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Mercury Concentrations and Loads in United States and Canadian Tributaries of Lake Superior

Metadata Updated: July 6, 2024

In 2021, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mercury Research Laboratory (MRL) conducted a large-scale assessment of mercury (Hg) concentrations and Hg stable isotope values in tributaries of Lake Superior in order to define the sources and amounts of Hg entering the lake. Water samples were collected monthly from 18 tributaries in the United States from April through October in 2021 and during 2022 spring melt (May 2022). As a complement, 10 tributaries on the Lake Superior Northshore were sampled three times a year (spring, summer, and fall) by Lakehead University and Lakehead Region Conservation Authority. Nine tributaries were also sampled twice per year (spring and summer) in Pukaskwa National Park by Parks Canada. Filtered total Hg (THg) concentrations from United States and Canadian Northshore ranged from 0.2 to 8.8 nanograms per liter (ng L-1), with a median value of 1.2 ng L-1. Unfiltered THg in Pukaskwa National Park ranged from 0.6 to 5.0 ng L-1 with a median of 3.2 ng L-1, but encompassed both the filtered and particulate bound Hg. Median methylmercury (MeHg) values were approximately 0.1 ng L-1 for both filtered and unfiltered waters, but could reach levels greater than 1 ng L-1 during higher flow events. THg and MeHg concentrations were positively correlated to dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations for most tributaries. Hg loads to Lake Superior were calculated for U.S. tributaries using the R package loadflex ( http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/ES14-00517.1 ), median loads for THg were 18 grams per day, but could increase to 590 grams per day under high flow and snow melt conditions.

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
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Identifier USGS:62b0cce4d34e74f0d80f109e
Data Last Modified 20220923
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
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Harvest Source Id 52bfcc16-6e15-478f-809a-b1bc76f1aeda
Harvest Source Title DOI EDI
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -92.7686,46.0885,-84.0,49.5965
Publisher Hierarchy White House > U.S. Department of the Interior > U.S. Geological Survey
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 47ffe74afb2d8ae07b8eddf740f50bef8b0dc137b83cd6d3ce2f9c1bb5d8f11a
Source Schema Version 1.1
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