THE LEGACY OF MERCURY CYCLING FROM MINING SOURCES IN AN AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM: FROM ORE TO ORGANISMстатья из журнала
Аннотация: Clear Lake is the site of an abandoned mercury (Hg) mine (active intermittently from 1873 to 1957), now a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund Site. Mining activities, including bulldozing waste rock and tailings into the lake, resulted in ∼100 Mg of Hg entering the lake's ecosystem. This series of papers represents the culmination of ∼15 years of Hg‐related studies on this ecosystem, following Hg from the ore body to the highest trophic levels. A series of physical, chemical, biological, and limnological studies elucidate how ongoing Hg loading to the lake is influenced by acid mine drainage and how wind‐driven currents and baroclinic circulation patterns redistribute Hg throughout the lake. Methylmercury (MeHg) production in this system is controlled by both sulfate‐reducing bacteria as well as newly identified iron‐reducing bacteria. Sediment cores (dated with dichlorodiphenyldichlorethane [DDD], 210 Pb, and 14 C) to ∼250 cm depth (representing up to ∼3000 years before present) elucidate a record of total Hg (TotHg) loading to the lake from natural sources and mining and demonstrate how MeHg remains stable at depth within the sediment column for decades to millenia. Core data also identify other stresses that have influenced the Clear Lake Basin especially over the past 150 years. Although Clear Lake is one of the most Hg‐contaminated lakes in the world, biota do not exhibit MeHg concentrations as high as would be predicted based on the gross level of Hg loading. We compare Clear Lake's TotHg and MeHg concentrations with other sites worldwide and suggest several hypotheses to explain why this discrepancy exists. Based on our data, together with state and federal water and sediment quality criteria, we predict potential resulting environmental and human health effects and provide data that can assist remediation efforts.
Год издания: 2008
Авторы: Thomas H. Suchanek, Peter J. Richerson, Robert A. Zierenberg, Collin A. Eagles‐Smith, Darell G. Slotton, E. James Harner, David A. Osleger, Daniel W. Anderson, Joseph J. Cech, S. Geoffrey Schladow, Arthur E. Colwell, Jeffrey F. Mount, Peggie S. King, David P. Adam, Kenneth J. McElroy
Издательство: Wiley
Источник: Ecological Applications
Ключевые слова: Mercury impact and mitigation studies, Heavy metals in environment, Heavy Metal Exposure and Toxicity
Другие ссылки: Ecological Applications (PDF)
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PubMed (HTML)
Ecological Applications (HTML)
PubMed (HTML)
Открытый доступ: bronze
Том: 18
Выпуск: sp8