Water chemistry and geospatial characteristics of different sub-catchments in the Mackenzie River basin, Canada

Audrey Campeau, Anne L. Soerensen, Karin Eklöf, Staffan Åkerblom, Shengliu Yuan, Holger Hintelmann, Magdalena Bieroza, Stephan Köhler, Tonu Martma, Christian Zdanowicz

The dataset presents a water chemistry characterisation in 19 different locations across the Mackenzie River basin collected in June 2018 and repeated samples collected in 4 different rivers (Liard, Peel, Mackenzie, Yellowknife river) between June 2019 and 2020. The dataset was collected to investigate the spatial and seasonal variations in riverine mercury and organic carbon sources across the Mackenzie River.

The water chemistry measurements include radiocarbon content of dissolved and particulate organic matter, water stable isotope ratio, optical properties of dissolved organic matter, mercury concentration and isotope ratio, and other basic water chemistry variables. Geospatial characteristics were derived for each river catchment and for the three main geological regions contained within the Mackenzie River basin (i.e. Cordillera, Interior Platform, Canadian Shield).

Citation

Audrey Campeau, Anne L. Soerensen, Karin Eklöf, Staffan Åkerblom, Shengliu Yuan, Holger Hintelmann, Magdalena Bieroza, Stephan Köhler, Tonu Martma, Christian Zdanowicz (2021) Water chemistry and geospatial characteristics of different sub-catchments in the Mackenzie River basin, Canada. Dataset version 2. Bolin Centre Database. https://doi.org/10.17043/campeau-2020-mackenzie-2

References

Campeau A, Soerensen A, Martma T, Åkerblom S, Zdanowicz C (2020) Controls on the ¹⁴C-content of dissolved and particulate organic carbon mobilized across the Mackenzie River basin, Canada. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 34:e2020GB006671. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GB006671

Campeau A, Eklöf K, Soerensen AL, Åkerblom S, Yuan S, Hintelmann H, Bieroza M, Köhler S, Zdanowicz C (2021) Sources of riverine mercury across the Mackenzie River Basin; inferences from a combined Hg-C isotopes and optical properties approach. Science of the Total Environment (accepted)

Data description

The dataset contains supplementary data tables for the publication by Campeau et al. (2020) and data for Campeau (2021). The data are included in one xlsx spreadsheet file containing six data tables:

Table 1 — Summary of landscape properties of the three geological provinces in the MRB (Cordillera, Interior Platform, Canadian Shield), including landcover, bedrock type, surface material type, permafrost type.

Table 2 — Sample collection details and basic water properties.

Table 3 — Radiocarbon analyses of organic matter in river water (Dissolved Organic Carbon, Particulate Organic Carbon).

Table 4 — Catchment properties.

Table 5 — Mercury concentration and isotopic ratio.

Table 6 — Dissolved organic matter optical properties.

Details regarding the sampling and analytical procedure can be found in the articles by Campeau et al. (2020 & 2021).

Comments

River water samples were collected once at different locations between June 8 and June 30, 2018, beginning in the southernmost part of the Mackenzie River basin and progressing north, towards the river delta. Samples were subsequently collected at four more occasion in the Liard, Peel, Mackenzie and Yellowknife river (June 2019-2020).

Version history

Version 2

Includes additional data collected in 2019-2020 in Table 2 & 3, together with Hg measurements and DOM optical in Table 5 and 6 for both the spatial (2018) and seasonal data (2019-2020)

Version 1

Initial release. Containing data in four tables for the publication by Campeau et al. (2020).