Spatiotemporal patterns of mercury accumulation in lake sediments of western North America

Drevnick, Paul E.; Cooke, Colin A.; Barraza, Daniella; Blais, Jules M.; Coale, Kenneth H.; Cumming, Brian F.; Curtis, Chris; Das, Biswajit; Donahue, William F.; Eagles‐Smith, Collin A.; Engstrom, Daniel R.; Fitzgerald, William F.; Furl, Chad; Gray, John Edward; Hall, Roland I.; Jackson, Togwell A.; Laird, Kathleen R.; Lockhart, W.L.; Macdonald, Robie W.; Mast, M. Alisa; Mathieu, Callie; Muir, Derek C. G.; Outridge, P.M.; Reinemann, Scott A.; Rothenberg, Sarah E.; Ruiz-Fernández, Ana Carolina; Louis, Vincent L. St.; Sanders, Rhea D.; Sanei, Hamed; Skierszkan, E.K.; Metre, Peter C. Van; Veverica, Timothy J.; Wiklund, Johan A.; Wolfe, Brent B.

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.03.167

Cited by 59 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 68 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Both ratios rise to between 2 and 3, and we observe little evidence for a significant increase after the onset of oil sands mining activities in 1967. Instead, our Hg records record a threefold increase over the industrial era, which is consistent with other lake sediment cores recovered from across western North America Drevnick et al (2016) and around the globe (Biester et al 2007, Engstrom et al 2014. Thus, despite higher wintertime loadings of Hg close to the Suncor upgrader and its associated petroleum coke piles (Kirk et al 2014), we observe no obvious uptick in lake sediment Hg attributable directly to oil sands mining and processing.…”

Section: Trace Element Geochemistrysupporting

confidence: 87%

Spatial and temporal patterns in trace element deposition to lakes in the Athabasca oil sands region (Alberta, Canada)

Cooke

Kirk

Muir

et al. 2017

Environ. Res. Lett.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The mining and processing of the Athabasca oil sands (Alberta, Canada) has been occurring for decades; however, a lack of consistent regional monitoring has obscured the long-term environmental impact. Here, we present sediment core results to reconstruct spatial and temporal patterns in trace element deposition to lakes in the Athabasca oil sands region. Early mining operations (during the 1970s and 1980s) led to elevated V and Pb inputs to lakes located <50 km from mining operations. Subsequent improvements to mining and upgrading technologies since the 1980s have reduced V and Pb loading to near background levels at many sites. In contrast, Hg deposition increased by a factor of ∼3 to all 20 lakes over the 20th century, reflecting global-scale patterns in atmospheric Hg emissions. Base cation deposition (from fugitive dust emissions) has not measurably impacted regional lake sediments. Instead, results from a principal components analysis suggest that the presence of carbonate bedrock underlying lakes located close to development appears to exert a first-order control over lake sediment base cation concentrations and overall lake sediment geochemical composition. Trace element concentrations generally did not exceed Canadian sediment quality guidelines, and no spatial or temporal trends were observed in the frequency of guideline exceedence. Our results demonstrate that early mining efforts had an even greater impact on trace element cycling than has been appreciated previously, placing recent monitoring efforts in a critical long-term context.

show abstract

Section: Trace Element Geochemistrysupporting

confidence: 87%

Spatial and temporal patterns in trace element deposition to lakes in the Athabasca oil sands region (Alberta, Canada)

Cooke

Kirk

Muir

et al. 2017

Environ. Res. Lett.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…THg concentrations in sediments of nearby Wabamun Lake have been reported in several studies (Donahue et al, 2006;Jackson and Muir, 2012;Sanei, 2005) and are similar to the range of concentrations we report here for Hasse Lake sediments. THg accumulation rates at the bottom of the Hasse Lake core (pre-1910) were between 17 and 22 mg m À2 yr À1 , which are comparable to many lakes in western North America during this time period, as noted in a recent study by Drevnick et al (2016). Hasse Lake Hg accumulation rates in more recently deposited sediments have increased by approximately 1.75-fold relative to pre-1910 rates.…”

Section: Hg Concentrations and Accumulation Ratessupporting

confidence: 72%

Lake-sediment record of PAH, mercury, and fly-ash particle deposition near coal-fired power plants in Central Alberta, Canada

Barst

Ahad

Rose

et al. 2017

Environmental Pollution

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We report a historical record of atmospheric deposition in dated sediment cores from Hasse Lake, ideally located near both currently and previously operational coal-fired power plants in Central Alberta, Canada. Accumulation rates of spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs), an unambiguous marker of high-temperature fossil-fuel combustion, in the early part of the sediment record (pre-1955) compared well with historical emissions from one of North America's earliest coal-fired power plants (Rossdale) located ∼43 km to the east in the city of Edmonton. Accumulation rates in the latter part of the record (post-1955) suggested inputs from the Wabamun region's plants situated ∼17-25 km to the west. Increasing accumulation rates of SCPs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and Hg coincided with the previously documented period of peak pollution in the Wabamun region during the late 1960s to early 1970s, although Hg deposition trends were also similar to those found in western North American lakes not directly affected by point sources. A noticeable reduction in contaminant inputs during the 1970s is attributed in part to technological improvements and stricter emission controls. The over one hundred-year historical record of coal-fired power plant emissions documented in Hasse Lake sediments has provided insight into the impact that both environmental regulations and changes in electricity output have had over time. This information is crucial to assessing the current and future role of coal in the world's energy supply.

show abstract

“…The Arctic in modern times has experienced increased atmospheric Hg inputs and increased methylmercury production compared to preindustrialization (Hammerschmidt et al, 2006). Arctic sediments show a 3-to-5 times increase in atmospheric deposition loads since the Industrial Revolution (Fitzgerald et al, 2005), similar to those found in temperate zones (Drevnick et al, 2016;Schuster et al, 2002). This modern increase in Arctic Hg deposition has led to increased biological exposure as confirmed, for example, by Arctic animal tissue collections showing a 14-fold increase in Greenlandic polar bear hair Hg concentrations since 1300 CE (Dietz et al, 2006) and a fourfold increase of Hg in teeth of Beluga Whales since 1650 CE (Outridge et al, 2002).…”

Section: 1029/2017gb005840mentioning

confidence: 82%

Mercury in Active‐Layer Tundra Soils of Alaska: Concentrations, Pools, Origins, and Spatial Distribution

Olson

Jiskra

Biester

et al. 2018

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Tundra soils serve as major sources of mercury (Hg) input to the Arctic Ocean via river runoff and coastal erosion; yet little information is available on tundra soil Hg concentrations, pool sizes, origins, and dynamics. We present a detailed investigation of Hg in the active layer (upper ~100 cm subject to seasonal thaw) of tundra soils across 11 sites in Alaska. Soil Hg concentrations in organic horizons (151 ± 7 μg/kg) were in the upper range of temperate soil organic horizons, and concentrations in mineral horizons (98 ± 6 μg/kg) were much higher than in temperate soils. Soil Hg concentrations declined from inland to coastal sites, in contrast to a hypothesized northward increase expected because of proximity to coastal atmospheric mercury depletion events. Principle component analyses and elemental ratios results show that exogenic sources dominated over geogenic sources—in A‐horizons (66 ± 4%) and mineral B‐horizons (51 ± 1%). 14C age‐dating suggested recent origins of Hg in surface soils but showed that mineral soils (more than 7,300 years old) must have accumulated atmospheric inputs across millennia leading to high soil concentrations and pools. We estimated a total Northern Hemisphere active‐layer tundra soil Hg pool of 184 Gg (range of 136 to 274 Gg), suggesting a globally important Hg storage pool. Tundra soils are subject to seasonal thaw and freeze dynamics, thereby providing large inputs to rivers, lakes, and the Arctic Ocean. Understanding processes that mobilize Hg from tundra soils will be critical to understanding future Arctic wildlife and human Hg exposures.

show abstract

Spatiotemporal patterns of mercury accumulation in lake sediments of western North America

Cited by 59 publications

References 68 publications

Spatial and temporal patterns in trace element deposition to lakes in the Athabasca oil sands region (Alberta, Canada)

Spatial and temporal patterns in trace element deposition to lakes in the Athabasca oil sands region (Alberta, Canada)

Lake-sediment record of PAH, mercury, and fly-ash particle deposition near coal-fired power plants in Central Alberta, Canada

Mercury in Active‐Layer Tundra Soils of Alaska: Concentrations, Pools, Origins, and Spatial Distribution

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About