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ASSESSMENT OF MERCURY IN HYPOLIMNETIC LAKE SEDIMENTS OF VERMONT AND NEW HAMPSHIRE
Citation:
Kamman, N. ASSESSMENT OF MERCURY IN HYPOLIMNETIC LAKE SEDIMENTS OF VERMONT AND NEW HAMPSHIRE. 1998.
Impact/Purpose:
The purpose of this research is to characterize concentrations of total and methylmercury in waters and sediments of Vermont and New Hampshire lakes, and to relate these data to commonly measured water column chemical parameters and watershed-level physical attributes.
Description:
The research is to characterize concentrations of total methylmercury in waters and surficial sediments of Vermont and New Hampshire lakes, and to relate these data to commonly measured water column chemical parameters and watershed-level physical attributes. The primary goal of this study is to identify specific lake types which are likely to have elevated levels of methylmercury in hypolimnetic waters. Fish are being collected from a subsample of these lakes to determine if they have mercury contamination and to assess whether these "higher methylation potential" lakes are indeed contributing mercury to the food chain. Loons are being captured from another subset of lakes and blood and feather samples taken to assess the migration of mercury further up the food chain. Another group of eighteen lakes is being sampled for paleolimnological analysis of mercury accretion. The study is evaluating two size-strata of spatially randomized lakes greater than 20 acres. These strata are further subdivided along their watershed-to-lake ratios since this index has been shown to impact mercury concentrations in bed sediments. The size strata are lakes 20 to less than 100 acres and lakes equal to or greater than 100 acres. A total of 90 lakes will be sampled.
