Nancy S. Simon 1998 http://sofia.usgs.gov/projects/merc_speciation/ Methylmercury, a neurotoxin, is found in the game fish of south Florida. Samples of periphyton, the assemblage of microalgae that live in shallow submerged substrates which is home to, and food for, creatures that are the foundation of the food chain, have concentrations of methylmercury that range from non-detectable to tenths of a part per million on a dry weight basis. The report produced from this project presents data for samples of periphyton and water collected in 1995 and 1996 from Water Conservation Areas, the Big Cypress National Preserve, and the Everglades National Park in south Florida. Periphyton samples were analyzed for concentrations of total mercury, methylmercury, nitrogen, phosphorus, organic carbon, and inorganic carbon. Water-column samples collected on the same dates as the periphyton samples were analyzed for concentrations of major ions. The goal of this project is to answer the question - How does mercury produced in the aquatic environment enter the food chain and become part of the body burden of animals such as game fish in south Florida? This project is now part of the Aquatic Cycling of Mercury in the Everglades (ACME) project 1995 1997 ground condition Complete None planned -81.5 -80.5 26.75 25.75 none methylmercury mercury periphyton biology hydrology ISO 19115 Topic Category biota environment inlandWaters 002 007 012 Department of Commerce, 1995, Countries, Dependencies, Areas of Special Sovereignty, and Their Principal Administrative Divisions, Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 10-4, Washington, D.C., National Institute of Standards and Technology United States US U.S. Department of Commerce, 1987, Codes for the identification of the States, the District of Columbia and the outlying areas of the United States, and associated areas (Federal Information Processing Standard 5-2): Washington, D. C., NIST Florida FL Department of Commerce, 1990, Counties and Equivalent Entities of the United States, Its Possessions, and Associated Areas, FIPS 6-3, Washington, DC, National Institute of Standards and Technology Broward County Collier County Miami-Dade County Palm Beach County USGS Geographic Names Information System Everglades National Park Big Cypress National Preserve Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge none Central Everglades SW Big Cypress Water Conservation Area 2A Water Conservation Area 2B Water Conservation Area 3A WCA2A WCA3A Everglades Nutrient Removal area ENR WCA2B Water Conservation Area 3B WCA3B none none Nancy S. Simon U.S. Geological Survey Project Chief mailing address

432 National Center

Reston VA 20192 USA 703 648-5863 703 648-5832 nssimon@usgs.gov http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/ofr/98-76/locmapnlx.gif location of study area and sampling sites for periphyton in South Florida GIF South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) provided transportation to the collection sites. Simon, N. S. Cox, T.; Spencer, R. 1998 report USGS Open-File Report 98-76 Reston VA U.S. Geological Survey http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/ofr/98-76 Cox, T. Simon, N. S.; Newland, L 1999 Toxicological and Environmental Chemistry V. 70, pp. 259-274 Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom Taylor & Francis Group Journal membership is required for access to the full article. http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/papers/metalsinperi/ Simon, N.. S. Spenser, R. J.; Cox, T. 1999 report Toxocological and Environmental Chemistry v. 69, p. 417-433 Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom Taylor & Francis Group Journal membership is required for access to the full article. http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/papers/disnrln_peri/ not applicable not available When possible, periphyton was collected by manually lifting floating periphyton mats from the water and transferring them to plastic bags. If the periphytic algae was attached to submerged aquatic plants, the plant stems were cut and the whole unit of plant and periphytic algae was collected. Periphyton samples were air-dried in the laboratory in a laminar flow hood to maintain a stream of filtered air across them. Whole samples from each site were ground and aliquants were removed for analysis. Total mercury was determined by cold vapor absorption spectroscopy. Methylmercury and other organomercury compounds were extracted using supercritical fluid carbon dioxide and quantitated using liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. 1998 Nancy S. Simon U.S. Geological Survey Project Chief mailing address

432 National Center

Reston VA 20192 USA 703 648-5863 703 648-5832 nssimon@usgs.gov Heather Henkel U.S. Geological Survey mailing and physical address

600 Fourth Street South

St. Petersburg FL 33701 USA 727 803-8747 ext 3028 727 803-2030 sofia-metadata@usgs.gov data for periphyton and water samples 1995 and 1996 The data have no implied or explicit guarantees open file report http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/ofr/98-76/ The report may be downloaded from the SOFIA website. none 20070220 Heather Henkel U.S. Geological Survey mailing and physical address

600 Fourth Street South

St. Petersburg FL 33701 USA 727 803-8747 ext 3028 727 803-2030 sofia-metadata@usgs.gov Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata FGDC-STD-001-1998