Jaspers, Katharina; Fritz, Michael: Mercury concentrations, geochemical parameters, and sedimentological characteristics of terrestrial and marine sediments along the Yukon coast, Canada [dataset bundled publication]. PANGAEA, https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.987814 (dataset in review)
Abstract:
This dataset compiles geochemical parameters from both individual sample measurements collected during the Yukon Coast 2024 expedition (YC24) and from 44 terrain units across the Yukon Coastal Plain (YCP). The main objective was to quantify mercury (Hg) stocks and to estimate Hg release from coastal erosion along the Yukon coast, based on sediment Hg concentrations and coastal erosion rates.
Terrestrial and marine YC24 sediment samples were collected on Herschel Island–Qikiqtaruk and the Yukon mainland coast in July 2024. The focus was on Hg and methylmercury (MeHg) measurements, while dry bulk density (DBD), total organic carbon (TOC), total inorganic carbon (TIC), total nitrogen (TN) and grain size distribution were analyzed as well.
All samples were frozen and stored under dark, air-free conditions until analysis. Whenever possible, samples were taken with a known volume to determine DBD. The sediments were freeze-dried with a temperature of 35 °C at the heating plates and split into three subsamples. One subsample was ground for Hg, TOC, TIC, and TN analyses using a planetary mill. For Hg, a Milestone Direct Mercury Analysis System (DMA-80 evo, MWS-GmbH) was used. TOC and TIC were measured with an ELEMENTAR soli TOC cube, and TN was determined using an ELEMENTAR rapid MAX N exceed. The second subsample was ground with a coffee grinder for MeHg analysis to allow for better temperature control while grinding. MeHg was extracted from the sediment using Dichloromethane (CH2Cl2, DCM) and then purged from DCM with nitrogen gas. The analysis was conducted with a Tekran® Model 2700 Methyl Mercury Analyzer connected to an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer, thermo scientific iCAP TQ (ICP-MS). The results from the ICP-MS were converted into MeHg concentrations via signal deconvolution. The third subsample was left unprocessed for grain size analysis. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was used to remove organic material prior to analysis, which was conducted with a Laser particle counter Mastersizer 3000 (MALVERN).
To assess Hg stocks and fluxes for the entire Yukon coast, the coastal segmentation by Couture et al. (2018) was used. They divided the study area into 44 terrain units, each consisting of several uniform depth layers of varying thickness (508 layers in total). As multiple measurements existed for some of those layers, their dataset comprised 586 entries. This dataset was used as a basis and augmented with our own TOC and Hg measurements. Where TOC measurements were available from our samples, the mean of our values and those from Couture et al. (2018) was used. Hg values originate from own measurements, either on YC24 samples or on samples from the AWI archive, as well as from data provided by Juliane Wolter, and were averaged when multiple measurements were available for the same layer.
Keyword(s):
Related to:
Jaspers, Katharina (2025): Frozen stocks and hidden fluxes: quantifying mercury release from coastal erosion along the Yukon coast, Canada [thesis]. University of Potsdam, Germany
References:
Couture, Nicole; Irrgang, Anna Maria; Pollard, Wayne H; Lantuit, Hugues; Fritz, Michael (2018): Coastal Erosion of Permafrost Soils Along the Yukon Coastal Plain and Fluxes of Organic Carbon to the Canadian Beaufort Sea. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JG004166
Funding:
Coverage:
Median Latitude: 69.454040 * Median Longitude: -139.471335 * South-bound Latitude: 68.935736 * West-bound Longitude: -140.991677 * North-bound Latitude: 69.644824 * East-bound Longitude: -137.256781
Date/Time Start: 2024-07-18T00:00:00 * Date/Time End: 2024-07-22T00:00:00
License:
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0) (License comes into effect after moratorium ends)
Size:
2 datasets
Download Data (login required; moratorium until 2026-09-30)
Datasets listed in this bundled publication
- Jaspers, K; Fritz, M (in review): Mercury concentrations, geochemical parameters, and sedimentological characteristics of terrestrial and marine sediments along the Yukon coast, Canada, during Yukon Coast 2024 expedition. https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.987057
- Jaspers, K; Fritz, M (in review): Terrain units layers along the Yukon coast, Canada. https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.987813