Large-Scale Mercury Dispersion at Sea: Modelling a Multi-Hazard Case Study from Augusta Bay (Central Mediterranean Sea)

Abstract

This contribution discusses an example of potential multi-hazard effects resulting from an earthquake in a highly seismogenic area of the Mediterranean Sea, the Augusta Bay, which presents high levels of contamination in sediments and seawater, due particularly to high-concentrations of mercury as a result of a long-term industrial exploitation. In particular, a high-resolution hydrodynamic and transport model is used to calculate the effects of enhanced mercury spreading in the open sea after significant damage and collapse of the artificial damming system confining the embayment where a very high concentration of Hg occurs in seafloor sediments and seawater. Coupling high-resolution 3D dynamic circulation modelling and sediment–seawater Hg fluxes calculated using the HR3DHG diffusion–reaction model for both inorganic and organic Hg species offers a valuable approach to simulating and estimating the effects of spatial dispersion of this contaminant due to unpredictable hazard events in coastal systems, with the potential attendant enhanced effects on the marine ecosystem. The simulated scenario definitely suggests that a combination of natural and anthropogenic multi-hazards calls for a thorough re-thinking of risk management in marine areas characterised by significant levels of contamination and where a deep understanding of the biogeochemical dynamics of pollutants does not cover all the aspects of danger for the environment.