You are here:
SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL PATTERNS IN MERCURY CONTAMINATION IN SEDIMENTS OF THE LAURENTIAL GREAT LAKES
Citation:
Marvin, C., C. Painter, AND R. Rossmann. SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL PATTERNS IN MERCURY CONTAMINATION IN SEDIMENTS OF THE LAURENTIAL GREAT LAKES. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 95:351-362.
Impact/Purpose:
to determine the spatial distribution of mercury in sediments across the entire Great Lakes basin
Description:
Data from recent sediment surveys have been collated and mapped in order to determine the spatial distribution of mercury in sediments across the entire Great Lakes basin. Information from historical surveys has also been collated in order to evaluate temporal trends. Lake Huron (2002) exhibited the lowest mercury concentrations (lake-wide average concentration 0.043 ug/g); Lakes Michigan (1994-1996) and Superior (2000) also exhibited relatively low levels. The western basin of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario exhibited the levels primarily attributed to loadings from historical sources, including chlor-alkali production in the Detroit, St. Clair and Niagara Rivers. The spatial distributions of mercury in sediments of Lakes Huron and Superior suggest that natural geochemical factors are a primary influence. Surficial sediment mercury contamination was found to have decreased markedly since the late 1960s and 1970s. Decreases in lake-wide average sediment concentrations of mercury over this time period ranged from approximately 25% for Lake Ontario to 80% for Lake Superior.