Sediment-adsorbed total mercury flux through Yolo Bypass, the primary floodway and wetland in the Sacramento Valley, California

Springborn, Michael; Singer, Michael Bliss; Dunne, Thomas

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.10.004

Cited by 24 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Documented concentrations of total Hg in legacy terraces along the Yuba River vary over two orders of magnitude above background values . Exceedingly high Hg concentrations have also been documented within lowland Sacramento Valley sediments (Hornberger et al, 1999;Springborn et al, 2011) and even in lowland biota and food chains (Greenfield et al, 2005;Eagles-Smith et al, 2009;Greenfield and Jahn, 2010). Much of this Hg appears to emerge from legacy hydraulic mining sediment along the Yuba and other Sierran streams (Bouse et al, 2010;Gehrke et al, 2011;Donovan et al, 2013).…”

Section: Field Setting and Field Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The impact of the streamflow hydrograph on sediment supply from terrace erosion

Higson

Singer

2015

Geomorphology

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Sediment supply from banks and terraces has important implications for grain-size distributions in alluvial rivers (and by extension for aquatic habitat), as well as for the delivery of floodplain-stored nutrients and contaminants to the aquatic environment. The interactions between streamflow hydrographs and lateral channel boundary failure control the sediment supply from banks and terraces. However, the relationships between variable flow and discrete sediment supply from catastrophic erosion of lateral boundaries and subsequent mass sediment flux in rivers are not well characterised by existing methods and models that focus only on one of several relevant interrelated processes. In order to improve predictive capability of catastrophic sediment supply from lateral boundaries, we adopt a new approach to modelling the process interactions between stream hydrology, erosion of banks/terraces, and the corresponding discrete supply of sediment to channels. We develop a modelling framework for terrace --channel coupling that combines existing theories of flow through porous media, bank stability, and fractional sediment flux. We demonstrate the utility of this modelling approach by assessing hydrologically driven erosion, evolution of grain size in the channel, and fine sediment flux from a study site along the Yuba River in California over individual flood hydrographs and over decadal historical flow series. We quantify the supply of sediment eroded from a contaminated nineteenth century fan terrace of hydraulic A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPTgold mining tailingsintersecting the Yuba and find that a threshold for erosion exists at a stage in the channel in excess of 8 m and that threshold can produce episodic sediment concentrations in excess of ~300 mg L -1 . The modelling produced erosion and fine sediment pulses from each of three major floods in the past several decades until the flow velocity drops below 500 m s -1 when a bed armor layer forms, while no sediment was generated from the terrace during smaller floods. We further assess the impact on terrace erosion of various river management scenarios with distinct hydrograph shapes and find increased erosion potential when the terrace contains antecedent moisture or the flood time series is run over an extended duration.Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that elevated antecedent moisture within the lateral boundary and increased hydrograph rising time each reduce bank stability and thus increase volumes of failed material. We also find that fluctuations in the hydrograph typically associated with hydroelectricity generation result in a more stable terrace than those of a longer duration because there is less time for hyporheic stream water to infiltrate the lateral boundary. This study demonstrates that changes in hydrograph shape as a consequence of climatic forcing or anthropogenic dam releases may have considerable impacts upon sediment delivery and associated contaminants from banks and terraces to the downstream environment.

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Section: Field Setting and Field Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such episodic flooding of the Yuba River has been shown to force erosion of lateral boundaries and, consequently, valleywide reworking and redistribution of unvegetated legacy sediments into lowland environments (Singer et al, 2008Singer and Aalto, 2009;Kilham et al, 2012;Springborn et al, 2011) (Fig. 2).…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of the streamflow hydrograph on sediment supply from terrace erosion

Higson

Singer

2015

Geomorphology

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“…MMHg is thought to be produced in situ in Yolo Bypass wetlands, 14 and MMHg bioaccumulation has been documented throughout Yolo Bypass in invertebrates, forage fish and salmonids. [15][16][17] During floods Yolo Bypass receives water and suspended sediment from Cache Creek and overflow from the Sacramento River (via the Fremont weir) and the Feather River (via Sutter Bypass), 18,19 the latter of which drains multiple Au mining districts in the Sierra Nevada (e.g., Yuba and Bear Rivers; SI Figures 1, 3). 20,21 Consequently, there are multiple potential upstream Hg sources (Coast Range Hg mining and Sierra Nevada Au mining) that might provide a labile source of IHg to Yolo Bypass.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…20,21 Consequently, there are multiple potential upstream Hg sources (Coast Range Hg mining and Sierra Nevada Au mining) that might provide a labile source of IHg to Yolo Bypass. 19,22 However, it is difficult to identify the relative contribution of these sources and their potential transformation to MMHg. 15,19 In this study we measured natural variations in Hg stable isotope ratios in sediment and biota from Cache…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methylmercury degradation and exposure pathways in streams and wetlands impacted by historical mining

Donovan

Singer

Marvin-DiPasquale

et al. 2016

Science of The Total Environment

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“…Such events, coupled with the severe denudation processes that characterize this area (Mio-Pliocene deposits, which extensively crop out along the Paglia River, represent erodible lithologies [43]), will lead to the remobilization of river bank sediment. The importance of the episodic transport of Hg following storm events is stressed in various mining districts [44,45]. Under water floods, enormous quantities of Hg-contaminated suspended particulate matter are mobilized as a result of higher runoff, the increased capacity for the stream to erode contaminated soils and transport sediment [46], resulting in up to an 80-fold increase of Hg transport [46].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of the November 2012 Flood Event on the Mobilization of Hg from the Mount Amiata Mining District to the Sediments of the Paglia River Basin

et al. 2014

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The Mount Amiata mining district (southern Tuscany, Italy) was, for decades, one of the world's largest mercury (Hg) producing regions, where mining activity lasted until the 1980s. The Paglia River drains the eastern part of the district and is also the main western tributary of the Tiber River. Recent studies show that, still today, high total Hg contents severely affect the downstream ecosystems of these rivers. In November 2012, a major flood event occurred in the Paglia River basin, which drastically changed the river morphology and, possibly, the Hg concentrations. In the present work, stream sediment was sampled before and after the flood to evaluate possible changes in sediment total Hg concentrations as a consequence of this event. The comparison between pre-and post-flood Hg concentrations shows that Hg content increased up to an order of magnitude after the flood, suggesting that this event triggered Hg mobilization in the basin rather than its dilution.

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Sediment-adsorbed total mercury flux through Yolo Bypass, the primary floodway and wetland in the Sacramento Valley, California

Cited by 24 publications

References 40 publications

The impact of the streamflow hydrograph on sediment supply from terrace erosion

The impact of the streamflow hydrograph on sediment supply from terrace erosion

Methylmercury degradation and exposure pathways in streams and wetlands impacted by historical mining

Effects of the November 2012 Flood Event on the Mobilization of Hg from the Mount Amiata Mining District to the Sediments of the Paglia River Basin

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