Mercury in the environment; surficial materials of the conterminous United States

Abstract

Mercury determinations for 912 samples of soils and other regoliths from sites approximately 50 miles apart throughout the United States are represented on a map by symbols showing five ranges of concentration. A histogram of mercury concentrations in the samples is also given. The geometric mean concentration of mercury is 71 parts per billion for all samples, 96 ppb for samples from the Eastern United States, and 55 ppb for samples from Western United States. Twelve samples contained at least 1,000 ppb mercury; the greatest concentration found was 4,600 ppb.