Total Mercury and Methylmercury Response in Water, Sediment, and Biota to Destratification of the Great Salt Lake, Utah, United States.

Measurements of chemical and physical parameters made before and after sealing of culverts in the railroad causeway spanning the Great Salt Lake in late 2013 documented dramatic alterations in the system in response to the elimination of flow between the Great Salt Lake's north and south arms. The flow of denser, more-saline water through the culverts from the north arm (Gunnison Bay) to the south arm (Gilbert Bay) previously drove the perennial stratification of the south arm and the existence of oxic shallow brine and anoxic deep brine layers. Closure of the causeway culverts occurred concurrently with a multiyear drought that resulted in a decrease in the lake elevation and a concomitant increase in top-down erosion of the upper surface of the deep brine layer by wind-forced mixing.

Maternal transfer of inorganic mercury and methylmercury in aquatic and terrestrial arthropods.

The transfer of mercury from females to their offspring plays an important role in mercury accumulation and toxicity during early development. To quantify the transfer of inorganic mercury and methylmercury from female arthropods to their eggs, the authors collected and analyzed brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana), wolf spiders (Alopecosa spp.), and their attached eggs from aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems at the Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA.