Cycling and Speciation (Variation in Chemical Form) of Mercury in the Food Chain of South Florida

Metadata:

Identification_Information:
Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: N. S. Simon
Originator: Nancy Simon
Publication_Date: unpublished material
Title:
Cycling and Speciation (Variation in Chemical Form) of Mercury in the Food Chain of South Florida
Publication_Information:
Publication_Place:
Publisher:
Description:
Abstract:
Methylmercury, a neurotoxin, is found in the game fish of south Florida. Samples of periphyton, the assemblage of microalgae that live in shallow submerged substrates which is home to, and food for, creatures that are the foundation of the food chain, have concentrations of methylmercury that range from non-detectable to tenths of a part per million on a dry weight basis.
Purpose:
The goal of this project is to answer the question, 'How does mercury produced in the aquatic environment enter the food chain and become part of the body burden of animals such as game fish in south Florida?'
Time_Period_of_Content:
Time_Period_Information:
Range_of_Dates/Times:
Beginning_Date: 1995
Ending_Date: 1997
Currentness_Reference: publication date
Status:
Progress: complete
Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: none planned
Spatial_Domain:
Bounding_Coordinates:
West_Bounding_Coordinate: -81.5
East_Bounding_Coordinate: -80.15
North_Bounding_Coordinate: 26.75
South_Bounding_Coordinate: 25.75
Keywords:
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: none
Theme_Keyword: methylmercury
Theme_Keyword: MeHg
Theme_Keyword: periphyton
Place:
Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: none
Place_Keyword: Big Cypress
Place_Keyword: WCA2A
Place_Keyword: WCA2B
Place_Keyword: WCA3A
Place_Keyword: ENR
Place_Keyword: Experimental Nutrient Removal area
Place_Keyword: Central Everglades
Place_Keyword: SE Big Cypress
Access_Constraints: none
Use_Constraints:
Data on samples currently being analyzed will be made available for individual use but can not be used in publication without permission of the project personnel. Data will be available in open file reports within a year of collection. Data are also placed in Division databases or databases associated with the Ecosystem Program when the databases are available.
Point_of_Comments and suggestions? Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: N. S. Simon
Contact_Organization: U.S. Geological Survey
Contact_Position: Project Chief
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing address
Address: 432 National Center
City: Reston
State_or_Province: VA
Postal_Code: 20192
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 703 648 5863
Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 703 648 5832
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: nssimon@usgs.gov
Hours_of_Service: 8:00-4:30 M-F
Data_Set_Credit:
South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) provided transportation to the collection sites.
Native_Data_Set_Environment:
Data_Quality_Information:
Logical_Consistency_Report: not applicable
Completeness_Report: not applicable
Lineage:
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
When possible, periphyton is collected by manually lifting floating periphyton mats from the water and transferring them to plastic bags. If the periphytic algae is attached to submerged aquatic plants, the plant stems are cut and the whole unit of plant and periphytic algae is collected.

Periphyton samples are air-dried in the laboratory in a laminar flow hood to maintain a stream of filtered air across them. Whole samples from each site are ground and aliquants are removed for analysis. Total mercury is determined by cold vapor absorption spectroscopy. Methylmercury and other organomercury compounds are extracted using supercritical fluid carbon dioxide and quantitated using liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection.

Process_Date: 1998
Process_Comments and suggestions? Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: N. S. Simon
Contact_Organization: U.S. Geological Survey
Contact_Position: Project Chief
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing address
Address: 432 National Center
City: Reston
State_or_Province: VA
Postal_Code: 20192
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 703 648 5863
Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 703 648 5832
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: nssimon@usgs.gov
Hours_of_Service: 8:00-4:30 M-F
Distribution_Information:
Distributor:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: N. S. Simon
Contact_Organization: U.S. Geological Survey
Contact_Position: Project Chief
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing address
Address: 432 National Center
City: Reston
State_or_Province: VA
Postal_Code: 20192
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 703 648 5863
Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 703 648 5832
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: nssimon@usgs.gov
Hours_of_Service: 8:00-4:30 M-F
Resource_Description:
Distribution_Liability: No warrantees are implied or explicit for the data.
Standard_Order_Process:
Digital_Form:
Digital_Transfer_Information:
Format_Name:
Digital_Transfer_Option:
Online_Option:
Computer_Contact_Information:
Network_Address:
Network_Resource_Name:
Fees:
Metadata_Reference_Information:
Metadata_Date: 19980814
Metadata_Comments and suggestions? Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: Jo Anne Stapleton
Contact_Organization: U.S. Geological Survey
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing address
Address: 521 National Center
City: Reston
State_or_Province: VA
Postal_Code: 20192
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 703 648 4592
Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 703 648 4614
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: jastapleton@usgs.gov
Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata
Metadata_Standard_Version: 19940608
Generated by mp on Tue Sep 01 13:33:49 1998