Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Tracking Long-range Atmospheric Transport of Contaminants in Arctic Regions Using Lake Sediments

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Environmental Contaminants

Part of the book series: Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research ((DPER,volume 18))

Abstract

Due to the nature of global atmospheric circulation patterns, numerous contaminants of concern, including mercury (Hg) and persistent organic pollutants (POPs), undergo long-range transport to the Arctic where they can be deposited to landscapes and water bodies. As a result, both mercury and POPs have recently reached levels in Arctic mammals and fishes that are high enough to pose health risks to Northern peoples consuming these animals as traditional country foods. Dated lake sediment cores provide a valuable tool for examining temporal trends in atmospheric contaminant deposition. In addition, the recent application of novel multi-proxy approaches is allowing atmospheric contaminant deposition to be examined within the context of numerous climate-induced alterations to contaminant cycling, such as increased catchment contaminant inputs driven by climate-induced erosion. Here, we review current information on the use of dated sediment cores to examine post-industrial (post-~ 1850) changes to atmospheric mercury and POPs deposition, including atmospheric contaminant transport and deposition processes, the impacts of climate-induced changes on these processes, and the application of novel lake sediment core analyses to untangle trends in contaminant deposition due to multiple sources and environmental stressors. Hg and POPs are compared and contrasted throughout the chapter, as, although these contaminants are both of great concern in the Arctic, their differing physical-chemical properties and emission sources result in differing transport and deposition pathways. Finally, we make suggestions for future research that will allow dated lake sediment cores to continue to provide valuable information on contaminant deposition in the face of a changing Arctic climate.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abad E, Caixach J, Rivera J (1999) Dioxin-like compounds from municipal waste incinerator emissions: assessment of the presence of polychlorinated naphthalenes. Chemosphere 48:109–120

    Google Scholar 

  • ACIA (2004) Arctic climate impact assessment 2004. Cambridge University Press, New York, p 144

    Google Scholar 

  • ACIA (2005) Arctic climate impact assessment 2005. Cambridge University Press, New York, p 1042

    Google Scholar 

  • Alaee M, Muir D, Cannon C et al (2003) New persistent chemicals in Arctic air and water. In: Canadian arctic contaminants assessment report II: sources, occurrence, trends and pathways in the physical environment. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, pp 116–123

    Google Scholar 

  • Amyot M, Lean DRS., Poissant L, Doyon M (2000) Distribution and transformation of elemental mercury in the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 57:155–163

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Amyot M, Arp P, Blais J et al (2012) Freshwater environment. In: Canadian arctic contaminants assessment report III: mercury in Canada’s North. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, Ottawa, pp 101–157

    Google Scholar 

  • Antoniades D, Douglas MS, Smol JP (2004) Diatom species–environment relationships and inference models from Isachsen, Ellef Ringnes Island, Canadian High Arctic. Hydrobiologia 529:1–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Appleby PG (2001) Chronostratigraphic techniques in recent sediments. In: Smol JP, Last WM (eds) Tracking environmental changes using lake sediments, vol 1, pp 171–203

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) (2004) AMAP assessment 2002: persistent organic pollutants in the Arctic. AMAP, Oslo, p xvi–310

    Google Scholar 

  • Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) (2009) AMAP assessment 2009: Arctic pollution 2009. AMAP, Oslo

    Google Scholar 

  • Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) (2011) AMAP assessment 2011: mercury in the Arctic. AMAP, Oslo

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey R, Barrie LA, Halsall CJ, Fellin P, Muir DCG (2000) Atmospheric organochlorine pesticides in the western Canadian Arctic: Evidence of transpacific transport. J Geophys Res:Atmos 105:11805–11811

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey R (2001) Global hexachlorobenzene emissions. Chemoshere 43:167–182

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barber JL, Sweetman AJ, Van Wijk D, Jones KC (2005) Hexachlorobenzene in the global environment: emissions, levels, distribution, trends and processes. Sci Total Environ 349:1–44

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barrie LA, Gregor D, Hargrave B et al (1992) Arctic contaminants: sources, occurrence and pathways. Sci Total Environ 122:1–74

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barrie L, Falck E, Gregor DJ et al (1998) The Influence of physical and chemical processes on contaminant transport into and within the Arctic. In Gregor DJ, Loeng H, Barrie L (eds) AMAP assessment report: arctic pollution issues. Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), Oslo, pp 25–115

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker S, Hallsall CJ, Tych W et al (2008) Long-term trends in atmospheric concentrations of α- and γ-HCH in the Arctic provide insight into the effects of legislation and climatic fluctuations on contaminant levels. Atmos Environ 42:8225–8233

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Benner BA, Wise SA, Currie LA et al (1995) Distinguishing the contributions of residential wood combustion and mobile source emissions using relative concentrations of dimethylphenanthrene isomers. Environ Sci Technol 29:2382–2389

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bidleman TF, Alaee M, Stern GA (2001) New persistent chemicals in the Arctic environment. In: Kalhok S (ed) Synopsis of research conducted under the 2000–2001 Northern Contaminants Program. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, pp 93–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Bidleman TF, Helm PA, Braune B, Gabrielsen GW (2010) Polychlorinated naphthalenes in polar environments: a review. Sci Total Environ 408:2919–2935

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bindler R, Renberg I, Appleby PG et al (2001) Mercury accumulation rates and spatial patterns in lake sediments from West Greenland: a coast to ice margin transect. Environ Sci Technol 35:1736–1741

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blais JM (2010) Transport of mercury from thawing permafrost to lake sediments in the Mackenzie Delta, NWT. In: Synopsis of research conducted under the 2009–2010 northern contaminants program. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, pp 196–203

    Google Scholar 

  • Blais JM, Kalff J, Cornett RJ, Evans RD (1995) Evaluation of 210Pb dating in lake sediments using stable Pb, Ambrosia pollen, and 137Cs. J Paleolim 13:169–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Blais JM, Schindler DW, Muir DCG et al (1998) Accumulation of persistent organochlorine compounds in the mountains of western Canada. Nature 395:585–588

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blais JM, Kimpe LE, McMahon D et al (2005) Arctic seabirds transport marine-derived contaminants. Science 309:445

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blum JD (2011) Applications of stable mercury isotopes to biogeochemistry. In: Baskaran M (ed) Handbook of environmental isotope geochemistry. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 229–246

    Google Scholar 

  • Breivik K, Wania F, Muir DCG et al (2006) Empirical and modeling evidence of the long-range atmospheric transport of decabromodiphenyl ether. Environ Sci Technol 40:4612–4618

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Breivik K, Sweetman AJ, Pacyna JM, Jones KC (2007) Towards a global historical emission inventory for selected PCB congeners, a mass balance approach: 3. An update. Sci Tot Environ 377:296–307

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brigham ME, Wentz DA, Aiken GR, Krabbenhoft DP (2009) Mercury cycling in stream ecosystems. 1. Water column chemistry and transport. Environ Sci Technol 43:2720–2725

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Butt CM, Berger U, Bossi R, Tomy GT (2010) Levels and trends of perfluorinated compounds in the Arctic environment. Sci Total Environ 408:2936–2965

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carrie J, Wang F, Sanei H et al (2010) Increasing contaminant burdens in an arctic fish, burbot (Lota lota),. in: a warming climate. Environ Sci Technol 44:316–322

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cleverly DA, Monetti M, Phillips L et al (1996) Time-trends study of the occurrences and levels of CDDs, CDFs and dioxin-like PCBs in sediment cores from 11 geographically distributed lakes in the United States. Organohalogen Compd 28:77–82

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke CA, Hobbs WO, Michelutti N, Wolfe AP (2010) Reliance on 210Pb chronology can compromise the inference of preindustrial Hg flux to lake sediments. Environ Sci Technol 44:1998–2003

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, CA, Wolfe, AP, Michelutti, N et al (2012) A holocene perspective on algal mercury scavenging to sediments of an Arctic Lake. Environ Sci Technol 46:7135–7141

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cossa, D, Averty, B, Pirrone, N (2009) The origin of methylmercury in open Mediterranean waters. Limnol Oceanogr 54:837–844

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Crookes MJ, Howe PD (1993) Environmental hazard assessment: halogenated naphthalenes. Directorate for Air, Climate, and Toxic Substances, Department of the Environment, Garston

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • de Wit, CA, Herzke, D, Vorkamp, K (2010) Brominated flame retardants in the Arctic environment – trends and new candidates. Sci Total Environ 408:2885–2918

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Health and Human Services (2012) Fourth national report on human exposure to environmental chemicals. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, p 42

    Google Scholar 

  • Dietz R, Outridge PM, Hobson KA (2009) Anthropogenic contributions to mercury levels in present-day Arctic animals-a review. Sci Total Environ 407:6120–6131

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Deison R, Smol JP, Kokelj SV et al (2012) Spatial and temporal assessment of mercury and organic matter in lakes affected by thawing permafrost in the Mackenzie Delta uplands, NT, Canada. Environ Sci Technol 46:8748–8755

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dittman JA, Shanley JB, Driscoll CT et al (2010) Mercury dynamics in relation to dissolved organic carbon concentration and quality during high flow events in three northeastern U.S. streams. Water Resour Res 46:1–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Douglas M, Smol J, Blake W (1994) Marked post-18th century environmental change in high arctic ecosystems. Science 266:416–419

    Google Scholar 

  • Driscoll CT, Yan C, Schofield CL et al (1994) The mercury cycle and fish in the Adirondack lakes. Environ Sci Technol 28:136–143

    Google Scholar 

  • Driscoll CT, Mason RP, Chan HM et al (2013) Mercury as a global pollutant: Sources, pathways, and effects. Environ Sci Technol 47:4967–4983

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Durnford D, Dastoor A (2011) The behavior of mercury in the cryosphere: A review of what we know from observations. J Geophys Res 116:D06305

    Google Scholar 

  • Durnford D, Dastoor A, Figueras-Nieto D, Ryjkov A (2010) Long-range transport of mercury to the Arctic and across Canada. Atmos Chem Phys 10:6063–6086

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Eckhardt SKB, Manø SSA (2007) Record high peaks in PCB concentrations in the Arctic atmosphere due to long-range transport of biomass burning emissions. Atmos Chem Phys 7:4527–4536

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenreich SJ, Capel PD, Robbins JA, Bourbonniere R (1989) Accumulation and diagenesis of chlorinated hydrocarbons in lacustrine sediments. Environ Sci Technol 23:1116–1126

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Evans MS, Bourbonniere RA, Muir DCG et al (1996) Spatial and temporal patterns in the depositional history of organochlorine contaminants, PAHs, PCDDs, and PCDFs in the west basin of Great Slave Lake. National Hydrology Research Centre, Environment Canada, Saskatoon

    Google Scholar 

  • Evenset A, Christensen GN, Carroll J et al (2007) Historical trends in persistent organic pollutants and metals recorded in sediment from Lake Ellasjøen, Bjørnøya, Norwegian Arctic. Environ Pollut 146:196–205

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Falandysz J (1998) Polychlorinated naphthalenes: an environmental update. Environ Pollut 101:77–90

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez P, Vilanova RM, Grimalt JO (1999) Sediment fluxes of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in European High Altitude Mountain Lakes. Environ Sci Technol 33:3716–3722

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez P, Vilanova RM, Martinez C, Appleby P, Grimalt JO (2000) The historical record of atmospheric pyrolitic pollution over Europe registered in the sedimentary PAH from remote mountain lakes. Environ Sci Technol 34:1906–1913

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher JA, Jacob DJ, Soerensen AL et al (2012) Riverine source of Arctic ocean mercury inferred from atmospheric observations. Nature Geosci 5:499–504

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fitzgerald WF, Engstrom DR, Lamborg CH et al (2005) Modern and historic atmospheric mercury fluxes in northern Alaska: Global sources and Arctic depletion. Environ Sci Technol 39:557–568

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia E, Amyot M, Ariya PA (2005) Relationship between DOC photochemistry and mercury redox transformations in temperate lakes and wetlands. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 69:1917–1924

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goodsite ME, Outridge PM, Christensen JH et al (2013) How well do environmental archives of atmospheric mercury deposition in the Arctic reproduce rates and trends depicted by atmospheric models and measurements? Sci Tot Environ 452–453:196–207

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregor, DJ (1990) Deposition and accumulation of selected agricultural pesticides in Canadian Arctic snow. In: Kurtz D (ed) Long Range Transport of Pesticides. Lewis, Chelsea, pp 373–386

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregor DJ, Dahl M (1990) Final Report on the 1989/1990 Lake Hazen Water Quality Study. National Hydrology Research Centre, Environment Canada, Burlington, p 46

    Google Scholar 

  • Gubala CP, Landers DH, Monetti, M, et al (1995) The rates of accumulation and chronologies of atmospherically derived pollutants in arctic Alaska, USA. Sci Total Environ 160–161:347–361

    Google Scholar 

  • Halsall CJ, Barrie LA, Fellin P et al (1997) Spatial and temporal variation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the arctic atmosphere. Environ Sci Technol 31:3593–3599

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Halsall CJ, Bailey R, Stern GA et al (1998) Multi-year observations of organohalogenated pesticides in the arctic atmosphere. Environ Pollut 102:51–62

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harner T, Kylin H, Bidleman TF et al (1998) Polychlorinated naphthalenes and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls in arctic air. Environ Sci Technol 32:3257–3265

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harner T, Shoeib S, Gouin T, Blanchard P (2006) Polychlorinated naphthalenes in Great Lakes air: assessing spatial trends and combustion inputs using PUF disk passive air samplers. Environ Sci Technol 40:5333–5339

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Helm PA, Bidleman TF (2003) Current combustion-related sources contribute to polychlorinated naphthalene and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyl levels and profiles in air in Toronto, Canada. Environ Sci Technol 37:1075–1082

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Helm PA, Kannan K, Bidleman TF (2006) Polychlorinated naphthalenes in the Great Lakes. In: Hites RA (ed) Persistent organic pollutants in the Great Lakes. Handbook of environmental chemistry, vol 5. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 265–306

    Google Scholar 

  • Hermanson MH (1990) 210Pb and 137Cs chronology of sediments from small, shallow arctic lakes. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 54:1443–1451

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Holmes CD, Jacob DJ, Yang X (2006) Global lifetime of elemental mercury against oxidation by atomic bromine in the free troposphere. Geophys Res Lett 33, L20808, doi:10.1029/2006GL027176

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmes CD, Jacob DJ, Corbitt ES et al (2010) Global atmospheric model for mercury including oxidation by bromine atoms. Atmos Chem Phys Discuss 10:19845–19900

    Google Scholar 

  • Houde M, Bujas TAD, Small J et al (2006) Biomagnificiation of perfluoroalkyl compounds in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) food web. Environ Sci Technol 40:4138–4144

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughen KA, Southon JR, Lehman SJ, Overpeck JT (2000) Synchronous radiocarbon and climate shifts during the last deglaciation. Science 290:1951–1954

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hung H, Halsall CJ, Blanchard P et al (2001) Are PCBs in the Canadian Arctic atmosphere declining? Evidence from 5 years of monitoring. Environ Sci Techonol 35:1303–1311

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hung H, Halsall CJ, Blanchard P et al (2002) Temporal trends of organochlorine pesticides in the Canadian Arctic atmosphere. Environ Sci Technol 36:862–868

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hung H, Kallenborn R, Breivik K et al (2010) Atmospheric monitoring of organic pollutants in the Arctic under the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP): 1993–2006. Sci Total Environ 408:3044–3051

    Google Scholar 

  • Iversen T (1996) Atmospheric transport pathways for the Arctic. In: Wolf EW, Bales RG (eds) Chemical exchange between the atmosphere and polar snow. NATO ASI Series, vol I43. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 71–92

    Google Scholar 

  • Jakobsson E, Asplund L (2000) Polychlorinated naphthalenes. In: Paasivirta J (ed) New types of persistent halogenated compounds. Handbook of environmental chemistry, vol 3K, Springer, Heidelberg, pp 97–126

    Google Scholar 

  • Jansson S, Fick J, Marklund S (2008) Formation and chlorination of polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) in the post-combustion zone during MSW combustion. Chemosphere 72:1138–1144

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang S, Liu X, Chen Q (2011) Distribution of total mercury and methymercury in lake sediments in Arctic Ny-Ålesund. Chemosphere 83:1108–1106

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Joynt IEH, Wolfe AP (2001) Paleoenvironmental inference models from sediment diatom assemblages in Baffin Island lakes (Nunavut, Canada) and reconstruction of summer water temperature. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 58:1222–1243

    Google Scholar 

  • Key D, Howell RD, Criddle CS (1997) Fluorinated organics in the biosphere. Environ Sci Technol 31:2445–2454

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kirk JL, St Louis VL, Sharp MJ (2006) Rapid reduction and re-emission of mercury deposited into snowpacks during atmospheric mercury depletion events at Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. Environ Sci Technol 40:7590–7596

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kirk JL, Muir DCM, Antoniades D et al (2011) Climate change and mercury accumulation in Canadian high and subarctic lakes. Environ Sci Technol 45:3191–3191

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kirk JL, Lehnherr I, Andersson M et al (2012) Mercury in Arctic marine ecosystems: Sources, pathways and exposure. Environ Res 119:64–87

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kokelj SV, Burn CR (2005) Near-surface ground ice in sediments of the Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories, Canada. Permafr Periglac Process 16:291–303

    Google Scholar 

  • Korhola A, Weckstrom J, Nyman M (1999) Predicting the long-term acidification trends in small subarctic lakes using diatoms. J Appl Ecol 36:1021–1034

    Google Scholar 

  • Lafargue E, Espitalité J, Marquis F, Pillot D (1998) Rock-Eval 6 applications in hydrocarbon exploration, production and soil contamination studies. Rev French Petrol Inst 53:421–437

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Laing TE, Smol JP (2000) Factors influencing diatom distribution in circumpolar treeline lakes of Northern Russia. J Phycol 36:1035–1048

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lalonde JD, Poulain AJ, Amyot M (2002) The role of mercury redox reactions in snow on snow-to-air mercury transfer. Environ Sci Technol 36:174–178

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Landers, DH, Gubala, C, Verta, M et al (1998) Using lake sediment mercury flux ratios to evaluate the regional and continental dimensions of mercury deposition in arctic and boreal ecosystems. Atmos Environ 32:919–928

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Landers, DH, Simonich, SL, Jaffe, DA et al (2008) The fate, transport, and ecological impacts of airborne contaminants in western National Parks (USA). U.S. environmental protection agency, office of research and development, NHEERL, Corvallis, Rep EPA/600/R-07/138

    Google Scholar 

  • Lau C, Anitole K, Hodes C (2007) Perfluoroalkyl acids: A review of monitoring and toxicological findings. Toxicol Sci 99:366–394

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee SC, Harner T, Pozo K et al (2007) Polychlorinated naphthalenes in the global atmospheric passive sampling (GAPS) study. Environ Sci Technol 41:2680–2687

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li YF (1999) Global technical hexachlorocyclohexane usage and its contamination consequences in the environment: from 1948 to 1997. Sci Total Environ 232:121–158

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li Y-F, Bidleman T (2003) Usage and emission of organochlorine pesticides. In: Canadian Arctic contaminants assessment report II: Sources, occurrence, trends and pathways in the physical environment, Ottawa, pp 49–70

    Google Scholar 

  • Li Y-F, Kurt-Karakus P (2013) Usage and Emissions of POPs, CUPs and new chemicals (Post-2002 data). In: Canadian Arctic contaminants assessment report III: Persistent organic pollutants in Canada’s north. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, Ottawa, pp 36–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Lim DSS, Douglas MSV, Smol JP (2001) Diatoms and their relationship to environmental variables from lakes and ponds of Bathurst Island, Nunavut, Canadian high Arctic. Hydrobiologia 450:215–230

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindeberg C, Bindler R, Renberg I et al (2006) Natural fluctuations of mercury and lead in Greenland lake sediments. Environ Sci Technol 40:90–95

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lindeberg C, Bindler R, Bigler C et al (2007) Mercury pollution trends in subarctic lakes in the northern Swedish mountains

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lindberg S, Bullock R, Ebinghaus R et al (2007) A synthesis of progress and uncertainties in attributing the sources of mercury in deposition. AMBIO 36:19–33

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lockhart WL (1996) Depositional trends – lake and marine sediments. In: Murray JL, Shearer RG (eds) Synopsis of research conducted under the 1994/95 Northern Contaminants program. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, pp 61–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Lockhart WL, Wilkinson P, Billeck BN et al (1994) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and mercury in sediments from two isolated lakes in Central and Northern Canada. Water Sci Technol 28:43–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Lockhart WL, Wilkinson P, Billeck BN et al (1995) Current and historical inputs of mercury to high-latitude lakes in Canada and to Hudson Bay. Water, Air Soil Pollut 80:603–610

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lockhart WL (1997) Depositional trends – lake and marine sediments. Synopsis of research conducted under the 1995/96 and 1996/97 Northern Contaminants Program. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, pp 71–87

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lockhart WL, Stern G, Muir DCG (1997) Food chain accumulation, biological effects and sediment contamination in Lake Laberge and other Yukon lakes. Synopsis of research conducted under the 1995/1996 and 1996/97 Northern Contaminants Program. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, pp. 191–206

    Google Scholar 

  • Lockhart WL, Wilkinson P, Billeck BN et al (1998) Fluxes of mercury to lake sediments in Central and Northern Canada inferred from dated sediment cores. Biogeochemistry 40:163–173

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lockhart WL, MacDonald RW, Outridge PM et al (2000) Tests of the fidelity of lake sediment core records of mercury deposition to known histories of mercury contamination. Sci Total Environ 260: 171–180

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lohmann R, Breivik K, Dachs J, Muir D (2007) Global fate of POPs: Current and future research directions. Environ Pollut 150:150–165

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ma J, Cao Z (2010) Quantifying the perturbations of persistent organic pollutants induced by climate change. Environ Sci Technol 44:8567–8573

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ma J, Hung H (2013) Atmospheric transport/deposition and climate change. In: Canadian Arctic contaminants assessment report III: Persistent organic pollutants in Canada’s north. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, Ottawa, p. 235–247

    Google Scholar 

  • Ma J, Hung H, Blanchard P (2004) How do climate fluctuations affect persistent organic pollutant distribution in North America? evidence from a decade of air monitoring. Environ Sci Technol 38:2538–2543

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Macdonald RW, Barrie LA, Bidleman TF et al (2000) Contaminants in the Canadian Arctic: 5 years of progress in understanding sources, occurrence and pathways. Sci Total Environ 254:93–234

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald RW, Harner T, Fyfe J (2005) Recent climate change in the Arctic and its impact on contaminant pathways and interpretation of temporal trend data. Sci Total Environ 342:5–86

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Macleod M, Riley WJ, McKone TE (2005) Assessing the influence of climate variability on atmospheric concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls using a global-scale mass balance model (BETR-Global). Environ Sci Technol 39:6749–6756

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Malmquist C, Bindler R, Renberg I (2003) Time trends of selected persistent organic pollutants in lake sediments from Greenland. Environ Sci Technol 37:4319–4324

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mao H, Talbot RW, Sive BC et al (2011) Artic mercury depletion and its quantitative link with halogens. J Atmos Chem 65:145–170

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer T, Wania F. (2007) What environmental fate processes have the strongest influence on a completely persistent organic chemical's accumulation in the Arctic? Atmos Environ 41:2757–2767

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Michelutti N, Wolfe A, Vinebrooke R, Rivard B (2005) Recent primary production increases in arctic lakes. Geophys Res Lett 32:L19715. doi:10.1029/2005GL023693

    Google Scholar 

  • Michelutti N, Wolfe AP, Briner JP, Miller GH (2007) Climatically controlled chemical and biological development in arctic lakes. J Geophys Res:Biogeosci 112(G3):G03002. doi:10.1029/2006JG000396

    Google Scholar 

  • Michelutti N, Blais JM, Cumming BF et al (2010) Do spectrally inferred determinations of chlorophyll a reflect trends in lake trophic status? J Paleolim 43:205–217

    Google Scholar 

  • Moody CA, Field JA (2000) Perfluorinated surfactants and the environmental implications of their use in fire-fighting foams. Environ Sci Technol 34:3864–3870

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Muir D, Lockhart L (1994) Food chain accumulation, biological effects and sediment contamination in Lake Laberge and other Yukon lakes. In: Murray JL, Shearer RG (eds) Synopsis of research conducted under the 1993/1994 Northern Contaminants Program. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa pp 276–287

    Google Scholar 

  • Muir DCG, Rose NL (2004) Lake Sediments as records of arctic and Antarctic pollution. Dev Paleoenviron Res 8:209–239

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Muir DCG, de Wit CA (2010) Trends of legacy and new persistent organic pollutants in the circumpolar arctic: overview, conclusions, and recommendations. Sci Tot Environ 408:3044–3051

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Muir DCG, Grift NP, Lockhart WL et al (1995) Spatial trends in historical profiles of organochlorine pesticides in Arctic lake sediments. Sci Total Environ 160–161:447–457

    Google Scholar 

  • Muir DCG, Omelchenko A, Grift NP et al (1996) Spatial trends and historical deposition of polychlorinated biphenyls in Canadian mid-latitude and arctic lake sediments. Environ Sci Technol 30:3609–3617

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Muir D, Douglas M, Pienitz R, Vincent W, Wania F (2002) Sources, long range transport and impacts of new and old POPs inferred from dated lake sediment cores and lake waters. Health Canada, Ottawa, p 56

    Google Scholar 

  • Muir DCG, Wang X, Yang F et al (2009) Spatial trends and historical deposition of mercury in Eastern and Northern Canada inferred from lake sediment cores. Environ Sci Technol 43:4802–4809

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Muir DCG, Kurt-Karakus P, Stern G, Evan M (2013) Legacy and new POPs in marine and lake sediments. In: Canadian arctic contaminants assessment report III: Persistent organic pollutants in Canada’s North. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, Ottawa, pp 218–226

    Google Scholar 

  • Noma Y, Yamamoto T, Giraud R, Sakai S (2006) Behavior of PCNs, PCDDs, PCDFs, and dioxinlike PCBs in the thermal destruction of wastes containing PCNs. Chemosphere 62:1183–1195

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • O’Driscoll NJ, Siciliano SD, Peak D, Carignan R, Lean DRS (2006) The influence of forestry activity on the structure of dissolved organic matter in lakes: Implications for mercury photoreactions. Sci Tot Environ 366:880–893

    Google Scholar 

  • Oldfield F, Appleby PG (1984) Empirical testing of 210Pb dating models for lake sediments. In: Haworth EY, Lund JWG (eds) Lake sediments and environmental history. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, pp 93–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliver BG, Charlton MN, Duham RW (1989) Distribution, redistribution and geochronology of polychlorinated biphenyl congeners and other chlorinated hydrocarbons in Lake Ontario sediments. Environ Sci Technol 23:200–208

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Omelchenko A, Lockhart WL, Wilkinson P (1995) Study of the depositional characteristics of the lake sediments across Canada with Pb-210 and Cs-137. Freshwater Institute Internal Report, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Winnipeg, p 48

    Google Scholar 

  • Outridge P, Stern G (2009) Influence of climate warming on scavenging of POPs by suspended particulate organic matter in lake waters, as recorded in sediments of Amituk Lake, Cornwallis Island. In: Smith S, Stow J, Edwards J (eds) Synopsis of Research conducted under the 2008–2009 Northern Contaminants Program. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, pp 285–292

    Google Scholar 

  • Outridge PM, Sanei H, Stern GA, Hamilton PB, Goodarzi F (2007) Evidence for control of mercury accumulation in sediments by variations of aquatic primary productivity in Canadian high Arctic lakes. Environ Sci Technol 41:5259–5265

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Perry E, Norton SA, Kamman NC, Lorey PM, Driscoll CT (2005) Deconstruction of historic mercury accumulation in lake sediments, northeastern United States. Ecotoxicology 14:85–99

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pienitz R, Smol JP, Birks HJB (1995) Assessment of freshwater diatoms as quantitative indicators of past climate changes in Yukon and Northwest Territories, Canada. J Paleolim 13:21–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Poulain AJ, Lalonde JD, Amyot JD et al (2004) Redox transformations of mercury in an Arctic snowpack at springtime. Atmos Environ 38:6763–6774

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Poulain AJ, Chadhain SMN, Ariaya P et al (2007) Potential for mercury reduction by microbes in the high Arctic. Appl Environ Microbiol 73:2230–2238

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Preiss N, Meliees M-A, Pourchet M (1996) A compilation of data on lead-210 concentration in surface air and fluxes at the air-surface water and water-sediment interfaces. J Geophys Res 1001:28847–28862

    Google Scholar 

  • Prowse TD, Wrona FJ, Reist JD et al (2006) Climate change effects on hydroecology of arctic freshwater ecosystems. Ambio 35:347–358

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ramdahl T (1983) Retene-a molecular marker of wood combustion in ambient air. Nature 306:580–582

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rawn, DFK, Lockhart, WL, Wilkinson, P et al (2001) Historical contamination of Yukon sediments by PCBs and organochloride pesticides: influence of local sources and watershed characteristics. Sci Total Environ 280:17–37

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rognerud S, Skotvold T, Fjeld E, Norton SA, Hobaek A (1998) Concentrations of trace elements in recent and pre-industrial sediments from Norwegian and Russian Arctic lakes. Can J Fish Aquat Scie 55:1512–1523

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rose NL, Rose CL, Boyle JF, Appleby PG (2004) Lake-sediment evidence for local and remote sources of atmospherically deposited pollutants on Svalbard. J Paleolim 31:499–513

    Google Scholar 

  • Rühland K, Priesnitz A, Smol JP (2003) Paleolimnological evidence from diatoms for recent environmental changes in 50 lakes across Canadian arctic treeline. Arct Antarct Alp Res 35:110–123

    Google Scholar 

  • Rydberg J, Galman V, Renberg I, Bindler R (2008) Assessing the stability of mercury and methylmercury in a varved lake sediment deposit. Environ Sci Technol 42:4391–4396

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ryves DB, McGowan S, Anderson NJ (2002) Development and evaluation of a diatom-conductivity model from lakes in West Greenland. Freshwater Biol 47:995–1014

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanei H, Stasiuk LD, Goodarzi F (2005) Petrological changes occurring in organic matter from recent lacustrine sediments during thermal alteration by Rock-Eval pyrolysis. Org Geochem 36:1190–1203

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sanei H, Outridge P, Goodarzi F et al (2010) Wet deposition mercury fluxes in the Canadian sub-Arctic and southern Alberta, measured using an automated precipitation collector adapted to cold regions. Atmos Environ 44:1672–1681

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Savinov VM, Savinova TN, Carroll J et al (2000) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediments of the White Sea, Russia. Mar Pollut Bull 40:807–818

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Scott BF, Spencer C, Mabury SA, Muir DCG (2006) Poly and perfluorinated carboxylates in North American precipitation. Environ Sci Technol 40:7167–7174

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Si L, Ariya PA (2011) Aqueous photoreduction of oxidized mercury species in presence of selected alkanethiols. Chemosphere 84:1079–1084

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Slemr F, Brunke E-G., Ebinghaus R, Kuss J (2011) Worldwide trend of atmospheric mercury since 1995. Atmos Chem Phys 11:4779–4787

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smol JP (2008) Pollution of Lakes and Rivers: A Paleoenvironmental Perspective, 2nd edn. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, p 383

    Google Scholar 

  • Smol JP, Douglas MSV (2007a) Crossing the final ecological threshold in high Arctic ponds. PNAS 104:2395–12397

    Google Scholar 

  • Smol JP, Douglas MSV (2007b) From controversy to consensus: making the case for recent climatic change in the Arctic using lake sediments. Front Ecol Environ 5:466–474

    Google Scholar 

  • Smol JP, Wolfe AP, Birks HJB et al (2005) Climate-driven regime shifts in the biological communities of Arctic lakes. PNAS 102:4397–4402

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sofowote UM, Hung H, Rastogi A et al (2011) Assessing the long-range transport of PAH to a sub-arctic site using positive matrix factorization and potential source contribution function. Atmos Environ 45:967–976

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Steffen, A, Douglas, T, Amyot, M et al (2008) A synthesis of atmospheric mercury depletion event chemistry in the atmosphere and snow. Atmos Chem Phys 8:1445–1482

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Steffen S, Cole A, Dastoor D et al (2012) Atmospheric mercury. In: Canadian Arctic contaminants assessment report III: Mercury in Canada’s north. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, Ottawa, pp 33–71

    Google Scholar 

  • Stern G, Evans M (2003) Persistent organic pollutants in marine and lake sediments. In: Canadian Arctic contaminants assessment report II: sources, occurrence, trends and pathways in the physical environment. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, pp 100–115

    Google Scholar 

  • Stern GA, Halsall CJ, Barrie LA et al (1997) Polychlorinated biphenyls in Arctic air. 1. Temporal and spatial trends: 1992–1994. Environ Sci Technol 31:3619–3628

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stern GA, Braekevelt E, Helm PA, Bidleman TF et al (2005) Modern and historical fluxes of halogenated organic contaminants to a lake in the Canadian Arctic, as determined from annually laminated sediment cores. Sci Total Environ 342:223–243

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • St. Louis VL, Hintelmann H, Graydon JA et al (2007) Methylated mercury species in Canadian high Arctic marine surface waters and snowpacks. Environ Sci Technol 41:6433–41

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stern, GA, Sanei, H, Roach, P, De La Ronde J, Outridge, PM (2009) Historical interrelated variations of mercury and aquatic organic matter in lake sediment cores from a subarctic lake in Yukon, Canada: Further evidence toward the algal-mercury scavenging hypothesis. Environ Sci Technol 43:7684–7690

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stock NL, Vasile IF, Muir DCG, Mabury SA (2007) Perfluoroalkyl contaminants in the Canadian Arctic: evidence of atmospheric transport and local contamination. Environ Sci Technol 41:3529–3536

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sunderland EM, Krabbenhoft DP, Moreau JW, Strode SA, Landing WM (2009) Mercury sources, distribution and bioavailability in the North Pacific Ocean: insights from data and models. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 23:GB2010. doi:10.1029/2008GB003425

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas E, Briner J (2009) Climate of the past millennium inferred from varved proglacial lake sediments on northeast Baffin Island, Arctic Canada. J Paleolim 41:209–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Usenko S, Landers DH, Appleby PG, Simonich SL (2007) Current and historical deposition of PBDEs, pesticides, PCBs, and PAHs to Rocky Mountain National Park. Environ Sci Technol 41:7235–7241

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Voldner EC, Li YF (1995) Global usage of selected persistent organochlorines. Sci Total Environ 160–161:201–210

    Google Scholar 

  • Voogt PDE, Brinkman UT (1989) Production, properties and usage of polychlorinated biphenyls. Halogenated biphenyls, terphenyls, naphthalenes, dibenzodioxins and related products. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 3–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Vorkamp K, Riget F, Glasius M, Pecseli M, Muir D (2004) Chlorobenzenes, chlorinated pesticides, coplanar chlorobiphenyls and other organochlorine compounds in Grennland biota. Sci Total Environ 331:157–175

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vost EE, Amyot M, O’Driscoll NJ (2012) Photoreactions of mercury in aquatic systems. In: Cai Y, Li G, O’Driscoll N (eds) Advances in environmental chemistry and toxicology of mercury. John Wiley and Sons, p 586

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang J, Zhang J, Watanabe E et al (2009) Is the dipole anomaly a major driver to record lows in Arctic summer sea ice extent? Geophys Res Lett 36, L05706. doi:10.1029/2008GL036706

    Google Scholar 

  • Wania F, MacKay D (1996) Tracking the distribution of persistent organic pollutants. Environ Sci Technol 30:390A–396A

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Weber J, Halsall CJ, Muir D et al (2010) Endosulfan, a global pesticide: A review of its fate in the environment and occurrence in the Arctic. Sci Total Environ 408:2966–2984

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Weckstrom A, Korhola A, Blom T (1997) The relationship between diatoms and water temperature in thirty subarctic Fennoscandian lakes. Arct Alp Res 29:75–92

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization (WHO) (2001) Concise international chemical assessment document 34: Chlorinated naphthalenes, WHO, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Young CJ, Furdui VI, Franklin J et al (2007) Perfluorinated acids in Arctic snow: new evidence for atmospheric formation. Environ Sci Technol 41:3455–3461

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yunker MB, MacDonald RW (1995) Composition and origins of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Mackenzie River and on the Beaufort Sea shelf. Arctic 48:118–129

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aquatic Contaminants Research Division, Environment Canada, 867 Lakeshore Road, L7R 4A6, Burlington, ON, Canada

    Jane Kirk & Amber Gleason

Authors
  1. Jane Kirk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Amber Gleason
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jane Kirk .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Jules M. Blais

  2. US Geological Survey, Carson City, Nevada, USA

    Michael R. Rosen

  3. Paleoecological Environmental Assessment & Research Lab. (PEARL), Queen's University Dept. Biology, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

    John P. Smol

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Kirk, J., Gleason, A. (2015). Tracking Long-range Atmospheric Transport of Contaminants in Arctic Regions Using Lake Sediments. In: Blais, J., Rosen, M., Smol, J. (eds) Environmental Contaminants. Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research, vol 18. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9541-8_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation