Elevated mercury levels have been observed in a wide variety of aquatic systems. A mass balance non-steady state model was developed to examine mercury cycling in lakes and reservoirs. Hg(ll), methylmercury, Hg° , dimethylmercury and solid phase HgS cycles were interconnected. Compartments included air, water, sediment, suspended solids, plankton, benthos, and two generic fish categories based on diet. Bioenergetics equations for individual fish were extended to consider mercury dynamics for entire fish populations. Biota represented large methylmercury fluxes in the water column and were found to be important methylmercury repositories. In a simulation of a generic well-mixed shield lake in Ontario, the fish population contained about 4 times as much methylmercury as water. Uptake of methylmercury by individual walleye and yellow perch was predicted to be dominated by the food pathway (eg. 99% of total uptake).
Based on simulations for the generic shield lake, the watershed has the potential to be an important source of methylmercury in some shield lakes (exceeding in-situ methylation in the generic simulation). Methylation in the water column and sediments were both simulated to be significant. Simulated net production of methylmercury in the generic shield lake was on the order of 0.05 to 0.15 ug methylmercury m⁻² year⁻¹ in the water column, with similar rates in sediments. Simulated rates of net methylation in polluted sytems were higher. Fractions of total dissolved Hg(II) or methylmercury available for methylation and demethylation in aerobic waters were thermodynamically predicted to be small (e.g. <1%). Dissolved organic carbon and sulphides (if present) were thermodynamically predicted to dominate Hg(II) and methylmercury complexation in freshwaters. Hg(II) burial and outflows represented about 85-90% of total mercury losses for the generic shield lake (2 year hydraulic retention time). Volatilization of Hg° , produced by demethylation and Hg(II) reduction, represented the remaining 10-15% of losses. Considerable system to system variability is expected for sources and sinks of total mercury and methylmercury in shield lakes. In simulations of two mercury contaminated environments, Lake St. Clair and Clay Lake, Ontario, sediment return of Hg(II) caused the lakes to be net sources of mercury to downstream areas. Sediment return of mercury could partially explain observed two-phase recoveries of fish methylmercury levels in some polluted systems. The time required for Hg(II) and methylmercury concentrations in various compartments to respond to changes in loads was simulated. There was a tendency towards relatively rapid internal cycling of Hg(II) and methylmercury, but slower overall system response times (eg. years to decades to respond to recover from flooding or pollution episodes). / Thesis / Master of Engineering (ME)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/22980 |
| Date | 03 1900 |
| Creators | Harris, Reed |
| Contributors | Snodgrass, W. J., Civil Engineering |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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