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Lake acidity and mercury content of fish in Darwin National Reserve, Russia

January 1, 1992

Darwin National Reserve is a protected natural area on the north-west shore of the Rybinsk Reservoir, 350 km north of Moscow. In June 1989, six lakes in the Reserve and the reservoir were surveyed to assess lake acidity and the mercury content of perch, Perca fluviatilis. Five were seepage lakes with no permanent inlets or outlets and one was a drainage lake with both an inlet and an outlet. The seepage lakes were acidic (mean pH 4·6–4·8) and varied in colour from 20 to 200 Hazen units. The drainage lake and reservoir were alkaline (mean pH 8·0–8·1) and colour spanned a similar range. The mean mercury content of perch dorsal epaxial muscle ranged from 0·5 to 1·1 μg g−1 wet weight in the five acidic lakes and from 0·1 to 0·2 μg g−1 in the alkaline lakes. Fish mercury contentwas negatively correlated with lake pH (r = −0·93, P = 0·002)if all waters were considered together, and positively correlated with apparent colour (r = 0·91, P = 0·03) in the seepage lakes.

Publication Year 1992
Title Lake acidity and mercury content of fish in Darwin National Reserve, Russia
DOI 10.1016/0269-7491(92)90017-5
Authors Terry A. Haines, V. Komov, C.H. Jagoe
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Environmental Pollution
Index ID 70187915
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Columbia Environmental Research Center