ARICE Metadata Catalogue
Mercury Concentrations and Rates of Biogeochemical Transformations in Marine Waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago
Sample collection took place during both legs of the 2005 CCGS Amundsen cruise, during Leg 1 in 2006 and during Leg 3 in 2007. Water samples were collected using Teflon-lined Niskin bottles mounted on the ship¿s rosette system, at sites ranging from Hudson Bay, the North Open Water Polynya, the Northwest Passage and the Beaufort Sea. The water column was sampled at the surface, middle and bottom in 2005 and 2006 and at the surface and chlorophyll maximum in 2007. The resulting water chemistry dataset includes concentrations of total Hg, MMHg, DMHg and GEM in water. In addition, samples were also analyzed for sulfate and dissolved organic carbon in 2007 and for sulfate only in 2006. To quantify rates of biogeochemical Hg transformations in the water column, some water samples were amended with Hg stable-isotope tracers, namely 198Hg(II) and MM199Hg, and incubated on-board the ship for up to 25 hours before being preserved by acidification or freezing. Samples were then analyzed for MMHg, DMHg and GEM, using various mass-spectroscopy techniques at either the University of Alberta or Trent University. Thus, the rate of transformation of the 198Hg(II) tracer into MM198Hg, for example, could be quantified. This dataset includes rate constants for the following water column processes: the methylation of Hg(II) to MMHg, the methylation of MMHg to DMHg, the demethylation of MMHg, the reduction of MMHg to Hg(0) and the reduction of Hg(II) to Hg(0).
Simple
- Date (Publication)
- 2016-04-06
- Other citation details
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Unpublished with approval from Vincent St. Louis
- Purpose
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Mono-methylmercury (MMHg), a toxin which biomagnifies through foodwebs, is found in some Arctic marine mammals at concentrations that may be harmful to Northern Peoples consuming these animals as traditional food. The key process resulting in the contamination of organisms with mercury (Hg) is the methylation of inorganic Hg(II) to MMHg, which is much more readily bioaccumulated than Hg(II). Unfortunately, the sources of MMHg in Arctic aquatic ecosystems are not known. Therefore, the data was collected for three principal purposes:
1) To characterize the spatial distribution of the four principal chemical species of mercury in marine waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA), including total Hg, MMHg, dimethyl mercury (DMHg) and gaseous elemental mercury (GEM).
2) To quantify the flux of gaseous mercury species (GEM and DMHg) at the air-water boundary at the sites sampled and determine whether the marine waters of the CAA are a source of GEM or DMHg to the atmosphere.
3) To experimentally quantify the rates, using Hg stable-isotope tracers, of the major biogeochemical processes involved in the cycling of mercury in marine waters of the CAA. The processes for which rates were quantified include: production of MMHg from Hg(II), production of DMHg from Hg(II) and MMHg, demethylation and reduction of MMHg, and reduction of Hg(II) to Hg(0).
- Status
- Under development
Canadian Cryospheric Information Network
-Polar Data Catalogue
200 University Avenue West, University of Waterloo
,Waterloo
,Ontario
,N2L 3G1
,Canada
polardata.ca
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Polar Data Catalogue Thesaurus (Canada)
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Bioaccumulation
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Biogeochemistry
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Canadian Arctic Archipelago
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Contaminants
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Hudson Bay
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Mercury
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Mercury speciation
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Methylmercury
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Total gaseous mercury
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- Place
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Canadian Arctic Archipelago and Hudson Bay
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- Access constraints
- Other restrictions
- Use constraints
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
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Terms of Use of the Polar Data Catalogue: https://www.polardata.ca/pdcinput/public/termsofuse
- Metadata language
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eng; CAN
- Topic category
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- Environment
))
- Begin date
- 2005-08-16
- End date
- 2008-08-08
- Supplemental Information
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Summary: Not Applicable Research Program(s): ArcticNet. For further information: vince.stlouis@ualberta.ca vince.stlouis@ualberta.ca
- Distribution format
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Digital file
(1.0
)
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Canadian Cryospheric Information Network
-Polar Data Catalogue
200 University Avenue West, University of Waterloo
,Waterloo
,Ontario
,N2L 3G1
,Canada
- Included with dataset
- No
- File identifier
- 5d5c20ed-00d1-47e3-b78f-c76780401637 XML
- Metadata language
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eng; CAN
- Character set
- UTF8
- Hierarchy level
- Dataset
- Date stamp
- 2022-04-08T12:58:58
- Metadata standard name
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North American Profile of ISO 19115:2003
- Metadata standard version
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2009-01-01
Canadian Cryospheric Information Network
-Polar Data Catalogue
200 University Avenue West, University of Waterloo
,Waterloo
,Ontario
,N2L 3G1
,Canada
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