in a sample of fossil ice.