Current and Historical Mercury Sources and Deposition to Remote Southeast Alaskan Lakes

Project ID: P14AC01393

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Partner Institution: University of Alaska Southeast

Fiscal Year: 2014

Initial Funding: $8,250

Total Funding: $8,250

Project Type: Research

Project Disciplines: Biological

National Park: Sierra Nevada Network Inventory & Monitoring

Principal Investigator: Nagorski, Sonia

Agreement Technical Representative: Bower, Michael

Abstract: In this project, UAS and NPS will expand the temporal and spatial context for mercury (Hg) contamination in freshwaters of southeast Alaska by determining historical contaminant levels and sources from representative lake sediment cores. The project will employ cutting-edge technologies to identify patterns in Hg Isotopes that correspond to distinct sources contributing mercury to southeast Alaska. By employing these methods across a chronological sequence of sediment ages from lake cores from four lakes on Chichagof Island (near Point Adolphus, Alaska), historical and recent trends in the magnitude of individual sources will be described. Results will be publicly available and used to inform the development of methods for long-term monitoring of mercury as one component of the SEAN’s freshwater contaminants vital sign monitoring program.