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Staniszewska KJ, Reyes AV, Cooke CA. Glacial Erosion Drives High Summer Mercury Exports from the Yukon River, Canada. Environ Sci Technol Lett 2023; 10:1117-1124. [PMID: 38025955 PMCID: PMC10653217 DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.3c00427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Revised: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
Mercury concentrations and yields in the Yukon River are the highest of the world's six largest panarctic drainages. Permafrost thaw has been implicated as the main driver of these high values. Alternative sources include mercury released from glacial melt and erosion, atmospheric mercury pollution, or surface mining. To determine the summer source and speciation of mercury across the Yukon River basin within Canada, we sampled water from 12 tributaries and the mainstem during July 2021. The total (unfiltered) mercury concentration in the glacier-fed White River was 57 ng/L, >10 times higher than all other sampled tributaries. The White River's high total mercury concentrations were driven by suspended sediment and persisted ∼300 km downstream of glacierized headwaters. Total mercury concentrations were lowest (typically <2 ng/L) in tributaries downstream of still-water landscape features (e.g., lakes and settling ponds), suggesting these features are effective sinks for sediment-bound mercury. Low total mercury concentrations (∼2 ng/L) were also observed in five tributaries across diverse thawing permafrost landscapes. These results suggest that glacial erosion and meltwater transport, not permafrost, drive enhanced exports of mercury with suspended sediment. Mercury exports may decline as glacial watersheds pass peak water. Other factors, including mercury released from permafrost thaw, are minor components at present.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kasia J. Staniszewska
- Department
of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University
of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada
| | - Alberto V. Reyes
- Department
of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University
of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada
| | - Colin A. Cooke
- Department
of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University
of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada
- Environment
and Protected Areas, Government of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T5K 2G6, Canada
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Biller-Celander N, Shakun JD, McGee D, Wong CI, Reyes AV, Hardt B, Tal I, Ford DC, Lauriol B. Increasing Pleistocene permafrost persistence and carbon cycle conundrums inferred from Canadian speleothems. Sci Adv 2021; 7:7/18/eabe5799. [PMID: 33910910 PMCID: PMC8081356 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abe5799] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2020] [Accepted: 03/10/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Permafrost carbon represents a potentially powerful amplifier of climate change, but little is known about permafrost sensitivity and associated carbon cycling during past warm intervals. We reconstruct permafrost history in western Canada during Pleistocene interglacials from 130 uranium-thorium ages on 72 speleothems, cave deposits that only accumulate with deep ground thaw. We infer that permafrost thaw extended to the high Arctic during one or more periods between ~1.5 million and 0.5 million years ago but has been limited to the sub-Arctic since 400,000 years ago. Our Canadian speleothem growth history closely parallels an analogous reconstruction from Siberia, suggesting that this shift toward more stable permafrost across the Pleistocene may have been Arctic-wide. In contrast, interglacial greenhouse gas concentrations were relatively stable throughout the Pleistocene, suggesting that either permafrost thaw did not trigger substantial carbon release to the atmosphere or it was offset by carbon uptake elsewhere on glacial-interglacial time scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole Biller-Celander
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
| | - Jeremy D Shakun
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA.
| | - David McGee
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Corinne I Wong
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
| | - Alberto V Reyes
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada
| | - Ben Hardt
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Irit Tal
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Derek C Ford
- Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Bernard Lauriol
- Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada
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Heintzman PD, Zazula GD, Cahill JA, Reyes AV, MacPhee RDE, Shapiro B. Genomic Data from Extinct North American Camelops Revise Camel Evolutionary History. Mol Biol Evol 2015; 32:2433-40. [PMID: 26037535 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msv128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent advances in paleogenomic technologies have enabled an increasingly detailed understanding of the evolutionary relationships of now-extinct mammalian taxa. However, a number of enigmatic Quaternary species have never been characterized with molecular data, often because available fossils are rare or are found in environments that are not optimal for DNA preservation. Here, we analyze paleogenomic data extracted from bones attributed to the late Pleistocene western camel, Camelops cf. hesternus, a species that was distributed across central and western North America until its extinction approximately 13,000 years ago. Despite a modal sequence length of only around 35 base pairs, we reconstructed high-coverage complete mitochondrial genomes and low-coverage partial nuclear genomes for each specimen. We find that Camelops is sister to African and Asian bactrian and dromedary camels, to the exclusion of South American camelids (llamas, guanacos, alpacas, and vicuñas). These results contradict previous morphology-based phylogenetic models for Camelops, which suggest instead a closer relationship between Camelops and the South American camelids. The molecular data imply a Late Miocene divergence of the Camelops clade from lineages that separately gave rise to the extant camels of Eurasia. Our results demonstrate the increasing capacity of modern paleogenomic methods to resolve evolutionary relationships among distantly related lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter D Heintzman
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz
| | - Grant D Zazula
- Yukon Palaeontology Program, Department of Tourism & Culture, Government of Yukon, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
| | - James A Cahill
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz
| | - Alberto V Reyes
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Ross D E MacPhee
- Department of Mammalogy, Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY
| | - Beth Shapiro
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz UCSC Genomics Institute, University of California Santa Cruz
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Wolfe AP, Csank AZ, Reyes AV, McKellar RC, Tappert R, Muehlenbachs K. Pristine Early Eocene wood buried deeply in kimberlite from northern Canada. PLoS One 2012; 7:e45537. [PMID: 23029080 PMCID: PMC3446892 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0045537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2011] [Accepted: 08/23/2012] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
We report exceptional preservation of fossil wood buried deeply in a kimberlite pipe that intruded northwestern Canada's Slave Province 53.3±0.6 million years ago (Ma), revealed during excavation of diamond source rock. The wood originated from forest surrounding the eruption zone and collapsed into the diatreme before resettling in volcaniclastic kimberlite to depths >300 m, where it was mummified in a sterile environment. Anatomy of the unpermineralized wood permits conclusive identification to the genus Metasequoia (Cupressaceae). The wood yields genuine cellulose and occluded amber, both of which have been characterized spectroscopically and isotopically. From cellulose δ(18)O and δ(2)H measurements, we infer that Early Eocene paleoclimates in the western Canadian subarctic were 12-17°C warmer and four times wetter than present. Canadian kimberlites offer Lagerstätte-quality preservation of wood from a region with limited alternate sources of paleobotanical information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander P Wolfe
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
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Haile J, Froese DG, MacPhee RDE, Roberts RG, Arnold LJ, Reyes AV, Rasmussen M, Nielsen R, Brook BW, Robinson S, Demuro M, Gilbert MTP, Munch K, Austin JJ, Cooper A, Barnes I, Möller P, Willerslev E. Ancient DNA reveals late survival of mammoth and horse in interior Alaska. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2009; 106:22352-7. [PMID: 20018740 PMCID: PMC2795395 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0912510106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 114] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2009] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Causes of late Quaternary extinctions of large mammals ("megafauna") continue to be debated, especially for continental losses, because spatial and temporal patterns of extinction are poorly known. Accurate latest appearance dates (LADs) for such taxa are critical for interpreting the process of extinction. The extinction of woolly mammoth and horse in northwestern North America is currently placed at 15,000-13,000 calendar years before present (yr BP), based on LADs from dating surveys of macrofossils (bones and teeth). Advantages of using macrofossils to estimate when a species became extinct are offset, however, by the improbability of finding and dating the remains of the last-surviving members of populations that were restricted in numbers or confined to refugia. Here we report an alternative approach to detect 'ghost ranges' of dwindling populations, based on recovery of ancient DNA from perennially frozen and securely dated sediments (sedaDNA). In such contexts, sedaDNA can reveal the molecular presence of species that appear absent in the macrofossil record. We show that woolly mammoth and horse persisted in interior Alaska until at least 10,500 yr BP, several thousands of years later than indicated from macrofossil surveys. These results contradict claims that Holocene survival of mammoths in Beringia was restricted to ecologically isolated high-latitude islands. More importantly, our finding that mammoth and horse overlapped with humans for several millennia in the region where people initially entered the Americas challenges theories that megafaunal extinction occurred within centuries of human arrival or were due to an extraterrestrial impact in the late Pleistocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- James Haile
- Centre for GeoGenetics, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen 2100, Denmark
| | - Duane G. Froese
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada
| | - Ross D. E. MacPhee
- Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024
| | - Richard G. Roberts
- Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Lee J. Arnold
- Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Alberto V. Reyes
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada
| | - Morten Rasmussen
- Centre for GeoGenetics, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen 2100, Denmark
| | - Rasmus Nielsen
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Barry W. Brook
- The Environment Institute, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Simon Robinson
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada
| | - Martina Demuro
- Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | | | - Kasper Munch
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Jeremy J. Austin
- Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Alan Cooper
- Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Ian Barnes
- School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, United Kingdom; and
| | - Per Möller
- GeoBiosphere Science Centre, Department of Geology/Quaternary Sciences, Lund University, S-223 62 Lund, Sweden
| | - Eske Willerslev
- Centre for GeoGenetics, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen 2100, Denmark
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Froese DG, Zazula GD, Westgate JA, Preece SJ, Sanborn PT, Reyes AV, Pearce NJ. The Klondike goldfields and Pleistocene environments of Beringia. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009. [DOI: 10.1130/gsatg54a.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Abstract
Climate models predict extensive and severe degradation of permafrost in response to global warming, with a potential for release of large volumes of stored carbon. However, the accuracy of these models is difficult to evaluate because little is known of the history of permafrost and its response to past warm intervals of climate. We report the presence of relict ground ice in subarctic Canada that is greater than 700,000 years old, with the implication that ground ice in this area has survived past interglaciations that were warmer and of longer duration than the present interglaciation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duane G Froese
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T5M 0M3, Canada.
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Reyes AV. Monitoring and treating life-threatening ventricular dysrhythmias. Nurs Clin North Am 1987; 22:61-76. [PMID: 3675727] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Dealing with cardiac emergencies resulting from the development of life-threatening dysrhythmias always presents some degree of stress to the practitioner, regardless of the amount of experience and exposure to cardiac arrests. Dealing effectively with these emergencies is threefold. First is prevention of the event. The astute practitioner utilizes knowledge of precipitating factors, data collection, assessment, and intervention to prevent a patient's condition from advancing to an emergency situation. Second, one must be prepared to deal with the emergency, by having a plan of action and knowing what to expect. Finally, one must deal with the emergency as effectively as possible, and then evaluate what has occurred, how the emergency was handled, and what actions would have improved the experience.
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