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Distribution and enrichment of mercury in Tibetan lake waters and their relations with the natural environment

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Abstract

Mercury (Hg) in aquatic ecosystems is of great concern due to its toxicity, bioaccumulation, and magnification in the food web. The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is endowed with the highest and largest lakes on earth, whereas Hg distribution and behavior in lake waters are least known. In this study, surface water samples from 38 lakes over the TP were collected and determined for the total Hg (THg) concentrations. Results revealed a wide range of THg concentrations from <1 ng to 40.3 ng L−1. THg in lake waters exhibited an increasing trend along the southeast to northwest transect over the TP. Strong positive correlations were observed between THg concentrations and salinity and salinity-related environmental variables, especially for total dissolved solids (TDS) and some of the major ions such as Na+, K+, and Cl−, suggesting the enrichment of Hg in saline lakes. The large-scale geographical pattern of climatic and environmental factors shows a decreasing precipitation and an increasing evaporation northwards and westwards and thereby induces gradient-enhanced enrichment of soluble substances in lake waters, which are likely to complex more Hg in northwestern TP. Our study provides the first comprehensive baseline data set of Hg in Tibetan lake waters and highlights the concurrent high Hg and salinity, representing valuable references and fundamental rules in further understanding the behavior and fate of Hg in lakes over the TP and perhaps high-altitude regions beyond.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41101064, 41371088, and 41225002) and the “Strategic Priority Research Program (B)” of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB03030504). The authors thank the 2010 and 2011 Expedition Team to Tibetan lakes.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

The authors declare no competing financial interest. This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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  1. Qianggong Zhang

    Present address: Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, CH-5232, Switzerland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Chengding Li, Qianggong Zhang, Shichang Kang, Yongqin Liu, Jie Huang, Xiaobo Liu, Junming Guo, Kang Wang & Zhiyuan Cong

  2. CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Qianggong Zhang, Shichang Kang, Yongqin Liu & Zhiyuan Cong

  3. State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Qianggong Zhang & Shichang Kang

  4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Chengding Li & Junming Guo

  5. Center for Earth Observation Science, Department of Environment and Geography, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, R3T 2N2, Canada

    Kang Wang

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  1. Chengding Li
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Li, C., Zhang, Q., Kang, S. et al. Distribution and enrichment of mercury in Tibetan lake waters and their relations with the natural environment. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 12490–12500 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4498-3

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