MERCURY (HG2+) BIOACCUMULATION IN PICO-, NANO-, AND MICROPLANKTONIC SPECIES OF THE MICROBIAL FOOD WEB OF ULTRAOLIGOTROPHIC ANDEAN PATAGONIAN LAKES

SOTO CÁRDENAS, C.; GEREA, M.; RIBEIRO GUEVARA, S.; QUEIMALIÑOS, C.P.; DIÉGUEZ MC

Cracovia

Congreso; International Congress of Mercury as a Global Pollutant; 2019

ICMGP

Nahuel Huapi National Park (NHNP) includes many freshwater oligotrophicecosystems born in the Andes that are the main water source for the vast arid stretch of Northeastern Patagonia which holds most human settlements and activities of the region. In headwater catchments several investigations have reported moderate to high Hg levels in lake sediments, aquatic biota and terrestrial bioindicators, attributing them to long and short range atmospheric transport, volcanic activity in the Andes and biomass burning. The sharp W-E orographic precipitation gradient (3500 and 1200 mmy-1) and the contrasting atmospheric mercury fluxes recorded at the W (∼7 ngm-3) and E (