Trace metals in upland headwater lakes in Ireland

Andrew Burton; Julian Aherne; Nouri Hassan

doi:10.1007/s13280-013-0381-y

Trace metals in upland headwater lakes in Ireland

Andrew Burton^*
, Julian Aherne
, Nouri Hassan

^*Corresponding author for this work

King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Trace elements (n = 23) in Irish headwater lakes (n = 126) were investigated to determine their ambient concentrations, fractionation (total, dissolved, and non-labile), and geochemical controls. Lakes were generally located in remote upland, acid-sensitive regions along the coastal margins of the country. Total trace metal concentrations were low, within the range of natural pristine surface waters; however, some lakes (~20 %) had inorganic labile aluminum and manganese at levels potentially harmful to aquatic organisms. Redundancy analysis indicated that geochemical weathering was the dominant controlling factor for total metals, compared with acidity for dissolved metals. In addition, many metals were positively correlated with dissolved organic carbon indicating their affinity (or complexation) with humic substances (e.g., aluminum, iron, mercury, lead). However, a number of trace metals (e.g., aluminum, mercury, zinc) were correlated with anthropogenic acidic deposition (i.e., non-marine sulfate), suggesting atmospheric sources or elevated leaching owing to acidic deposition. As transboundary air pollution continues to decline, significant changes in the cycling of trace metals is anticipated.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	702-714
Number of pages	13
Journal	Ambio
Volume	42
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-013-0381-y
State	Published - Oct 2013

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Financial support for this research was provided by the Irish Environmental Protection Agency under the Climate Change Research Programme (CCRP) 2007–2013 and the Canada Research Chair and NSERC discovery grant programs. We gratefully thank E.P. Farrell and Thomas Cummins for providing laboratory facilities at University College Dublin, and Tom Clair, Environment Canada, for assistance with lake chemistry quality control. Finally, this work would not have been possible without the extraordinary efforts of the field crew: Jim Johnson, Brent Parsons, Tim Seabert, Koji Tominaga, Colin Whitfield, and Antoni Zbieranowski.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 14 Life Below Water

Keywords

Dissolved organic carbon
Fractionation
Geochemical weathering
Long-range atmospheric transport
Marine inputs
Water chemistry

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Geography, Planning and Development
Environmental Chemistry
Ecology

Access to Document

10.1007/s13280-013-0381-y

Cite this

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title = "Trace metals in upland headwater lakes in Ireland",

abstract = "Trace elements (n = 23) in Irish headwater lakes (n = 126) were investigated to determine their ambient concentrations, fractionation (total, dissolved, and non-labile), and geochemical controls. Lakes were generally located in remote upland, acid-sensitive regions along the coastal margins of the country. Total trace metal concentrations were low, within the range of natural pristine surface waters; however, some lakes (\textasciitilde{}20 \%) had inorganic labile aluminum and manganese at levels potentially harmful to aquatic organisms. Redundancy analysis indicated that geochemical weathering was the dominant controlling factor for total metals, compared with acidity for dissolved metals. In addition, many metals were positively correlated with dissolved organic carbon indicating their affinity (or complexation) with humic substances (e.g., aluminum, iron, mercury, lead). However, a number of trace metals (e.g., aluminum, mercury, zinc) were correlated with anthropogenic acidic deposition (i.e., non-marine sulfate), suggesting atmospheric sources or elevated leaching owing to acidic deposition. As transboundary air pollution continues to decline, significant changes in the cycling of trace metals is anticipated.",

keywords = "Dissolved organic carbon, Fractionation, Geochemical weathering, Long-range atmospheric transport, Marine inputs, Water chemistry",

author = "Andrew Burton and Julian Aherne and Nouri Hassan",

note = "Funding Information: Financial support for this research was provided by the Irish Environmental Protection Agency under the Climate Change Research Programme (CCRP) 2007–2013 and the Canada Research Chair and NSERC discovery grant programs. We gratefully thank E.P. Farrell and Thomas Cummins for providing laboratory facilities at University College Dublin, and Tom Clair, Environment Canada, for assistance with lake chemistry quality control. Finally, this work would not have been possible without the extraordinary efforts of the field crew: Jim Johnson, Brent Parsons, Tim Seabert, Koji Tominaga, Colin Whitfield, and Antoni Zbieranowski.",

year = "2013",

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doi = "10.1007/s13280-013-0381-y",

language = "English",

volume = "42",

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T1 - Trace metals in upland headwater lakes in Ireland

AU - Burton, Andrew

AU - Aherne, Julian

AU - Hassan, Nouri

N1 - Funding Information: Financial support for this research was provided by the Irish Environmental Protection Agency under the Climate Change Research Programme (CCRP) 2007–2013 and the Canada Research Chair and NSERC discovery grant programs. We gratefully thank E.P. Farrell and Thomas Cummins for providing laboratory facilities at University College Dublin, and Tom Clair, Environment Canada, for assistance with lake chemistry quality control. Finally, this work would not have been possible without the extraordinary efforts of the field crew: Jim Johnson, Brent Parsons, Tim Seabert, Koji Tominaga, Colin Whitfield, and Antoni Zbieranowski.

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N2 - Trace elements (n = 23) in Irish headwater lakes (n = 126) were investigated to determine their ambient concentrations, fractionation (total, dissolved, and non-labile), and geochemical controls. Lakes were generally located in remote upland, acid-sensitive regions along the coastal margins of the country. Total trace metal concentrations were low, within the range of natural pristine surface waters; however, some lakes (~20 %) had inorganic labile aluminum and manganese at levels potentially harmful to aquatic organisms. Redundancy analysis indicated that geochemical weathering was the dominant controlling factor for total metals, compared with acidity for dissolved metals. In addition, many metals were positively correlated with dissolved organic carbon indicating their affinity (or complexation) with humic substances (e.g., aluminum, iron, mercury, lead). However, a number of trace metals (e.g., aluminum, mercury, zinc) were correlated with anthropogenic acidic deposition (i.e., non-marine sulfate), suggesting atmospheric sources or elevated leaching owing to acidic deposition. As transboundary air pollution continues to decline, significant changes in the cycling of trace metals is anticipated.

AB - Trace elements (n = 23) in Irish headwater lakes (n = 126) were investigated to determine their ambient concentrations, fractionation (total, dissolved, and non-labile), and geochemical controls. Lakes were generally located in remote upland, acid-sensitive regions along the coastal margins of the country. Total trace metal concentrations were low, within the range of natural pristine surface waters; however, some lakes (~20 %) had inorganic labile aluminum and manganese at levels potentially harmful to aquatic organisms. Redundancy analysis indicated that geochemical weathering was the dominant controlling factor for total metals, compared with acidity for dissolved metals. In addition, many metals were positively correlated with dissolved organic carbon indicating their affinity (or complexation) with humic substances (e.g., aluminum, iron, mercury, lead). However, a number of trace metals (e.g., aluminum, mercury, zinc) were correlated with anthropogenic acidic deposition (i.e., non-marine sulfate), suggesting atmospheric sources or elevated leaching owing to acidic deposition. As transboundary air pollution continues to decline, significant changes in the cycling of trace metals is anticipated.

KW - Dissolved organic carbon

KW - Fractionation

KW - Geochemical weathering

KW - Long-range atmospheric transport

KW - Marine inputs

KW - Water chemistry

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DO - 10.1007/s13280-013-0381-y

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ER -

Trace metals in upland headwater lakes in Ireland

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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