Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Mercury Transport in a High-Elevation Watershed in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

  • Published:
Water, Air, and Soil Pollution Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Mercury (Hg) was measured in stream water and precipitation in the Loch Vale watershed in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, during 2001–2002 to investigate processes controlling Hg transport in high-elevation ecosystems. Total Hg concentrations in precipitation ranged from 2.6 to 36.2 ng/L and showed a strong seasonal pattern with concentrations that were 3 to 4 times higher during summer months. Annual bulk deposition of Hg was 8.3 to 12.4 μ g/m2 and was similar to deposition rates in the Midwestern and Northeastern U.S. Total Hg concentrations in streams ranged from 0.8 to 13.5 ng/L and were highest in mid-May on the rising limb of the snowmelt hydrograph. Stream-water Hg was positively correlated with dissolved organic carbon suggesting organically complexed Hg was flushed into streams from near-surface soil horizons during the early stages of snowmelt. Methylmercury (MeHg) in stream water peaked at 0.048 ng/L just prior to peak snowmelt but was at or below detection (< 0.040 ng/L) for the remainder of the snowmelt season. Annual export of total Hg in Loch Vale streams ranged from 1.2 to 2.3 μ g/m2, which was less than 20% of wet deposition, indicating the terrestrial environment is a net sink of atmospheric Hg. Concentrations of MeHg in stream water and corresponding watershed fluxes were low, indicating low methylation rates or high demethylation rates or both.

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.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allan, C. J. and Heyes, A.: 1998, ‘A preliminary assessment of wet deposition and episodic transport of total and methylmercury from low order Blue Ridge watersheds, SE USA’, Water Air Soil Pollut. 105, 573–592.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baron, J.: 1992, Biogeochemistry of a subalpine ecosystem – Loch Vale Watershed, Ecological Studies Analysis and Synthesis 90, Springer Verlag, New York, 247 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baron, J. and Denning, A. S.: 1993, ‘The influence of mountain meteorology on precipitation chemistry at low and high elevations of the Colorado Front Range, USA’, Atmos. Environ. 27, 2337–2349.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, K., Lee, Y. H., Pettersson, C. and Allard, B.: 1995, ‘Methylmercury in runoff from the Svartberget Catchment in northern Sweden during a stormflow episode’, Water Air Soil Pollut. 80, 445–454.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowles, K. C., Apte, S. C., Maher, W. A. and Bluhdorn, D. R.: 2003, ‘Mercury cycling in Lake Gordon and Lake Pedder, Tasmania (Australia) – II Catchment Processes’, Water Air Soil Pollut. 147, 25–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyer, E. W., Hornberger, G. M., Bencala, K. E. and McKnight, D. M.: 1997, ‘Response characteristics of DOC flushing in an alpine catchment’, Hydrol. Process. 11, 1635–1647.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Branfireun, B. A., Heyes, A. and Roulet, N. T.: 1996, ‘The hydrology and methylmercury dynamics of a Precambrian Shield headwater peatland’, Water Resour. Res. 32, 1785–1794.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, D. H., Clow D. W., Ingersoll, G. P., Mast, M. A., Spahr, N. E. and Turk, J. T.: 1995, ‘Processes controlling the chemistry of two snowmelt-dominated streams in the Rocky Mountains’, Water Resour. Res. 31, 2811–2821.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeWild, J. F., Olson, M. L. and Olund, S. D.: 2002, ‘Determination of methylmercury by aqueous phase ethylation, followed by gas chromatographic separation with cold vapor atomic fluorescence detection’, U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 01–445, 14 pp., available online at http://wi.water.usgs.gov/pubs/ofr-01-445/ofr-01-445.pdf

  • Driscoll, C. T., Blette, V., Yan, C., Schofield, C. L., Munson, R. and Holsapple, J.: 1995, ‘The role of dissolved organic carbon in the chemistry and bioavailability of mercury in remote Adirondack lakes’, Water Air Soil Pollut. 80, 499–508.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fishman, M. J. and Friedman, L. C.: 1989, ‘Methods for determination of inorganic substances in water and fluvial sediments’, U.S. Geological Survey Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations, Book 5, Chapter A1, 545 pp.

  • Glass, G. E. and Sorensen, J. A.: 1999, ‘Six-year trend (1990–1995) of wet mercury deposition in the upper Midwest, U.S.A.’, Environ. Sci. Technol. 33, 3303–3312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guentzel, J. L., Landing, W. M., Gill, G. A. and Pollman, C. D.: 2001, ‘Processes influencing rainfall deposition of mercury in Florida’, Environ. Sci. Technol. 35, 863–873.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hintelmann, H., Harris, R., Heyes, A., Hurley, J. P., Kelly, C. A., Krabbenhoft, D. P., Lindberg, S., Rudd, J. W. M., Scott, K. J. and St. Louis, V.: 2002, ‘Reactivity and mobility of new and old mercury deposition in a Boreal forest ecosystem during the first year of the METAALICUS study’, Environ. Sci. Technol. 36, 5034–5040.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hood, E., McKnight, D. M. and Williams, M.W.: 2003, ‘Sources and chemical character of dissolved organic carbon across an alpine/subalpine ecotone, Green Lakes Valley, Colorado Front Range, United States’, Water Resour. Res. 39(7), 1188, doi:10.1029/2002WR001738.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurley, J. P., Benoit, J. M., Babiarz, C. L., Shafer, M. M., Andren, A. W., Sullivan, J. R., Hammond, R. and Webb, D. A.: 1995, ‘Influences of watershed characteristics on mercury levels in Wisconsin rivers’, Environ. Sci. Technol. 29, 1867–1875.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurley, J. P., Cowell, S. E., Shafer, M. M. and Hughes, P. E.: 1998, ‘Tributary loading of mercury to Lake Michigan – Importance of seasonal events and phase partitioning’, Sci. Total Environ. 213, 129–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ingersoll, G. P., Turk, J. T., Mast, M. A., Clow, D. W., Campbell, D. H. and Bailey, Z. C.: 2002, ‘Rocky mountain snowpack chemistry network – History, methods, and the importance of monitoring mountain ecosystems’, U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 01–466, 14 pp.

  • Iverfedlt, A.: 1991, ‘Mercury in forest canopy throughfall water and its relation to atmospheric deposition’, Water Air Soil Pollut. 65, 554–564.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolka, R. K., Grigal, D. F., Verry, E. S. and Nater, E. A.: 1999a, ‘Mercury and organic carbon relationships in streams draining forested upland/peatland watersheds’, J. Environ. Qual. 28, 766–775.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolka, R. K., Nater, E. A., Gringal, D. F. and Verry, E. S.: 1999b, ‘Atmospheric inputs of mercury and organic carbon into a forested upland/bog watershed’, Water Air Soil Pollut. 113, 273–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krabbenhoft, D. P., Benoit, J. M., Babiarz, C. L., Hurley, J. P. and Andren, A. W.: 1995, ‘Mercury cycling in the Allequash Creek watershed, northern Wisconsin’, Water Air Soil Pollut. 80, 425–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krabbenhoft, D. P., Olson, M. L., DeWild, J. F., Clow, D. W., Striegl, R. G., Dornblaser, M. M. and VanMetre, P.: 2002, ‘Mercury loading and methymercury production and cycling in high-altitude lakes from the Western United States’, Water Air Soil Pollut. Focus 2, 233–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lalonde, J. D., Poulain, A. J. and Amyot, M.: 2002, ‘The role of mercury redox reactions in snow on snow-to-air mercury transfer’, Environ. Sci. Technol. 36, 174–178.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Landing, W. M., Guentzel, J. L., Gill, G. A. and Pollman, C. D.: 1998, ‘Methods for measuring mercury in rainfall and aerosols in Florida’, Atmos. Environ. 32, 909–918.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, Y. H., Bishop, K., Pettersson, C., Iverfeldt, A. and Allard, B.: 1995, ‘Subcatchment output of mercury and methylmercury at Svartberget in northern Sweden’, Water Air Soil Pollut. 80, 455–465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, M. E. and Brigham, M. E.: 2004, ‘Low-level Mercury’, in F. D. Wilde, D. B. Radtke, J. Gibs and R. T. Iwatsubo (eds.), Processing of Water Samples, U.S. Geological Survey Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations, Book 9, Chapter A5, available online at http://pubs.water.usgs.gov/twri9A5/.

  • Lindberg, S. E., Meyers, T. P. and Munthe, J.: 1995, ‘Evasion of mercury vapour from the surface of a recently limed acid forest lake in Sweden’, Water Air Soil Pollut. 85, 725–730.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindberg, S. E., Turner, R. R., Meyers, T. P., Taylor, G. E. and Schroeder, W. H.: 1991, ‘Atmospheric concentrations and deposition of mercury to a deciduous forest at Walker Branch Watershed, Tennessee, USA’, Water Air Soil Pollut. 56, 557–594.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lorey, P. and Driscoll, C. T.: 1998, ‘Historical trends of mercury deposition in Adirondack lakes’, Environ. Sci. Technol. 33, 718–722.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucotte, M., Mucci, A., Hillaire-Marcel, C., Pichet, P. and Grondin, A.: 1995, ‘Anthropogenic mercury enrichment in remote lakes of northern Quebec (Canada)’, Water Air Soil Pollut. 80, 467–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manthorne, D. J.: 2002, ‘An inventory of atmospheric mercury enrichment to alpine lakes in Colorado’, Master’s Thesis, University of Colorado, Boulder, 76 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason, R. P., Lawson, N. M. and Sheu, G. R.: 2000, ‘Annual and seasonal trends in mercury deposition in Maryland’, Atmos. Environ. 34, 1691–1701.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Park Service: 2002, ‘Western Airborne Contaminant Assessment Program’, National Park Service Fact Sheet, available online at http://www2.nature.nps.gov/air/Studies/air_toxics/WACAP.htm.

  • Olson, M. L. and DeWild, J. F.: 1999, ‘Low-level collection techniques and species-specific analytical methods for mercury in water, sediment, and biota’, U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 99–4018, 11 pp.

  • Roth, D. A.: 1994, ‘Ultra trace analysis of mercury and its distribution in some natural waters of the United States’, Ph.D. Thesis, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, 309 pp.

  • Scherbatskoy, T., Shanley, J. B. and Keeler, G. J.: 1998, ‘Factors controlling mercury transport in an upland forested catchment’, Water Air Soil Pollut. 105, 427–438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schindler, D.: 1999, ‘From acid rain to toxic snow’, Ambio 28, 350–355.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schuster, P. F., Krabbenhoft, D. P., Naftz, D. L., Cecil, L. D., Olson, M. L., Dewild, J. F., Susong, D. D., Green, J. R. and Abbott, M. L.: 2002, ‘Atmospheric mercury deposition during the last 270 years – A glacial ice core record of natural and anthropogenic sources’, Environ. Sci. Technol. 36, 2303–2310.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schwesig, D., Ilgen, G. and Matzner, E.: 1999, ‘Mercury and methylmercury in upland and wetland acid forest soils of a watershed in NE-Bavaria, Germany’, Water Air Soil Pollut. 113, 141–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwesig, D. and Matzner, E.: 2001, ‘Dynamics of mercury and methylmercury in forest floor and runoff of a forested watershed in Central Europe’, Biogeochemistry 53, 181–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shanley J. B., Schuster, P. F., Reddy, M. M., Roth, D. A., Taylor, H. E. and Aiken, G. R.: 2002, ‘Mercury on the move during snowmelt in Vermont’, Eos, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 83, 45–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • St. Louis, V. L., Rudd, J. W. M., Kelly, C. A., Beaty, K. G., Bloom, N. S. and Flett, R. J.: 1994, ‘Importance of wetlands as sources of methylmercury to boreal forest ecosystems’, Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 51, 1065–1076.

    Google Scholar 

  • Susong, D. D., Abbott, M. L. and Krabbenhoft, D. P.: 1999, ‘Reconnaissance of mercury concentrations in snow from the Teton and Wasatch Ranges to assess the atmospheric deposition of mercury from an urban area’, Eos, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 80(46), Abstract H12b-06.

  • Swain, E. B., Engstrom, D. R., Brigham, M. E., Henning, T. A. and Brezonik, P. L.: 1992, ‘Increasing rates of atmospheric mercury deposition in Midcontinental North America’, Science 257, 784–787.

    Google Scholar 

  • United States Environmental Protection Agency: 1997, Mercury Study Report to Congress, United States Environmental Protection Agency, EPA-452-97–003, Office of Air and Radiation, Washington, D.C., 1980 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watras, C. J., Morrison, K. A., Host, J. S. and Bloom, N. S.: 1995a, ‘Concentration of mercury species in relationship to other site-specific factors in the surface waters of northern Wisconsin lakes’, Limnol. Oceanogr. 40, 556–565.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watras, C. J., Morrison, K. A. and Bloom, N. S.: 1995b, ‘Mercury in remote Rocky Mountain lakes of Glacier National Park, Montana, in comparison with other temperate North American regions’, Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 52, 1220–1228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiener, J. G., Krabbenhoft, D. P., Heinz, G. H. and Scheuhammer, A. M.: 2003, ‘Ecotoxicology of Mercury’, in D. J. Hoffman, B. A. Rattner, G. A. Burton, Jr. and J. Cairns, Jr. (eds.), Handbook of Ecotoxicology, 2nd edn, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, pp. 407–461.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Water Resources Division, MS 415, Denver Federal Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado, 80225

    M. Alisa Mast & Donald H. Campbell

  2. Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey, 8505 Research Way, Middleton, Wisconsin, 53562

    David P. Krabbenhoft

  3. Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey, 3215 Marine Street, Suite E-127, Boulder, Colorado, 80303

    Howard E. Taylor

Authors
  1. M. Alisa Mast
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Donald H. Campbell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. David P. Krabbenhoft
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Howard E. Taylor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Alisa Mast.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mast, M.A., Campbell, D.H., Krabbenhoft, D.P. et al. Mercury Transport in a High-Elevation Watershed in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Water Air Soil Pollut 164, 21–42 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-005-1657-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-005-1657-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation