Abstract:
The purpose of this research is to study the vertical distribution of mercury concentration in one sediment core from Gulf of Thailand and two sediment cores from Manila Bay. Their correlations whith iron, aluminium, manganese contents and % ignition loss in the sediment had also been investigated. The Sediment core from the Gulf of Thailand (GT 15) was taken from about 20 km. south of the Chao Phraya river mouth. Sediment core MB 14 was taken from Pasig river mouth in the Manila bay whereas MB 18 was taken from the Middle part of the Manila bay.Mercury concentration in GT 15, MB 14 and MB 18 sediment cores varied between 0.0270-0.0760 ug g-1 dry wt., 0.1468-0.4455 ug g-1 dry wt. and 0.0302-0.1172 ug g-1 dry wt. respectively. MB 14 showed significantly higher mercury concentration as compared to those in GT 15 and MB 18.Mercury concentration in both GT 15 and MB 18 sediment cores showed decreasing trend with depth whereas mercury concentration in MB 14 showed an increasing trend with depth. Mercury content in each sediment cores showed different correlation with iron, aluminium, manganese contents and % ignition loss. These indicated that accumulation of mercury in each area has been controlled by different factors.