Simulating the Effect of Sulfate Addition on Methylmercury Output from a Wetland
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 136, Issue 4
Abstract
The watershed analysis risk management framework (WARMF) model was applied to Wetland S6 of the Marcell Experimental Forest, using the data from a field experiment, conducted to investigate the effect of sulfate additions on mercury methylation in the wetland. The wetland was modeled as interconnected land catchments. Actual meteorology data and mercury and sulfate concentrations of precipitation were input to the model. To simulate the sulfate sprinkling, the experimental section of the bog was irrigated with sulfate water on the actual dates of sulfate additions. The model simulated wetland outflows that matched the measured outflows with an -square of 0.856. WARMF also simulated other phenomena observed in the experiment: higher sulfate and MeHg levels at the wetland outlet after every sulfate addition, and higher sulfate and MeHg levels in the pore water of the bog after only the May addition, not the July and September additions. According to WARMF, the low groundwater table in May allowed the sprinkled sulfate to percolate to the soil stratum 10–30 cm below the ground level of the bog, where the pore water was sampled. In July and September, the sulfate could not reach that zone because the percolation was blocked by high groundwater tables. The sampled soil stratum was not the site of methylation that contributed MeHg to the wetland outlet. The saturated zone of the top 10 cm of bog was the site that produced MeHg, which was flushed to the outlet after all sulfate additions. WARMF predicted that quadrupling the sulfate deposition would increase the MeHg output by 216%, which might become lower with more data and better model calibration.
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Acknowledgments
The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) provided partial funding for this model application. Dr. Robert A. Goldstein of EPRI provided guidance to the study and the preparation of the paper.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 136 • Issue 4 • April 2010
Pages: 354 - 362
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: May 28, 2009
Accepted: Oct 7, 2009
Published online: Mar 15, 2010
Published in print: Apr 2010
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