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Mercury deposition in the Czech Republic decreasing in the 21st century

Mercury as a global pollutant is regularly mentioned in the news with respect to discussions about its emissions. Due to the low reactivity of gaseous elemental mercury in the atmosphere the wet deposition is low at 2–3 µg/m2/year. In forest environment, the main deposition path of Hg to the forest floor is litterfall. Litterfall Hg deposition, including deposition of biomass, such as needles, twigs, cones and bark, reaches usually 20–50 µg/m2/year. Long-term research of two mountain lake catchments in the Šumava (Bohemian Forest) National Park area indicated a significant decrease in Hg deposition in litterfall since the beginning of the 21st century. Furthermore, this research shows that the bark beetle infestation may increase Hg deposition up to 5 fold due to high biomass deposition. This study evaluated individual contribution of spruce litterfall components, such as needles, twigs, cones, bark, lichen and unidentifiable debris separately. Research published in Science of the Total Environment (IF 4,6) Journal was performed within a broad cooperation with the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, U.S. Geological Survey and Global Change Research Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

15th International Ichnofabric Workshop in Prague

Radek Mikuláš convened the 15th International Ichnofabric Workshop to Prague (April 27 – May 5, 2019). Thirty-two specialists from over the world presented recent contributions from the mainstream branch of ichnology, e.g., ichnofabrics of terrestrial systems. A special discussion block was devoted to the use of computed tomography in the study of ichnofabric. Despite severe health complications of the convenor, the workshop was held at the scheduled time and followed the previously announced plan of excursions. In result, most of the sites known to a few people only through publications were now visited and evaluated directly by the top ichnologists. See Web page and Abstracts & Guidebook.

Some aspects of mercury records in tree rings

Tree-rings as a geochemical archive were presented as a topic studied within the Department of Environmental Geology and Geochemistry of the Institute of Geology CAS. The article describes some aspects of mercury records that can be deciphered from Larch and Pine tree rings as well as some peculiarities of the associated fieldwork. In Czech only.

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