Atmospheric Mercury Deposition to Lakes and Watersheds

Engstrom, Daniel R.; Swain, Edward B.; Henning, Thomas A.; Brigham, Mark E.; Brezonik, Patrick L.

doi:10.1021/ba-1994-0237.ch002

Cited by 56 publications

(21 citation statements)

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“…The ratio of the modern whole-basin Hg accumulation flux in Lake Pepin to the presettlement flux (M:P Hg flux ratio) is 36 (1.08/0.03), much higher than in nonriverine lakes in Minnesota (4,5,19) and elsewhere (34,35,38,39) where typical values range from 1 to 4. Increased sediment accumulation is primarily responsible for the large M:P Hg flux ratio in Lake Pepin.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 92%

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History of Mercury Loading in the Upper Mississippi River Reconstructed from the Sediments of Lake Pepin

Balogh

Engstrom

Almendinger

et al. 1999

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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An array of sediment cores was analyzed to determine historical trends in mercury (Hg) accumulation in Lake Pepin, a natural lake on the Upper Mississippi River. Whole-basin Hg accumulation rates increased from 3 kg/yr before European settlement (ca. 1830) to a maximum of 357 kg/yr in the 1960s. The recent Hg accumulation rate (110 kg/yr, 1990−1996) is experimentally indistinguishable from measured Hg loadings in the river entering the lake, indicating that accumulation rates in Lake Pepin correspond quantitatively to river loadings. The modern accumulation rate represents a decline of almost 70% from the peak value, reflecting large decreases in Hg inputs to the Mississippi River from industrial and municipal point sources in the metropolitan Minneapolis/St.Paul area upstream. A total of 18.1 t of Hg has been deposited in Lake Pepin since 1800; half of that (9.0 t) was deposited between 1940 and 1970, when regional growth accelerated rapidly but pollution control mechanisms were inadequate. Point sources accounted for approximately 60% of the Hg accumulating in Lake Pepin in the 1960s, but these inputs have been virtually eliminated since then.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Lake sediments provide a stable archive of past and present inputs of Hg to a lake, permitting a reconstruction of the historical record (19). We collected an array of sediment cores from Lake Pepin, a natural lake on the Mississippi River downstream of the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota (Twin Cities) metropolitan area.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

History of Mercury Loading in the Upper Mississippi River Reconstructed from the Sediments of Lake Pepin

Balogh

Engstrom

Almendinger

et al. 1999

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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“…Some have focused on contaminants in general (Gearing et al 1991, Gallagher et al 2004, while others have targeted the historical accumulation of Hg, primarily as a result of atmospheric deposition (Swain et al 1992, Engstrom et al 1994, Benoit et al 1998, Lockhart et al 1998, 2000, Kamman and Engstrom 2002). Here we have attempted to catalog stresses that have impacted Clear Lake since the arrival of the Europeans (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropogenic Stressors and Changes in the Clear Lake Ecosystem as Recorded in Sediment Cores

Richerson

Suchanek

Zierenberg

et al. 2008

Ecological Applications

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Abstract. Sediment cores were collected to investigate multiple stresses on Clear Lake, California, USA, through the period of European occupation to the present day. Earlier workers suggested the hypothesis that the use of mechanized earthmoving equipment, starting in the 1920s and 1930s, was responsible for erosion, mercury (Hg) contamination, and habitat loss stresses. Cores (;2.5 m in depth) were collected in 1996 and 2000 from each of the three arms of the lake. Carbon-14 dating suggests that these cores represent as much as 3000 years of the lake's history, beginning long before European settlement. Total mercury (TotHg) and methylmercury (MeHg), dry matter, water, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and the stable isotopes 13 C and 15 N were measured at 5-cm intervals. Nearly all parameters show major changes at depths of 58-135 cm, beginning at ca. 1927 (dated with 210 Pb). Accepting this date for concomitant major changes in seven cores yields an estimated 8.6 mm/yr average sedimentation rate after 1927. Pre-1927 sedimentation rates were ;1 mm/yr. Total mercury and MeHg, dry matter, phosphorus, and 15 N increase significantly, whereas nitrogen, sulfur, carbon, and water content decrease significantly above the 1927 horizon. Both TotHg and MeHg show extremely large increases (roughly 10-fold) above the 1927 horizon. A peak in inorganic deposition rate and minimum values for percentage of water is present at depths corresponding to ca. 1970. Interestingly, the first 75 years of European settlement in the Clear Lake basin (including the most productive years of the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine) appeared to have had undetectable effects on lake cores. Changes since 1927 were dramatic. The large increase in Hg beginning about 1927 corresponds to the use of heavy equipment to exploit the ore deposit at the mine using open-pit methods. Increases in sediment deposition from increased earthmoving in the basin and sulfate loading from the mine are the most likely explanations for the dramatic changes seen in the post-1927 sections of the cores.

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“…For example, the amount of terrestrial total Hg (THg) transported to lakes (Lee et al, 1998;Evans, 1986) has been related to the transfer of OM (Kolka et al, 1999;Regnell and Ewald, 1997;Driscoll et al, 1995). Other studies, testing the ecotoxicological importance of lake catchments, found that THg concentrations in lake sediments of headwater lakes were predicted by ratios of watershed to lake area (e.g., Engstrom et al, 1994) or that wetlands are net exporters of MeHg to lakes (Branfireun et al, 1998) and eventually lake sediments. Therefore, it appears that both, catchment physiography and the biochemical composition of OM affect the spatial distribution of Hg concentrations in lake sediments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mercury Concentrations in Lake Sediments – Revisiting the Predictive Power of Catchment Morphometry and Organic Matter Composition

Kainz

Lucotte

2006

Water Air Soil Pollut

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Lake sediments are a potential source of mercury (Hg) for aquatic biota. Here, we investigated the predictive power of (a) key parameters for lake catchment morphometry and (b) organic matter composition of sediments in an effort to account for observed variations of total (THg) and methyl (MeHg) mercury concentrations in lake sediments. Using regression models we demonstrate that the morphometric parameters lake depth as well as inclination of catchment soils and lake bottoms can significantly predict variations of THg concentrations, but not MeHg, at profundal lake sediments. Although THg and MeHg concentrations in sediments could not be predicted by specific organic matter sources, as elucidated by atomic C/N ratios, our data suggest that wetland-derived total organic carbon (TOC) contained less THg concentrations than TOC derived from mostly forested watersheds. However, TOC concentrations could significantly predict MeHg concentrations and the proportion of methylated Hg at all sediment stations. Finally, from an ecotoxicological point of view, we propose that concentrations of TOC at surface lake sediments, rather than parameters of catchment morphometry, may predict dietary sources of MeHg for benthic consumers and consequently perhaps for organisms at higher trophic levels.

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Atmospheric Mercury Deposition to Lakes and Watersheds

Cited by 56 publications

References 1 publication

History of Mercury Loading in the Upper Mississippi River Reconstructed from the Sediments of Lake Pepin

History of Mercury Loading in the Upper Mississippi River Reconstructed from the Sediments of Lake Pepin

Anthropogenic Stressors and Changes in the Clear Lake Ecosystem as Recorded in Sediment Cores

Mercury Concentrations in Lake Sediments – Revisiting the Predictive Power of Catchment Morphometry and Organic Matter Composition

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