Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Terrestrial organic matter biomarkers as tracers of Hg sources in lake sediments

  • Published:
Biogeochemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Terrestrial organic matter (TOM) plays a key role in mercury (Hg) dynamics between watersheds and lakes. In this study we attempts to determine the role of TOM source and quality and not only quantity, in the fate and transport of total Hg (T-Hg) to boreal lakes. Integrating the watershed complexity is a daunting task. Within the scope of this project, we characterized this organic matter at a molecular level in order to determine Hg transfer conditions to the sediments. We sampled ten lakes in the Quebec boreal forest. In each lake, we took a sediment core at the deepest point in addition to analyzing T-Hg and a set of terrigenous biomarkers in recent sediments. Our results show no relationship between TOM quantity and T-Hg concentration in lake sediments. However, [T-Hg] variation is well explained by the increase of 3,5Bd/V ratios (R2 = 0.84; p < 0.0002) and the decrease of C/V ratios (R2 = 0.5; p < 0.0227). Our study shows that TOM source and quality are determinant for Hg loadings in lake sediments. More precisely, increasing TOM derived from humified soil horizons explains most of Hg level variation within sediments.

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

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bloom N, Fitzgerald WF (1988) Determination of volatile mercury species at the picogram level by low-temperature gas chromatography with cold-vapour atomic fluorescence detection. Anal Chim Acta 208:151–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caron S, Lucotte M, Teisserenc R (2008) Mercury transfer from watersheds to aquatic environments following the erosion of agrarian soils: a molecular biomarker approach. Can J Soil Sci 88:801–811

    Google Scholar 

  • Castañeda IS, Werne JP, Johnson TC, Filley TR (2009) Late quaternary vegetation history of southeast Africa: the molecular isotopic record from lake Malawi. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 275:100–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dalzell B, Filley T, Harbor J (2007) The role of hydrology in annual organic carbon loads and terrestrial organic matter export from a midwestern agricultural watershed. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 71:1448–1462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Leeuw JW, Largeau C (1993) A review of macromolecular organic compounds that comprise living organisms and their role in kerogen, coal and petroleum formation. In: Engel MH, Macko SA (eds) Organic geochemistry. Plenum Press, New York, pp 23–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Demers JD, Driscoll CT, Fahey TJ, Yavitt JB (2007) Mercury cycling in litter and soil in different forest types in the Adirondack region, New York, USA. Ecol Appl 15:1341–1351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dickens AF, Gudeman JA, Gélinas Y, Baldock JA, Tinner W, Hu FS, Hedges JI (2007) Sources and distribution of CuO-derived benzene carboxylic acids in soils and sediments. Org Geochem 38:1256–1276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dittmar T, Lara RJ (2001) Molecular evidence for lignin degradation in sulfate-reducing mangrove sediments (Amazônia, Brazil). Geochim Cosmochim Acta 65:1417–1428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Driscoll CT, Blette V, Yan C, Schofield CL (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 

  • El Bilali L, Rasmussen P, Hall G, Fortin D (2002) Role of sediment composition in trace metal distribution in lake sediments. Appl Geochem 17:1171–1181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ericksen JA, Gustin MS, Schorran DE, Johnson DW (2003) Accumulation of atmospheric mercury in forest foliage. Atmos Environ 37:1613–1622

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ertel JR, Hedges JI, Devol AH, Richey JE, Goes Ribeiro MN (1986) Dissolved humic substances of the Amazon river system. Limnol Oceanogr 31:739–754

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farella N, Lucotte M, Louchouarn P, Roulet M (2001) Deforestation modifying terrestrial organic transport in the Rio Tapajos, Brazilian Amazon. Org Geochem 32:1443–1458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fitzgerald WF, Engstrom DR, Mason RP, Nater EA (1998) The case for atmospheric mercury contamination in remote areas. Environ Sci Technol 32:1–7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goñi MA, Hedges JI (1995) Sources and reactivities of marine-derived organic matter in coastal sediments as determined by alkaline CuO oxidation. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 59:2965–2968

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goñi MA, Montgomery S (2000) Alkaline CuO oxidation with microwave digestion system: lignin analyses of geochemical samples. Anal Chem 72:3116–3121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graydon J, St Louis V, Hintelmann H, Lindberg S, Sandilands K, Rudd J, Kelly C, Hall B, Mowat L (2008) Long-term wet and dry deposition of total and methyl mercury in the remote boreal ecoregion of Canada. Environ Sci Technol 42:8345–8351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grigal DF (2002) Inputs and outputs of mercury from terrestrila watersheds: a review. Environ Rev 10:1–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grigal DF (2003) Mercury sequestration in forests and peatlands: a review. J Environ Qual 32:393–405

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grondin A, Lucotte M, Mucci A, Fortin B (1995) Mercury and lead profiles and burdens in soils of Quebec (Canada) before and after flooding. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 52:2493–2506

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hedges JI, Ertel JR (1982) Characterization of lignin by gas capillary chromatography of cupric oxidation products. Anal Chem S4:174–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hedges JI, Mann DC (1979) The characterisation of plant tissues by their lignin oxidation products. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 43:1803–1907

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hedges JI, Parker PL (1976) Land-derived organic matter in surface sediments from the Gulf of Mexico. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 40:1019–1029

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernes P, Robinson A, Aufdenkampe A (2007) Fractionation of lignin during leaching and sorption and implications for organic matter ‘‘freshness’’. Geophys Res Lett 34:L17401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hintelmann H, Harris R, Heyes A, Hurley JP, Kelly C, Krabbenhoft DP, Lindberg S, Rudd JWM, Scott KJ, 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  Google Scholar 

  • Houel S, Louchouarn P, Lucotte M, Canuel R (2006) Translocation of soil organic matter following reservoir impoundment in boreal systems: implications for in situ productivity. Limnol Oceanogr 51:1497–1513

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu FS, Hedges JI, Gordon ES, Brubaker LB (1999) Lignin biomarkers and pollen in postglacial sediments of an Alaskan lake. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 63:1421–1430

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson TA (1997) Long-range atmospheric transport of mercury to ecosystems, and the importance of anthropogenic emissions—a critical review and evaluation of the published evidence. Environ Rev 5:99–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson K, Haines T, Kahl J, Norton S, Amirbahman A, Sheehan K (2007) Controls on mercury and methylmercury deposition for two watersheds in Acadia National Park, Maine. Environ Monit Assess 126:55–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kainz M, Lucotte M (2006) Mercury concentrations in lake sediments—revisiting the predictive power of catchment morphometry and organic matter composition. Water Air Soil Pollut 170:173–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kainz M, Lucotte M, Parrish C (2003) Relationships between organic matter composition and methyl mercury content of offshore and carbon-rich littoral sediments in an oligotrophic lake. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 60:888–896

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kastner T, Goñi M (2003) Constancy in the vegetation of the Amazon Basin during the late Pleistocene: evidence from the organic matter composition of Amazon deep sea fan sediments. Geology 31:291–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolka RK, Grigal DF, Verry ES, Nater EA (1999) Mercury and organic carbon relationships in streams draining forested upland/peatland watersheds. J Environ Qual 28:766–775

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lal R (2003) Soil erosion and the global carbon budget. Environ Int 29:437–450

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee Y-H, Borg GC, Iverfeldt A, Hultberg H (1994) Fluxes and turnover of methylmercury: mercury pools in forest soils. In: Watras CJ, Huckabee JW (eds) Mercury pollution: integration and synthesis. Lewis publishers, Ann Arbor, pp 329–342

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindberg S, Bullock R, Ebinghaus R, Engstrom D, Feng X, Fitzgerald W, Pirrone N, Prestbo E, Seigneur C (2007) A synthesis of progress and uncertainties in attributing the sources of mercury in deposition. Ambio 36:19–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Louchouarn P, Lucotte M (1998) A historical reconstruction of organic and inorganic contamination events in the Saguenay Fjord/St. Lawrence system from preindustrial times to the present. Sci Total Environ 213:139–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Louchouarn P, Lucotte M, Canuel R, Gagné J, Richard L (1997) Sources and early diagenesis of lignin and bulk organic matter in the sediments of the lower St. Lawrence Estuary and the Saguenay Fjord. Marine Chem 58:3–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Louchouarn P, Lucotte M, Farella N (1999) Historical and geographical variations of sources and transport of terrigenous organic matter within a large-scale coastal environment. Org Geochem 30:675–699

    Article  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mackereth FJH (1958) A portable core sampler for lake deposits. Limnol Oceanogr 3:181–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meili M, Iverfeldt A, Håkanson L (1991) Mercury in the surface water of Swedish forest lakes—concentrations, speciation and controlling factors. Water Air Soil Pollut 56:439–453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson S, Johnson K, Kahl J, Haines T, Fernandez I (2007) Mass balances of mercury and nitrogen in burned and unburned forested watersheds at Acadia National Park, Maine, USA. Environ Monit Assess 126:69–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Obrist D, Johnson D, Lindberg S (2009) Mercury concentrations and pools in four Sierra Nevada forest sites, and relationships to organic carbon and nitrogen. Biogeosci Disc 6:1777–1809

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Onstad GD, Canfield DE, Quay PD, Hedges JI (2000) Sources of particulate organic matter in rivers from the continental USA: lignin phenol and stable carbon isotope compositions. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 64:3539–3546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Opsahl S, Benner R (1995) Early diagenesis of vascular plant tissues: lignin and cutin decomposition and biogeochemical implications. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 59:4889–4904

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ouellet J, Lucotte M, Teisserenc R, Paquet S, Canuel R (2009) Lignin biomarkers as tracers of mercury sources in lakes water column. Biogeochemistry 94:123–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pacyna E, Pacyna J, Steenhuisen F, Wilson S (2006) Global anthropogenic mercury emission inventory for 2000. Atmos Environ 40:4048–4063

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pichet P, Morrison K, Rheault I, Tremblay A (1999) Analysis of total mercury and methylmercury in environmental samples. In: Lucotte M, Schetagne R, Thérien N, Langlois C, Tremblay A (eds) Mercury in the biogeochemical cycle, natural environments and hydroelectric reservoirs of Northern Québec. Springer, New York, pp 41–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Poulain A, Roy V, Amyot M (2007) Influence of temperate mixed and deciduous tree covers on Hg concentrations and photoredox transformations in snow. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 71:2448–2462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen P, Villard D, Gardner H, Fortescue J, Schiff S, Shilts W (1998) Mercury in lake sediments of the Precambrian Shield near Huntsville, Ontario, Canada. Environ Geol 33:170–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rognerud S, Fjeld E (2001) Trace element contamination of Norwegian lake sediments. Ambio 30:11–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanei H, Goodarzi F (2006) Relationship between organic matter and mercury in recent lake sediment: the physical–geochemical aspects. Appl Geochem 21:1900–1912

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schroeder WH, Munthe J (1998) Atmospheric mercury—an overview. Atmos Environ 32:809–822

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Selvendiran P, Driscoll C, Montesdeoca M, Choi H, Holsen T (2009) Mercury dynamics and transport in two Adirondack lakes. Limnol Oceanogr 54:413–427

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheehan KD, Fernandez I, Kahl JS, Amirbahman A (2006) Litterfall mercury in two forested watersheds at Acadia National Park, Maine, USA. Water Air Soil Pollut 170:249–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swain EB, Engstrom DR, Brigham ME, Henning TA, Brezonik PL (1992) Increasing rates of atmospheric mercury deposition in Midcontinental North America. Science 257:784–787

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teisserenc R (2009) Dynamique de la matière organique terrigène et du mercure dans les lacs et réservoirs boréaux. Thesis, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Canada

  • Tesi T, Langone L, Gońi MA, Turchetto M (2008) Source and composition of organic matter in the Bari canyon (Italy): dense water cascading versus particulate export from the upper ocean. Deep Sea Res I 55:813–831

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ugolini FC, Reaner RE, Rau GH, Hedges JI (1981) Pedological, isotopic, and geochemical investigations of the soils at the boreal forest and alpine toundra transition in northern Alsaka. Soil Sci 131:359–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Witt E, Kolka R, Nater E, Wickman T (2008) Influence of the forest canopy on total and methyl mercury deposition in the Boreal forest. Water Air Soil Pollut 199:3–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Sophie Chen and Isabelle Rheault for their assistance in the laboratory. We also acknowledge Jean Carreau for the sampling work. This research was supported by the Collaborative Mercury Research Network (COMERN), financed by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). We are grateful to Mark Williams and an anonymous reviewer whose comments greatly improve the manuscript.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Roman Teisserenc

    Present address: Laboratoire d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle (ECOLAB), UMR 5245 CNRS-INPT-UPS, ENSAT, Avenue de l’Agrobiopole, BP 32607, Auzeville-Tolosane, 31326, Castanet Tolosan Cedex, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Collaborative Mercury Research Network, GEOTOP-UQAM-McGILL, University of Québec at Montréal, C.P. 8888, Succ. Centre-Ville, Montreal, QC H3C 3P8, Canada

    Roman Teisserenc, Marc Lucotte & Stéphane Houel

  2. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

    Stéphane Houel

Authors
  1. Roman Teisserenc
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marc Lucotte
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Stéphane Houel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roman Teisserenc.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Teisserenc, R., Lucotte, M. & Houel, S. Terrestrial organic matter biomarkers as tracers of Hg sources in lake sediments. Biogeochemistry 103, 235–244 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-010-9458-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-010-9458-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation