Geology Reports⌕ Search
Home/Archive/USGS

USGS · 70031728

Mercury sedimentation in lakes in western Whatcom County, Washington, USA and its relation to local industrial and municipal atmospheric sources

A.J. Paulson·D. Norton
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Concentrations of mercury (Hg) were measured in six dated cores from four lakes in western Whatcom County, Washington, USA, that were at various bearings from a chlor-alkali plant, two municipal waste incinerators and a municipal sewage sludge incinerator. The importance of atmospheric emissions of Hg from these local municipal and industrial sources was evaluating by comparing the temporal trends in sedimentation of the lake cores with the emission history of each Hg species and by examining the geographical distribution of Hg sedimentation in relation to the region's primary wind pattern. Local municipal and industrial sources of atmospheric Hg were not responsible for the majority of the Hg in the upper layer of sediments of Whatcom County lakes because of (1) the significant enrichment of Hg in lake sediments prior to emissions of local industrial and municipal sources in 1964, (2) smaller increases in Hg concentrations occurred after 1964, (3) the similarity of maximum enrichments found in Whatcom County lakes to those in rural lakes around the world, (4) the inconsistency of the temporal trends in Hg sedimentation with the local emission history, and (5) the inconsistency of the geographic trends in Hg sedimentation with estimated deposition. Maximum enrichment ratios of Hg in lake sediments between 2 and 3 that are similar to rural areas in Alaska, Minnesota, and New England suggest that global sources of Hg were primarily responsible for increases of Hg in Whatcom County lakes beginning about 1900. ?? 2007 GovernmentEmployee: U.S. Government, Department of Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.

Explore related subjects

Water, Air, & Soil PollutionArticle

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

A.J. Paulson, D. Norton. 2007-11-23. Mercury sedimentation in lakes in western Whatcom County, Washington, USA and its relation to local industrial and municipal atmospheric sources. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-007-9549-z

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related USGS reports

USGS2025

Quantifying leachable phosphorus from the leaves of common midwest urban street trees and implications for stormwater management

Urban runoff containing high amounts of nutrients like phosphorus (P) is a well-established driver of surface water eutrophication. In residential areas, a primary source of nutrients is derived from leaf litter. P contained in leaves is leached and transported by stormwater from source to stream. The majority of P leached from leaf litter is in the dissolved phase, which can be difficult to remove using conventional treatment practices, leaving source control as the most viable option. Additional tools are needed to help forecast how different tree species may improve or hinder contributions of nutrients to runoff. For this reason, ten street tree species that are common throughout the contiguous U.S. were chosen to evaluate the effect of species on leachable P from tree leaves using laboratory experiments. After 48 h of exposure to water, the amount of P released ranged from 2.16 mg P g −1 leaf for Silver Maple to 0.03 mg P g −1 leaf for Hackberry. More than half of the P was lost in the first 12 h for eight of the ten tree species, making guided source control important to reduce inputs to surface water from key locations. Results were used to identify ‘hotspots’ of P leaching in Madison, WI and can be used to assess current street tree inventories that can then guide management to areas with the highest nutrient reduction potential and inform urban foresters who may wish to tailor future planting scenarios that minimize nutrients in runoff.

Wisconsin↗
USGS2019

Response of water chemistry and young-of-year brook trout to channel and watershed liming in streams showing lagging recovery from acidic deposition

Reductions in sulfur emissions have initiated chemical recovery of surface waters impacted by acidic deposition in the Adirondack region of New York State. However, acidified streams remain common in the region, which limits recovery of brook trout ( Salvelinus fontinalis ) populations. To investigate liming as a method to accelerate recovery of brook trout, the channels of two acidified streams were limed annually from 2012 to 2015, and an entire watershed of a third acidified tributary was limed by helicopter in 2013. Stream flow, water chemistry, and density of young-of-year (YOY) brook trout were measured in limed streams, an untreated acidified stream, and a buffered reference stream. Lime additions increased pH and acid-neutralizing capacity and decreased inorganic monomeric aluminum concentrations to less than 2.0 μmol/L, the minimum concentration at which in situ brook trout mortality has been documented. However, of the two channel-limed streams, only stream T8 showed a significant response (P < 0.01) in YOY density, increasing from a mean of 0.4 fish/m2 before liming to 2.7 fish/m2 after liming. No YOY brook trout response was observed in the stream within the limed watershed. Groundwater inputs to streams were identified by relative differences in temperature and concentrations of silica and sodium. YOY brook trout densities increased only in the channel-limed stream (T8) with suitable groundwater inputs for fall spawning and a summer nursery. Results suggest that targeted liming of acidified streams with the necessary groundwater habitat could be beneficial in accelerating recovery of brook trout populations.

New York↗
USGS2018

Arsenic geochemistry of alluvial sediments and pore waters affected by mine tailings along the Belle Fourche and Cheyenne River floodplains

Gold mining operations in the northern Black Hills of South Dakota resulted in the discharge of arsenopyrite-bearing mine tailings into Whitewood Creek from 1876 to 1977. Those tailings were transported further downstream along the Belle Fourche River, the Cheyenne River, and the Missouri River. An estimated 110 million metric tons of tailings remain stored in alluvial deposits of the Belle Fourche and Cheyenne Rivers. Pore-water dialysis samplers were deployed in the channel and backwaters of the Belle Fourche and Cheyenne Rivers to determine temporal and seasonal changes in the geochemistry of groundwater in alluvial sediments. Alluvial sediment adjacent to the dialysis samplers were cored for geochemical analysis. In comparison to US Environmental Protection Agency drinking water standards and reference concentrations of alluvial sediment not containing mine tailings, the Belle Fourche River sites had elevated concentrations of arsenic in pore water (2570 μg/L compared to 10 μg/L) and sediment (1010 ppm compared to < 34 ppm), respectively. Pore water arsenic concentration was affected by dissolution of iron oxyhydroxides under reducing conditions. Sequential extraction of iron and arsenic from sediment cores indicates that substantial quantities of soluble metals were present. Dissolution of arsenic sorbed to alluvial sediment particles appears to be affected by changing groundwater levels that cause shifts in redox conditions. Bioreductive processes did not appear to be a substantial transport pathway but could affect speciation of arsenic, especially at the Cheyenne River sampling sites where microbial activity was determined to be greater than at Belle Fourche sampling sites.

Belle Fourche River, Cheyenne River↗