UC Santa Cruz

Monomethylmercury (MMHg) is a neurotoxicant that biomagnifies in marine food webs, reaching high concentrations in apex predators. To predict changes in oceanic MMHg concentrations, it is important to quantify the sources and sinks of MMHg. Here, we study mercury speciation in the California Current System through cruise sampling and modeling. Previous work in the California Current System has found that upwelling transports mercury-enriched deep waters to productive surface waters. These upwelled waters originate within the California Undercurrent water mass and are subsequently advected as a surface water parcel to the California Current. Between the two major water masses, we find that compared to the California Current, the California Undercurrent contains elevated dissolved total mercury (THg) and dimethylmercury (DMHg) concentrations by 59 and 69%, respectively. We explain that these differences result from losses during advection, specifically scavenging of THg and DMHg demethylation. We calculate a net DMHg demethylation rate of 2.0 ± 1.1% d-1 and build an empirically constrained mass budget model to demonstrate that net DMHg demethylation accounts for 61% of surface MMHg sources. These findings illustrate that DMHg is a significant source of MMHg in this region, challenging the current understanding of the major sources of marine MMHg.