Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)The vertical distribution of mercury along a weathering profile derived from a diabase was compared to the main geochemical and mineralogical characteristics of the soil and its parental rock. The sampling site was in a metropolitan area, nearby to an active quarry and relatively close to an industrial park. The samples of a 6-m-deep fresh exposure of the soil profile and also of fresh rock were collected during the dry season. Kaolinite, goethite, hematite, and residual primary minerals were identified in the soil samples. Typically, the concentrations of Hg in the soil are low. Whole samples contained between 1 (rock) and 37 mu g kg(-1) Hg, while the<63-mu m soil fraction had up to 52 mu g kg(-1) Hg. The higher values of Hg corresponded to the upper layers of A (0-10 cm) and B (200-220 cm) soil horizons. Elemental gains and losses calculated against Zr resulted in the following order: Hg >> Pb>Zr>LREE>Nb>HREE>Al>Ti>Fe>Cr. Total organic carbon in soil samples varied between 0.2 and 5.1 g dm(-3), and correlation with Hg concentrations was moderate. The acid pH (4.2-5.5) of the soil samples favors the sorption Hg species by predominant secondary phases like goethite and kaolinite. The Hg concentration of the rock is insufficient to explain the large enrichment of Hg along the soil profile, indicating that exogenic Hg, via atmospheric deposition, contributed to the measured Hg concentrations of the soil.221417306375Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)FAPESP [Proc. 05/53599-0]