Mercury terrestrial component

Rencz AN, O Driscoll NJ, Hall GEM, Peron T, Tehner K, Burgess NM. 2003. Spatial variation and correlations of mercury levels in the terrestrial and aquatic components of a wetland dominated ecosystem Kejimkujik Park, Nova Scotia, Canada. Water Air Soil PoUut 143 271-288. 

There exists evidence of a coupling between the total and methyl-mercury concentrations in surface runoff water. The concentration of methylmercury in surface runoff is of special interest, since this pathway is a major component of the total mercury loading from drainage terrestrial Forest ecosystems to the aquatic ecosystem of lakes. Moreover, methylmercury is the form of Hg that is enriched in the aquatic... 

Many metal pollutants (e.g. mercury, cadmium, lead, nickel and zinc) are hazardous to human health and terrestrial ecosystems. The determination of metals in contaminated soils may be carried out for a variety of reasons, such as measurement of total or defined extractable content, which provides knowledge of soil components in respect of changes in soil composition produced by natural or anthropogenic contamination. In addition, the analysis may be designed to investigate and categorise degrees of contamination of land for current or intended use. An environmental survey of a polluted site may be undertaken to obtain information about the nature, quantity, distribution and behaviour of contaminants and, if necessary, to select the most appropriate use of the site (Hester Harrison 2001 Kibblewhite 2001). 

Our conceptual model divided the BDW lake basin into three land cover types (based on remote sensing data) (i) terrestrial, (ii) wetland, and (iii) lake (Fig. 3). Average annual mass movements for total mercury were calculated using the collected data [86]. Wet precipitation was the only source of mercury inputs considered to the terrestrial system accounting for 184 g (mercury deposited over land. The total outputs from the terrestrial system accounted for 372 g (o- = 36.7 g), of that, 35% (132 g, tr = 0.0 g) was incorporated into vegetation and, 13% (49 g, o-=0.0g) was volatilized from the soil surface. Although we were unable to measure mercury runoff directly, 191 g would be necessary in order to balance the inputs and outputs of the wetland component. 

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