| Issue |
J. Phys. IV France
Volume 107, May 2003
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Page(s) | 83 - 86 | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/jp4:20030249 | |
J. Phys. IV France 107 (2003) 83
DOI: 10.1051/jp4:20030249
A hypolimnetic mass balance of mercury from a dimictic lake: Results from the METAALICUS project
C.L. Babiarz1, J. P. Hurley2, D.P. Krabbenhoft2, T.R. Trinko1, M. Tate1, S.P. Chadwick1 and D.E. Armstrong11 Environmental Chemistry & Technology, University of Wisconsin, 660 North Park Street, Madison, WI, U.S.A.
2 Water Resources Institute, University of Wisconsin, 1975 Willow Drive, Madison, WI, U.S.A.
Abstract
Our ability to determine the fate and transport of newly deposited mercury, from that of historically
deposited mercury, was recently demonstrated by the Mercury Experiment To Assess Atmospheric Loading In
Canada and the United States (METAALICUS). The METAALICUS project is a whole-watershed amendment
study where different stable isotopes of mercury were applied to three watershed compartments totaling ~53
Hectares: the upland, the wetland, and the surface of a dimictic lake in northwesten Ontario, Canada. Each
compartment received approximately 5 times the annual background atmospheric deposition for the region. In the
lake, the spike was divided into 9 bi-week injections administered over several hours through the wash of a
trolling motor while circling the lake. The spike was added at dusk to limit photo reduction and evasion of elemental
mercury. Results from two years of data show that new mercury is extremely particle reactive. Implications for the
availability of newly deposited mercury for methylation, and a well-constrained mass balance of the hypolimnetic
mercury cycle, will be presented.
© EDP Sciences 2003