HYDROLOGIC CONTROLS ON METHYLMERCURY TRANSPORT FROM WETLANDS TO STREAM IN COASTAL PLAIN BASINS

Methylmercury (MeHg) in streams is often attributed to methylation in up-gradient wetland areas, with episodic flood events maximizing wetland-stream hydrologic connectivity and dominating MeHg supply to the stream habitat. A number of studies have demonstrated that Coastal Plain streams in the southeastern United States are particularly vulnerable to high MeHg bioaccumulation and have attributed this vulnerability to wetland abundance and strong hydrologic connectivity between wetland areas and adjacent stream aquatic habitat. Because characteristically coarse-grained Coastal Plain sediments favor vertical infiltration with little surface runoff, flood events attributable to Coastal Plain precipitation are driven by rising groundwater, promoting efficient transport of MeHg from wetland/floodplain source areas to the stream habitat and increasing in-stream availability.

Several observations at McTier Creek, South Carolina, however, suggest that good hydrologic connectivity and efficient MeHg transport in Coastal Plain systems are not limited to flood conditions. Close correspondence between stream water levels and shallow-groundwater levels at McTier Creek indicate good hydrologic connectivity exists prior to flood conditions. Dissolved MeHg concentrations do not increase under flood conditions. Thus, we assessed the flux of water and dissolved mercury (Hg) species (FMeHg and total Hg (FTHg)) from surface water and groundwater sources in a short reach at McTier Creek during separate events in April and July 2009, to determine the importance of shallow groundwater Hg transport from floodplain areas to the stream under non-flood conditions. Mass balance assessments indicated that, under non-flood conditions, the primary supply of water, FMeHg, and FTHg within the reach (excluding upstream surface-water influx) was groundwater discharge, rather than tributary transport from wetlands, in-stream MeHg production, or atmospheric deposition. The results indicate efficient transport of MeHg from out-of-channel (wetland and riparian floodplain) areas to the stream aquatic habitat in Coastal Plain streams of the southeastern United States, even under non-flood conditions.