A recent study has revealed that there is a high sediment mercury levels in Artic which is more prone for pollution in the region. The study was conducted on Kongsfjorden, one of the Fjord located at Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, by a group of researchers from Kottayam Kerala School of Environmental Sciences affiliated to the Mahatma Gandhi University.

The report was presented during fifth International Conference on Eco-toxicology and Environmental Sciences held in Kochi between February 15-17. The researchers Chandini PK, Mahesh Mohan and Gopalkrishnan VG claimed that the mercury contamination in the polar environment has increased since the industrial revolution.

The researchers have said the low concentration in the residual fraction indicates that the mercury present in the sediment is mainly anthropogenic (environmental pollution originating from human activity).

Did You Know???

• The Arctic Ocean is surrounded by Greenland, Alaska, Canada, Russia and Norway making it virtually landlocked.
• The Ocean is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Bering Strait and the Atlantic Ocean by the Greenland Sea.
• The deepest spot in the Arctic Ocean is the Eurasian Basin at 17,880 feet. The average dept of the Arctic Ocean is around 3406 feet.
• The Arctic Ocean is full of life and has a fragile ecosystem. Marine life includes walruses, whales and jellyfish.
• The Titanic sank because it ran into an iceberg that had broken away from a glacier from the Arctic Ocean.