Subsurface sources of methyl mercury to Lake Superior from a wetland–forested watershed

Identification of sites of methyl mercury (MeHg) production is critical to predicting long-term fate of bioaccumulative Hg in the aquatic environment. During baseflow, when groundwater sources dominate, we observed consistently elevated levels of MeHg (0.1–0.4 ng L−1) at the mouth and in several tributaries to the Tahquamenon River in the Lake Superior watershed. MeHg concentrations in groundwater observation wells exceeded 0.6 ng L−1 in a coniferous catchment with highly conductive sandy surficial deposits. Furthermore, we identified MeHg concentrations as high as 12 ng L−1 in the hyporheic zone of East Creek, a tributary to the Tahquamenon. This study confirms the importance of groundwater as a source of MeHg in watersheds of the Great Lakes. Indirect groundwater discharge represents a major component of flow in rivers of the basin, further emphasizing the need to better understand subsurface MeHg production and transport processes when modeling watershed responses and biogeochemical fate of Hg in the Great Lakes.