Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Total and methyl-mercury seasonal particulate fluxes in the water column of a large lake (Lake Geneva, Switzerland)

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Concentrations and fluxes of total and methylmercury were determined in surface sediments and associated with settling particles at two sites in Lake Geneva to evaluate the sources and dynamics of this toxic contaminant. Total mercury concentrations measured in settling particles were different throughout the seasons and were greatly influenced by the Rhone River particulate inputs. Total mercury concentrations closer to shore (NG2) ranged between 0.073 ± 0.001 and 0.27 ± 0.01 μg/g, and between 0.038 ± 0.001 and 0.214 ± 0.008 μg/g at a site deeper in the lake (NG3). Total mercury fluxes ranged between 0.144 ± 0.002 and 3.0 ± 0.1 μg/m2/day at NG2, and between 0.102 ± 0.008 and 1.32 ± 0.08 μg/m2/day at NG3. Combined results of concentrations and fluxes showed that total mercury concentrations in settling particles are related to the season and particle inputs from the Rhone River. Despite an observed decrease in total mercury fluxes from the coastal zone towards the open lake, NG3 (~ 3 km from the shoreline) was still affected by the coastal boundary, as compared to distal sites at the center of the lake. Thus, sediment focusing is not efficient enough to redistribute contaminant inputs originating from the coastal zones, to the lake center. Methylmercury concentrations in settling particles largely exceeded the concentrations found in sediments, and their fluxes did not show significant differences with relation to the distance from shore. The methylmercury found associated with settling particles would be related to the lake’s internal production rather than the effect of transport from sediment resuspension.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Baskaran M, Miller CJ, Kumar A, Andersen E, Hui J, Selegeanc JP, Creech CT, Barkach J (2015) Sediment accumulation rates and sediment dynamics using five different methods in a well-constrained impoundment: case study from union Lake, Michigan. J Great Lakes Res 41:607–617

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bengtsson G, Picado F (2008) Mercury sorption to sediments: dependence on grain size, dissolved organic carbon, and suspended bacteria. Chemosphere 73:526–531

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Benoit JM, Gilmour CC, Mason RP, Riedel GS, Riedel GF (1998) Behavior of mercury in the Patuxent River estuary. Biogeochemistry 40:249–265

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blais JM, Kalff J (1995) The influence of lake morphometry on sediment focusing. Limnol Oceanogr 40:582–588

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bloesch J, Uehlinger U (1986) Horizontal sedimentation differences in a eutrophic Swiss Lake. Limnol Oceanogr 31:1094–1109

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bloom N (1989) Determination of Picogram levels of methylmercury by aqueous phase Ethylation, followed by cryogenic gas-chromatography with cold vapor atomic fluorescence detection. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 46:1131–1140

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bloom NS, Gill GA, Cappellino S, Dobbs C, Mcshea L, Driscoll C, Mason R, Rudd J (1999) Speciation and cycling of mercury in Lavaca Bay, Texas, sediments. Environ Sci Technol 33:7–13

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bravo AG, Bouchet S, Amouroux D, Poté J, Dominik J (2011) Distribution of mercury and organic matter in particle-size classes in sediments contaminated by a waste water treatment plant: Vidy Bay, Lake Geneva, Switzerland. J Environ Monit 13:974–982

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burnier G, Jaquerod CA, Poget E, Vioget P (2011) Bilans 2011 de l’épuration vaudoise. Rapport du service des eaux, sols et assaisnissement, Etat de Vaud, 27 pp

  • Compeau G, Bartha R (1984) Methylation and demethylation of mercury under controlled redox, Ph, and salinity conditions. Appl Environ Microbiol 48:1203–1207

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dean WE (1974) Determination of carbonate and organic matter in calcareous sediments and sedimentary rocks by loss on ignition; comparison with other methods. J Sediment Res 44:242–248

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dominik J, Burrus D, Vernet J-P (1987) Transport of the environmental radionuclides in an alpine watershed. Earth Planet Sci Lett 84:165–180

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dominik J, Dulinski M, Span D, Hofmann A, Favarger P-Y, Vernet J-P (1993) Transfert de matière et de radio-isotopes entre l'eau et les sédiments dans le Léman. Rapp Comm int prot eaux Léman contre pollut Campagne 1992:163–188

    Google Scholar 

  • Drevnik PE, Shinneman ALC, Lamborg CH, Engstrom DR, Bother MH, Oris JT (2010) Mercury fluxes to sediments of Lake Tahoe, California-Nevada. Watet Air Soil Pollut 210:399–407

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ethier ALM, Atkinson JF, DePinto JV, Lean DRS (2012) Estimating mercury concentrations and fluxes in the water column and sediment of Lake Ontario with HERMES model. Environ Pollut 161:335–342

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Evans RD (1994) Empirical-evidence of the importance of sediment resuspension in lakes. Hydrobiologia 284:5–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feyte S, Gobeil C, Tessier A, Cossa D (2012) Mercury dynamics in lake sediments. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 82:92–112

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fuchs A, Selmeczy GB, Kasprzak P, Padisák J, Casper P (2016) Coincidence of sedimentation peaks with diatom blooms, wind, and calcite precipitation measured in high resolution by a multi-trap. Hydrobiologia 763:329–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gagnon C, Pelletier E, Mucci A (1997) Behaviour of anthropogenic mercury in coastal marine sediments. Mar Chem 59:159–176

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gandais V (1989) Origines et variations spatio-temporelles des flux de matière particulaire au centre du Léman. Dissertation, University of Geneva

  • Gascón Díez E, Bravo AG, Porta AN, Masson M, Graham ND, Stoll S, Akhtman Y, Amouroux D, Loizeau J-L (2013) Influence of a wastewater treatment plant on mercury contamination and sediment characteristics in Vidy Bay (Lake Geneva, Switzerland). Aquat Sci 76:S21–S32

    Google Scholar 

  • Gascón Díez E, Loizeau J-L, Cosio C, Bouchet S, Adatte T, Amouroux D, Bravo AG (2016) Role of settling particles on mercury methylation in the oxic water column of freshwater systems. Environ Sci Technol 50:11672–11679

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gascón Díez E, Corella JP, Adatte T, Thevenon F, Loizeau J-L (2017) High-resolution reconstruction of the 20th century history of trace metals, major elements, and organic matter in sediments in a contaminated area of Lake Geneva, Switzerland. Appl Geochem 78:1–11

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gilmour CC, Podar M, Bullock AL, Graham AM, Brown SD, Somenahally AC, Johs A, Hurt RA, Bailey KL, Elias DA (2013) Mercury methylation by novel microorganisms from new environments. Environ Sci Technol 47:11810–11820

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Graham ND (2015) The fate of sediment-bound contaminants: a case study of Vidy Bay (Lake Geneva, Switzerland. Dissertation, University of Geneva

  • Graham ND, Bouffard D, Loizeau J-L (2016) The influence of bottom boundary layer hydrodynamics on sediment focusing in a contaminated bay. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23:25412–25426

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Håkanson L (1977) The influence of wind, fetch, and water depth on the distribution of sediments in Lake Vänern, Sweden. Can J Earth Sci 14:397–412

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Håkanson L, Jansson M (1983) Principles of lake sedimentology. Springer-Verlag, Berlin

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Heimburger LE, Cossa D, Marty JC, Migon C, Averty B, Dufour A, Ras J (2010) Methyl mercury distributions in relation to the presence of nano- and picophytoplankton in an oceanic water column (Ligurian Sea, North-Western Mediterranean). Geochim Cosmochim Acta 74:5549–5559

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hurley JP, Watras CJ, Bloom NS (1991) Mercury cycling in a northern Wisconsin seepage lake: the role of particulate matter in vertical transport. Water Air Soil Pollut 56:543–551

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim EH, Mason RP, Porter ET, Soulen HL (2006) The impact of resuspension on sediment mercury dynamics, and methylmercury production and fate: a mesocosm study. Mar Chem 102:300–315

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kocman D, Wilson SJ, Amos HM, Telmer KH, Steenhuisen F, Sunderland EM, Mason RP, Outridge P, Horvat M (2017) Toward an assessment of the global inventory of present-day mercury releases to freshwater environments. Int J Environ Res Public Health 14:138

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Korthals ET, Winfrey MR (1987) Seasonal and spatial variations in mercury methylation and demethylation in an oligotrophic Lake. Appl Environ Microbiol 53:2397–2404

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu B, Yan HY, Wang CP, Li QH, Guedron S, Spangenberg JE, Feng XB, Dominik J (2012) Insights into low fish mercury bioaccumulation in a mercury-contaminated reservoir, Guizhou, China. Environ Pollut 160:109–117

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Loizeau J-L, Arbouille D, Santiago S, Vernet J-P (1994) Evaluation of a wide-range laser diffraction grain-size analyzer for use with sediments. Sedimentology 41:353–361

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loizeau J-L, Girardclos S, Dominik J (2012) Taux d'accumulation de sédiments récents et bilan de la matière particulaire dans le Léman (Suisse - France). Arch Sci 65:81–92

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Loizeau J-L, Makri S, Arpagaus P, Ferrari B, Casado-Martinez C, Benejam T, Marchand P (2017) Micropolluants métalliques et organiques dans les sédiments superficiels du Léman. Rapp Comm int prot eaux Léman contre pollut Campagne 2016:143–198

    Google Scholar 

  • Marvin C, Charlton M, Milne J, Thiessen L, Schachtschneider G, Sverko E (2007) Metals associated with suspended sediments in lakes Erie and Ontario, 2000-2002. Environ Monit Assess 130:149–161

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mason RP, Kim EH, Cornwell J, Heyes D (2006) An examination of the factors influencing the flux of mercury, methylmercury and other constituents from estuarine sediment. Mar Chem 102:96–110

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mason RP, Choi AL, Fitzgerald WF, Hammerschmidt CR, Lamborg CH, Soerensen AL, Sunderland EM (2012) Mercury biogeochemical cycling in the ocean and policy implications. Environ Res 119:101–117

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • OFEV (Editor) (2016) Annuaire hydrologique de la Suisse 2010. Office fédéral de l’environnement, Berne. Etat de l’environnement n° 1631: 627

  • Pardos M, Benninghoff C, De Alencastro LF, Wildi W (2004) The impact of a sewage treatment plant’s effluent on sediment quality in a small bay in Lake Geneva (Switzerland–France). Part 1: spatial distribution of contaminants and the potential for biological impacts. Lakes Reserv Res Manag 9:41–52

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Parks JM, Johs A, Podar M, Bridou R, Hurt RA, Smith SD, Tomanicek SJ, Qian Y, Brown SD, Brandt CC, Palumbo AV, Smith JC, Wall JD, Elias DA, Liang LY (2013) The genetic basis for bacterial mercury methylation. Science 339:1332–1335

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Podar M, Gilmour CC, Brandt CC, Soren A, Brown SD, Crable BR, Palumbo AV, Somenahally AC, Elias DA (2015) Global prevalence and distribution of genes and microorganisms involved in mercury methylation. Sci Adv 1(9):e1500675

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poté J, Haller L, Loizeau J-L, Bravo AG, Sastre V, Wildi W (2008) Effects of a sewage treatment plant outlet pipe extension on the distribution of contaminants in the sediments of the bay of Vidy, Lake Geneva, Switzerland. Bioresour Technol 99:7122–7131

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Razmi AM, Barry DA, Bakhtyar R, Le Dantec N, Dastgheib A, Lemin U, Wüest A (2013) Current variability in a wide and open lacustrine embayment in Lake Geneva (Switzerland). J Great Lakes Res 39:455–465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rigaud S, Radakovitch O, Couture RM, Deflandre B, Cossa D, Garnier C, Garnier JM (2013) Mobility and fluxes of trace elements and nutrients at the sediment-water interface of a lagoon under contrasting water column oxygenation conditions. Appl Geochem 31:35–51

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rolfhus KR, Sakamoto HE, Cleckner LB, Stoor RW, Babiarz CL, Back RC, Manolopoulos H, Hurley JP (2003) Distribution and fluxes of total and methylmercury in Lake superior. Environ Sci Technol 37:865–872

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roos-Barraclough F, Shotyk W (2003) Millennial-scale records of atmospheric mercury deposition obtained from ombrotrophic and minerotrophic peatlands in the Swiss Jura Mountains. Environ Sci Technol 37:235–244

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roos-Barraclough F, Givelet N, Martinez-Cortizas A, Goodsite ME, Biester H, Shotyk W (2002) An analytical protocol for the determination of total mercury concentrations in solid peat samples. Sci Total Environ 292:129–139

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Savoye L, Quetin P, Klein A (2015) Physico-chemical changes in the waters of Lake Geneva. Meteorological datas Contributions from the tributaries of Lake Geneva and from the Rhone below Geneva. Rapp Comm int prot eaux Léman contre pollut Campagne 2014:19–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Schartup AT, Ndu U, Balcom PH, Mason RP, Sunderland EM (2015) Contrasting effects of marine and terrestrially derived dissolved organic matter on mercury speciation and bioavailability in seawater. Environ Sci Technol 49:5965–5972

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor SE, Birch GF (2000) Contaminant dynamics in offchannel embayments of port Jackson, new South Wales. AGSO 5-6:233–237

    Google Scholar 

  • Thevenon F, Graham ND, Chiaradia M, Arpagaus P, Wildi W, Poté J (2011) Local to regional scale industrial heavy metal pollution recorded in sediments of large freshwater lakes in Central Europe (lakes Geneva and Lucerne) over the last centuries. Sci Total Environ 412:239–247

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Van Metre PC (2011) Increased atmospheric deposition of mercury in reference lakes near major urban areas. Environ Pollut 162:209–215

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang WX, Stupakoff I, Gagnon C, Fisher NS (1998) Bioavailability of inorganic and methylmercury to a marine deposit feeding polychaete. Environ Sci Technol 32:2564–2571

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wiklund JA, Kirk JL, Muir DCG, Evans M, Yang F, Keating J, Parsons MT (2017) Anthropogenic mercury deposition in Flin Flon Manitoba and the Experimental Lakes area Ontario (Canada): a multi-lake sediment core reconstruction. Sci Total Environ 586:685–695

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Philippe Arpagaus for his help during the sampling campaigns, in addition to “La Direction Générale de l’Environnement DGE–Inspection de la pêche” and “Canton de Vaud” for allowing us to deploy the sediment traps in Lake Geneva. The work was partially funded by SNF research grant PDFMP2-123034.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Neil D. Graham

    Present address: Soil and Water Infrastructure, Biology Centre CAS, Na Sádkách 7, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department F.-A. Forel for Environmental and Aquatic Sciences, and Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Geneva, Boulevard Carl-Vogt 66, 1211, Geneva 4, Switzerland

    Elena Gascón Díez & Jean-Luc Loizeau

Authors
  1. Elena Gascón Díez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Neil D. Graham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jean-Luc Loizeau
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elena Gascón Díez.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(PDF 192 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Díez, E.G., Graham, N.D. & Loizeau, JL. Total and methyl-mercury seasonal particulate fluxes in the water column of a large lake (Lake Geneva, Switzerland). Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 21086–21096 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2252-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2252-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation