18.11.2012 Views

FATE OF MERCURY IN THE ARCTIC Michael Evan ... - COGCI

FATE OF MERCURY IN THE ARCTIC Michael Evan ... - COGCI

FATE OF MERCURY IN THE ARCTIC Michael Evan ... - COGCI

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Description of the peat deposits<br />

The two peatlands studied are distinctly different with respect to hydrology,<br />

geochemistry and trophic status: an acidic (pH 4) ombrotrophic bog in Denmark contrasts<br />

strongly with a circumneutral (pH 7) minerotrophic fen in Greenland.<br />

The peatland near the village of Tasiusaq in southern Greenland (GL) is a small,<br />

confined subarctic fen on the Narsaq peninusla (61 o 08.314` N, 45 o 33.703` W) of southern<br />

Greenland (Fig. 1). The average annual temperature and rainfall at Narsarsuaq airport (opposite<br />

the fjord) were 0.9 o C and 615 mm, respectively, from 1961 to 1990 (Danish Meteorological<br />

Institute, Technical Report 00-18). The site was cored in September 1999, towards the end of the<br />

growing season. Representative plant species and photos of the fen as well as the general area<br />

are given elsewhere (Goodsite, 2000). The maximum thickness of peat accumulation is ca. 1 m.<br />

The basal material is predominately clay, with aquatic plant species dominating the deepest 10<br />

cm of peat accumulation (W.O. van der Knaap, University of Berne, personal communication);<br />

ascending from this zone, the peat consists predominately of mosses. The fen developed between<br />

two small lakes, and may have formed through the terrestrialization of a shallow lake basin. A<br />

small brook, ca. 1m wide and 1 m deep, runs through the fen, connecting the lakes.<br />

Topographically the mire is in a valley between steep mountains - but there was no visual<br />

indication that the peat deposit may have formed from a landslide. The fen surface today is<br />

characterized by small hummocks (20 to 40 cm high), and the ground is very spongy.<br />

The bedrock geology of this part of S. Greenland belongs to the Qassiarsuk complex<br />

which consists of a sequence of alkaline silicate tuffs and extrusive carbonatites interlayered with<br />

sandstones and their subvolcanic equivalents (Andersen, 1997). This complex is located in a<br />

roughly E-W trending graben structure between the village of Qassiarsuk and the settlement of<br />

Tasiusaq in the northern part of the Precambrian Gardar rift. Uranium mineralisations<br />

7

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!