Explain Why The Total Mercury Stable Isotopes Fractionation

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Hypothesis
The fluctuations in the number of ice-free days in the Canadian Arctic marine ecosystems with changing climate (i.e., change in food webs and water chemistry) are the main controlling factors of mercury transformation and bioaccumulation in Arctic marine ecosystems which can be traced and quantified using mercury stable isotopes fractionation.
4 Research objectives
The main goal of this research is to investigate mercury stable isotopes fractionation during biouptake and biomagnification in Arctic marine ecosystems and use mercury stable isotopic signatures to study mercury transformation, fate and bioaccumulation in the context of the changing environment. The specific objectives are:
1) To determine the total mercury and isotopes fractionation of Hg during short and long ice-free seasons in the Canadian high Arctic (Ulukhaktok, NWT) ringed seals’ muscle. Which shed light on the mercury transformation and fate in Arctic marine ecosystems in two different environmental conditions and mercury fate in Arctic marine mammals (Chapter 2).
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3) To study the changes in the total mercury (HgT) and mercury stable isotopes ratio in Arctic biota as it moves up in trophic levels of Arctic marine ecosystems (Chapter 4).
4) To determine the HgT and Hg stable isotopes ratio in Arctic cod to study of sources and exposure pathways of Hg and MeHg in the Western Canadian Arctic, Beaufort Sea (Chapter 5).
5) To draw a conclusion about the use of Hg isotopes to understand Hg biogeochemical cycles in the Canadian Arctic marine

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