naa a22 4500 510751482 CHVBK 20180411083106.0 cr unu---uuuuu 180411e20130401xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s11270-013-1475-7 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s11270-013-1475-7 Variable Contributions of Mercury from Groundwater to a First-Order Urban Coastal Plain Stream in New Jersey, USA [Elektronische Daten] [Julia Barringer, Zoltan Szabo, Pamela Reilly, Melissa Riskin] Filtered total mercury (FTHg) concentrations in a rapidly urbanizing area ranged from 50 to 250ng/L in surface waters of the Squankum Branch, a tributary to a major river (Great Egg Harbor River (GEHR)) traversing both urban and forested/wetland areas in the Coastal Plain of New Jersey. An unsewered residential area with Hg-contaminated well water (one of many in the region) is adjacent to the stream's left bank. Although the region's groundwater contains total Hg (THg) at background levels of <10ng/L, water from about 700 domestic wells in urbanized areas completed in the acidic, quartzose unconfined aquifer typically at depths 20 to 30m below land surface has been found to exceed 2,000ng/L (the USEPA maximum contaminant level). Within urbanized areas, THg concentrations in shallow groundwater (<20m below land surface at or near the water table) and the potential for Hg transport were not well known, representing a considerable knowledge gap. Sampling of streamwater in, and groundwater discharge to, the Squankum Branch watershed revealed that concentrations of THg generally were in the range of 1 to 10ng/L, but narrow plumes ("plumelets”) of shallow groundwater discharging to the stream from the opposing banks contained FTHg at a concentration > 5,000ng/L (left bank) and nearly 2,000ng/L (right bank). The Hg content of bankside soils and sediments was high (up to 12mg/kg) and mostly acid leachable where groundwater with high Hg concentrations discharged, indicating contributions of Hg by both runoff and shallow groundwater. Elevated concentrations of nutrients and chloride in some groundwater plumelets likely indicated inputs from septic-system effluent and (or) fertilizer applications. The Hg probably derives mainly from mercurial pesticide applications to the former agricultural land being urbanized. The study results show that soil disturbance and introduction of anthropogenic substances can mobilize Hg from soils to shallow groundwater and the Hg contamination travels in narrow plumelets to discharge points such as stream tributaries. In the entire GEHR watershed, THg concentrations in groundwater discharging to streams in urban areas tended to be higher than concentrations in water discharging to streams of forested areas, consistent with the results from this small watershed. Other areas with similar quartzose coastal aquifers, land-use history, and hydrogeology may be similarly vulnerable to Hg contamination of shallow groundwater and associated surface water. Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht (outside the USA), 2013 Mercury nationallicence Streamwater nationallicence Groundwater nationallicence Sediments nationallicence Soils nationallicence Coastal Plain nationallicence Barringer Julia U.S. Geological Survey, New Jersey Water Science Center, 810 Bear Tavern Road, 08628, West Trenton, NJ, USA aut Szabo Zoltan U.S. Geological Survey, New Jersey Water Science Center, 810 Bear Tavern Road, 08628, West Trenton, NJ, USA aut Reilly Pamela U.S. Geological Survey, New Jersey Water Science Center, 810 Bear Tavern Road, 08628, West Trenton, NJ, USA aut Riskin Melissa U.S. Geological Survey, New Jersey Water Science Center, 810 Bear Tavern Road, 08628, West Trenton, NJ, USA aut Water, Air, & Soil Pollution Springer Netherlands 224/4(2013-04-01), 1-25 0049-6979 224:4<1 2013 224 11270 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-013-1475-7 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-013-1475-7 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Barringer Julia U.S. Geological Survey, New Jersey Water Science Center, 810 Bear Tavern Road, 08628, West Trenton, NJ, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Szabo Zoltan U.S. Geological Survey, New Jersey Water Science Center, 810 Bear Tavern Road, 08628, West Trenton, NJ, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Reilly Pamela U.S. Geological Survey, New Jersey Water Science Center, 810 Bear Tavern Road, 08628, West Trenton, NJ, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Riskin Melissa U.S. Geological Survey, New Jersey Water Science Center, 810 Bear Tavern Road, 08628, West Trenton, NJ, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Water, Air, & Soil Pollution Springer Netherlands 224/4(2013-04-01), 1-25 0049-6979 224:4<1 2013 224 11270 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer