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Mercury and Methylmercury Stable Isotope Measurements in Giant Petrels

Metadata Updated: July 6, 2024

Methylmercury (MeHg) and total mercury (HgT) stable isotope measurements were made by the USGS Mercury Research Lab (MRL) in different organs on the Giant Petrels (Macronectes spp.) to examine internal mercury cycling in these seabirds. These data were collected as a compliment to x-ray spectroscopy measurements made by the University of Grenoble, France. The tissues and feathers of the southern giant petrels exhibit large variability in mercury-202 isotope values (δ202HgT), which are typically used to ascertain Hg sources in the environment. These values follow a pattern across all individuals based on tissue type: feathers (δ202HgT = 2.74 ± 0.16‰, n =5, mean ± standard deviation) > brain (δ202HgT = 1.09 ± 0.77‰, n = 3) > liver (δ202HgT = 0.04 ± 0.11‰, n = 5) > kidneys (δ202HgT= 0.01 ± 0.25‰, n = 5)> muscle (δ202HgT = -0.80 ± 0.23‰, n = 5). The δ202HgT for liver tissues are within the range of literature data for seabirds (−0.64‰ < δ202Hgl < 0.68‰), whereas δ202Hg for feathers are modestly higher than those measured previously for seabirds (1.10‰ < δ202Hgf < 2.35‰). Notably, muscle tissues exhibit considerably lower δ202HgT values than liver tissues (on average 0.84‰), counter to observations to other birds and mammals, and were as much as ~−4‰ enriched in light isotopes compared to feathers. The δ202MeHg values, associated with just the MeHg contents within the tissues, for organs and feathers were constrained between 0.90 and 3.05 ‰ (n =9).

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date June 1, 2023
Metadata Updated Date July 6, 2024

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI EDI

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date June 1, 2023
Metadata Updated Date July 6, 2024
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
@Id http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/d9eb83f443cca22580ffb85e2ac2bf5c
Identifier USGS:60a3e801d34ea221ce45b9cc
Data Last Modified 20210923
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://datainventory.doi.gov/data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 9e998863-1a7e-4607-84b1-ae8d33cec8de
Harvest Source Id 52bfcc16-6e15-478f-809a-b1bc76f1aeda
Harvest Source Title DOI EDI
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial 67.693176249275,-50.138465657489,71.648254374118,-48.309065449085
Publisher Hierarchy White House > U.S. Department of the Interior > U.S. Geological Survey
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 05cb0c79a6896579de69a50ca980ea876b41b3b017f98868d943cd3fef2a14b7
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": 67.693176249275, -50.138465657489, 67.693176249275, -48.309065449085, 71.648254374118, -48.309065449085, 71.648254374118, -50.138465657489, 67.693176249275, -50.138465657489}

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