Drivers of Mercury Cycling in the Rapidly Changing Glacierized Watershed of the High Arctic’s Largest Lake by Volume (Lake Hazen, Nunavut, Canada)

• Published in: Environmental science & technology 2019-02, Vol.53 (3), p.1175-1185
• Main Authors: St. Pierre, K. A, St. Louis, V. L, Lehnherr, I, Gardner, A. S, Serbu, J. A, Mortimer, C. A, Muir, D. C. G, Wiklund, J. A, Lemire, D, Szostek, L, Talbot, C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquatic environment; Coastal waters; Contaminants; Dimethylmercury; Downstream effects; Emissions; Erosion; Glaciers; Hydrology; Lakes; Mercury; Mercury (metal); Methylmercury; Outflow; Permafrost; Rivers; Slumping; Thawing; Water outflow
• ISSN: 0013-936X; 1520-5851
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b05926

Across the Arctic, glaciers are melting and permafrost is thawing at unprecedented rates, releasing not only water to downstream aquatic systems, but also contaminants like mercury, archived in ice over centuries. Using concentrations from samples collected over 4 years and calibrated modeled hydrology, we calculated methylmercury (MeHg) and total mercury (THg) mass balances for Lake Hazen, the world’s largest High Arctic lake by volume, for 2015 and 2016. Glacial rivers were the most important source of MeHg and THg to Lake Hazen, accounting for up to 53% and 94% of the inputs, respectively. However, due to the MeHg and THg being primarily particle-bound, Lake Hazen was an annual MeHg and THg sink. Exports of MeHg and THg out the Ruggles River outflow were consequently very low, but erosion and permafrost slumping downstream of the lake increased river MeHg and THg concentrations significantly before entering coastal waters in Chandler Fjord. Since 2001, glacial MeHg and THg inputs to Lake Hazen have increased by 0.01 and 0.400 kg yr-1, respectively, in step with dramatic increases in glacial melt. This study highlights the potential for increases in mercury inputs to arctic ecosystems downstream of glaciers despite recent reductions in global mercury emissions.