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Seasonal Cycling and Transport of Mercury and Methylmercury in the Turbidity Maximum of the Delaware Estuary

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Abstract

The Delaware River Estuary (DRE) is a cornerstone of industrialization, shipping, and urban usage, and has a long history of human impact on pollution and recovery. Mercury (Hg) is a contaminant of concern in the DRE based upon concentrations in some fish samples that were found to exceed State and Federal fish tissue criteria. Methylation of Hg often follows a seasonal pattern as its production is biologically mediated. Surveys were conducted in November 2011, April 2012, and July 2012 to assess this effect. We sampled surface and bottom water at six sites spanning the estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) in the main channel of the river, plus three sediment sites at shallow, subtidal locations. Our results indicate there is a clear seasonal increase in both water column and sediment methylmercury (MeHg) and %MeHg concentrations in the ETM during July. Water-column-filtered total mercury (HgT), suspended particle HgT, and MeHg concentrations were found to fluctuate little with location or season in the ETM. In contrast, sediment MeHg, water-column-filtered MeHg, and pore water HgT varied seasonally. Furthermore, pore water MeHg levels were elevated in concert with increased k meth rates in July. Estimated river input and sediment and atmospheric depositional MeHg flux were compared seasonally. River flux was more than an order of magnitude higher than sediment flux in April, coinciding with higher fluvial transport. However, during July, river flux decreases and sediment flux becomes a larger relative source. This trend has potential implications for fish and other biota residing in the DRE during summer.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC). We would like to thank Gregory Cavallo, Thomas Fikslin, and Namsoo Suk from the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) for assistance with field sampling, and for providing supporting information. We would also like to thank Susan Gichuki for helping with field sampling and processing. We would further like to thank Ben Pressley, vessel operators and additional field crew from the DNREC for their help with collecting water and sediment in the beautiful Delaware River.

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Correspondence to Kathleen Gosnell.

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Gosnell, K., Balcom, P., Ortiz, V. et al. Seasonal Cycling and Transport of Mercury and Methylmercury in the Turbidity Maximum of the Delaware Estuary. Aquat Geochem 22, 313–336 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-015-9283-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-015-9283-x

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