Mercury stocks in discontinuous permafrost and their mobilization by river migration in the Yukon River Basin

• Published in: Environmental Research Letters
• Main Authors: Smith, Magdalene I., Ke, Yutian, Geyman, Emily C., Reahl, Jocelyn N., Douglas, Madison M., Seelen, Emily A., Magyar, John S., Dunne, Kieran B. J., Mutter, Edda, Fischer, Woodward W., Lamb, Michael P., West, A. Joshua
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: IOP Publishing 2024
• Subjects: Arctic; Huslia; Yukon; Human health; permafrost; Yukon river; Alaska
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad536e

Rapid warming in the Arctic threatens to destabilize mercury (Hg) deposits contained within soils in permafrost regions. Yet current estimates of the amount of Hg in permafrost vary by ~4 times. Moreover, how Hg will be released to the environment as permafrost thaws remains poorly known, despite threats to water quality, human health, and the environment. Here we present new measurements of total mercury (THg) contents in discontinuous permafrost in the Yukon River Basin in Alaska. We collected riverbank and floodplain sediments from exposed banks and bars near the villages of Huslia and Beaver. Median THg contents were 49+13/-21ng THg g sediment−1and 39+16/-18ng THg g sediment−1for Huslia and Beaver, respectively (uncertainties as 15th and 85th percentiles). Corresponding THg:organic carbon ratios were 5.4+2/-2.4Gg THg Pg C-1and 4.2+2.4/-2.9Gg THg Pg C-1. To constrain floodplain THg stocks, we combined measured THg contents with floodplain stratigraphy. Trends of THg increasing with smaller sediment size and calculated stocks in the upper 1 m and 3 m are similar to those suggested for this region by prior pan-Arctic studies. We combined THg stocks and river migration rates derived from remote sensing to estimate particulate THg erosional and depositional fluxes as river channels migrate across the floodplain. Results show similar fluxes within uncertainty into the river from erosion at both sites (95+12/-47kg THg yr-1and 26+154/-13kg THg yr-1at Huslia and Beaver, respectively), but very different fluxes out of the river via deposition in aggrading bars (60+40/-29kg THg yr-1and 10+5.3/-1.7kg THg yr-1). Thus, a significant amount of THg is liberated from permafrost during bank erosion, while a variable but generally lesser portion is subsequently redeposited by migrating rivers. As the Version of Record of this article is going to be / has been published on a gold open access basis under a CC BY 4.0 licence, this Accepted Manuscript is available for reuse under a CC BY 4.0 licence immediately. Everyone is ...