Mercury flux to sediments of Lake Tahoe, California-Nevada

Paul E. Drevnick; Avery L.C. Shinneman; Carl H. Lamborg; Daniel R. Engstrom; Michael H. Bothner; James T. Oris

doi:10.1007/s11270-009-0262-y

Mercury flux to sediments of Lake Tahoe, California-Nevada

Paul E. Drevnick
, Avery L.C. Shinneman
, Carl H. Lamborg
, Daniel R. Engstrom
, Michael H. Bothner
, James T. Oris

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report estimates of mercury (Hg) flux to the sediments of Lake Tahoe, California-Nevada: 2 and 15-20 μg/m²/year in preindustrial and modern sediments, respectively. These values result in a modern to preindustrial flux ratio of 7.5-10, which is similar to flux ratios recently reported for other alpine lakes in California, and greater than the value of 3 typically seen worldwide. We offer plausible hypotheses to explain the high flux ratios, including (1) proportionally less photoreduction and evasion of Hg with the onset of cultural eutrophication and (2) a combination of enhanced regional oxidation of gaseous elemental Hg and transport of the resulting reactive gaseous Hg to the surface with nightly downslope flows of air. If either of these mechanisms is correct, it could lead to local/regional solutions to lessen the impact of globally increasing anthropogenic emissions of Hg on Lake Tahoe and other alpine ecosystems.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	399-407
Number of pages	9
Journal	Water, Air, and Soil Pollution
Volume	210
Issue number	1-4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-009-0262-y
State	Published - Jul 1 2010
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgements Brant Allen, Aaron Roberts, Brent Yelle, and Michael Casso helped with field and lab work. John Crusius and Nelson O’Driscoll gave useful advice for sediment and evasion modeling, respectively. Funding was provided by Miami University, EPA-STAR, the Postdoctoral Scholar Program at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the USGS.

Keywords

Alpine
Lake Tahoe
Mercury
Sediment

Publisher link

10.1007/s11270-009-0262-y

Find It

Find It at U of M Libraries

Cite this

@article{531d6c3f19304f6380adb07a6c9ed51d,

title = "Mercury flux to sediments of Lake Tahoe, California-Nevada",

abstract = "We report estimates of mercury (Hg) flux to the sediments of Lake Tahoe, California-Nevada: 2 and 15-20 μg/m2/year in preindustrial and modern sediments, respectively. These values result in a modern to preindustrial flux ratio of 7.5-10, which is similar to flux ratios recently reported for other alpine lakes in California, and greater than the value of 3 typically seen worldwide. We offer plausible hypotheses to explain the high flux ratios, including (1) proportionally less photoreduction and evasion of Hg with the onset of cultural eutrophication and (2) a combination of enhanced regional oxidation of gaseous elemental Hg and transport of the resulting reactive gaseous Hg to the surface with nightly downslope flows of air. If either of these mechanisms is correct, it could lead to local/regional solutions to lessen the impact of globally increasing anthropogenic emissions of Hg on Lake Tahoe and other alpine ecosystems.",

keywords = "Alpine, Lake Tahoe, Mercury, Sediment",

author = "Drevnick, \{Paul E.\} and Shinneman, \{Avery L.C.\} and Lamborg, \{Carl H.\} and Engstrom, \{Daniel R.\} and Bothner, \{Michael H.\} and Oris, \{James T.\}",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgements Brant Allen, Aaron Roberts, Brent Yelle, and Michael Casso helped with field and lab work. John Crusius and Nelson O{\textquoteright}Driscoll gave useful advice for sediment and evasion modeling, respectively. Funding was provided by Miami University, EPA-STAR, the Postdoctoral Scholar Program at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the USGS.",

year = "2010",

month = jul,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1007/s11270-009-0262-y",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "210",

pages = "399--407",

journal = "Water, Air, and Soil Pollution",

issn = "0049-6979",

publisher = "Springer Nature",

number = "1-4",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Mercury flux to sediments of Lake Tahoe, California-Nevada

AU - Drevnick, Paul E.

AU - Shinneman, Avery L.C.

AU - Lamborg, Carl H.

AU - Engstrom, Daniel R.

AU - Bothner, Michael H.

AU - Oris, James T.

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgements Brant Allen, Aaron Roberts, Brent Yelle, and Michael Casso helped with field and lab work. John Crusius and Nelson O’Driscoll gave useful advice for sediment and evasion modeling, respectively. Funding was provided by Miami University, EPA-STAR, the Postdoctoral Scholar Program at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the USGS.

PY - 2010/7/1

Y1 - 2010/7/1

N2 - We report estimates of mercury (Hg) flux to the sediments of Lake Tahoe, California-Nevada: 2 and 15-20 μg/m2/year in preindustrial and modern sediments, respectively. These values result in a modern to preindustrial flux ratio of 7.5-10, which is similar to flux ratios recently reported for other alpine lakes in California, and greater than the value of 3 typically seen worldwide. We offer plausible hypotheses to explain the high flux ratios, including (1) proportionally less photoreduction and evasion of Hg with the onset of cultural eutrophication and (2) a combination of enhanced regional oxidation of gaseous elemental Hg and transport of the resulting reactive gaseous Hg to the surface with nightly downslope flows of air. If either of these mechanisms is correct, it could lead to local/regional solutions to lessen the impact of globally increasing anthropogenic emissions of Hg on Lake Tahoe and other alpine ecosystems.

AB - We report estimates of mercury (Hg) flux to the sediments of Lake Tahoe, California-Nevada: 2 and 15-20 μg/m2/year in preindustrial and modern sediments, respectively. These values result in a modern to preindustrial flux ratio of 7.5-10, which is similar to flux ratios recently reported for other alpine lakes in California, and greater than the value of 3 typically seen worldwide. We offer plausible hypotheses to explain the high flux ratios, including (1) proportionally less photoreduction and evasion of Hg with the onset of cultural eutrophication and (2) a combination of enhanced regional oxidation of gaseous elemental Hg and transport of the resulting reactive gaseous Hg to the surface with nightly downslope flows of air. If either of these mechanisms is correct, it could lead to local/regional solutions to lessen the impact of globally increasing anthropogenic emissions of Hg on Lake Tahoe and other alpine ecosystems.

KW - Alpine

KW - Lake Tahoe

KW - Mercury

KW - Sediment

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/77953616192

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/77953616192#tab=citedBy

U2 - 10.1007/s11270-009-0262-y

DO - 10.1007/s11270-009-0262-y

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:77953616192

SN - 0049-6979

VL - 210

SP - 399

EP - 407

JO - Water, Air, and Soil Pollution

JF - Water, Air, and Soil Pollution

IS - 1-4

ER -

Mercury flux to sediments of Lake Tahoe, California-Nevada

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Publisher link

Find It

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this