Mercury speciation and other constituent data for surface sediment and water associated with the South San Francisco Bay Salt Pond Restoration, 2010-18

This dataset includes mercury and other constituent concentration and physical properties data for surface sediment, pore water and surface water collected as part of the South San Francisco Bay Salt Pond Restoration Phase 1 (2010 to 2018) studies. The overarching focus of these studies was to monitor mercury (Hg) biogeochemistry in both sediment and water in response to management actions associated with the conversion of former salt producing ponds to contemporary wetland habitat. The two primary management actions included the breaching of Pond A6 during December 2010, and the construction and operation of an adjustable tidal control structure (TCS) associated with the Pond A5/A7/A8 Complex beginning in June 2011.  The TSC that reconnects the Complex to Alviso Slough (specifically referred to as the A8-TCS), a historically Hg contaminated waterway that represents the terminus of watershed drainage that includes the New Almaden mercury mining district. The A8-TCS consists of eight gates, each five feet wide. During the initial testing period (starting in June 2011) only one gate was opened, and the structure was closed again during the winter-spring months (from December until the following June). Over the subsequent seven years, the number of gates open was increased to three (15 feet, June 2012), to five (25 feet, September 2014), and eventually to all eight (40 feet, June 2017). Beginning in 2014 the A8-TCS was opened year-round. 
Field sampling occurred in both ponds and sloughs. In addition to sampling within the Complex ponds, two control ponds (A3N and A16) were also sampled. Similarly, in addition to sampling within Alviso Slough, two nearby control sloughs (Mallard Slough a.k.a Artesian Slough and Guadalupe Slough) were sampled (beginning in 2014 for Guadalupe Slough). Sediment sampling was conducted for the period of May 2010 through August 2011, which represents the period immediately prior to and immediately after the two above mentioned management actions. Additional sediment sampling was conducted in Mallard Slough exclusively during the August- September period 2011-2013, 2015, and 2017. 
Surface water sampling was conducted during three periods. The first period was in conjunction with the sediment sampling (May 2010 through August 2011). The second period involved a unique series of high temporal resolution sampling events conducted at a single site in mid-Alviso Slough, when water samples were collected hourly over a 25-hour period to capture the Hg dynamics associated with two full tidal cycles. A total of five such high-resolution ‘diel’ sampling events were conducted between May 2012 and February 2013, which included each of the four seasons and the annual ‘first flush’ event associated with the initiation of the 2012-13 rainy season. The third period, from February 2014 through February 2018, represents when all ponds and sloughs were again sampled (akin to the first period). This third period also represents when the A8-TCS was sequentially opened from 15 feet (3 gates open) to 40 feet (all 8 gates open), and when the A8-TCS management transitioned from being closed during the winter months to being opened year-round, beginning in 2014.        
This data release includes five data tables given both as Excel (*.xlxs) and machine readable 'comma-separated values' format (*.csv):  1) ‘SBSP.Data.Dictionary_2010-18’, the Data Dictionary, which provides definitions and details related to the other four data tables and includes analytical methods citations; 2) ‘SBSP.SED_2010-17’, the surface sediment analytical dataset; 3) ‘SBSP.SW_2010-18’, the primary surface water analytical dataset; 4) ‘SBSP.SW_Diel_2012-13’, the  surface water diel sampling dataset; 5) ‘SBSP.QA_2010-18’, quality assurance data summary for the sediment and water datasets.

Tags: alviso-ca, alviso-slough, aquatic-ecosystems, bioaccumulation, biogeochemistry, ecosystem-management, mercury, methylmercury, mountain-view-ca, santa-clara-county, usgs-5b68c246e4b006a11f75b90b, wetlands
Organization: Department of the Interior