Mercury in the Colombian Caribbean: The Bay of Cartagena, A Model in Resilience

Abstract

The Caribbean Sea in Colombia maybe being subjected to discharges of terrigenous solid waste and with these probably, the natural metallic constituents of the sediments, through the discharges of the Magdalena River since the time of the conquest. With the opening of the Dique canal in the mid-seventeenth century, which linked pipes, swamps, and branches from the Magdalena River to its mouth at the southwestern end of the bay, great changes could be caused from the point of view of mixing the fresh and turbid water of the channel with the clear and marine waters of the bay, which led to the beginning of the deterioration of the coral ecosystems present in the bay. Mercury contamination in the Colombian Caribbean has different origins. Artisanal gold mining has the greatest impact and has generated mercury contamination in many ecosystems, particularly in Bolívar and the Mojana region (department of Sucre and Cordoba). In this study, published information on mercury contamination along the Colombian Caribbean coast is compiled. The concentrations present differences between different areas of the coast. The bay of Cartagena is one of the areas most impacted by this pollutant, mainly due to the discharge of waste from a salt processing plant. Other areas are impacted by mercury, the product of the artisanal exploitation of gold, the discharges as a result of this activity are transported mainly to the Magdalena River, and through the different arms that form the delta, they are deposited in the Colombian Caribbean.