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We analyzed the sedimentological characteristics and magnetic properties of cores from the three basins of Clear Lake, California, USA, to assess the depositional response to a series of land use changes that occurred in the watershed over the 20th century. Results indicate that distinct and abrupt shifts in particle size, magnetic concentration/mineralogy, and redox conditions occur concurrently with a variety of ecological and chemical changes in lake bed sediments. This coincidence of events occurred around 1927, a datum determined by an abrupt increase in total mercury (Hg) in Clear Lake cores and the known initiation of open-pit Hg mining at the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine, confirmed by 210Pb dating. Ages below the 1927 horizon were determined by accelerator mass spectrometry on 14C of coarse organic debris. Calculated sedimentation rates below the 1927 datum are approximately 1 mm/yr, whereas rates from 1927 to 2000 are up to an order of magnitude higher, with averages of approximately 3.5-19 mm/yr. In both the Oaks and Upper Arms, the post-1927 co-occurrence of abrupt shifts in magnetic signatures with color differences indicative of changing redox conditions is interpreted to reflect a more oxygenated diagenetic regime and rapid burial of sediment below the depth of sulfate diffusion. Post-1927 in the Oaks Arm, grain size exhibits a gradual coarsening-upward pattern that we attribute to the input of mechanically deposited waste rock related to open-pit mining activities at the mine. In contrast, grain size in the Upper Arm exhibits a gradational fining-upward after 1927 that we interpret as human-induced erosion of fine-grained soils and chemically weathered rocks of the Franciscan Assemblage by heavy earthmoving equipment associated with a road- and home-building boom, exacerbated by stream channel mining and wetlands destruction. The flux of fine-grained sediment into the Upper Arm increased the nutrient load to the lake, and that in turn catalyzed profuse cyanobacterial blooms through the 20th century. The resulting organic biomass, in combination with the increased inorganic sediment supply, contributed to the abrupt increase in sedimentation rate after 1927.

Clear Lake is the site of an abandoned mercury (Hg) mine (active intermittently from 1873 to 1957), now a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund Site. Mining activities, including bulldozing waste rock and tailings into the lake, resulted in approximately 100 Mg of Hg entering the lake's ecosystem. This series of papers represents the culmination of approximately 15 years of Hg-related studies on this ecosystem, following Hg from the ore body to the highest trophic levels. A series of physical, chemical, biological, and limnological studies elucidate how ongoing Hg loading to the lake is influenced by acid mine drainage and how wind-driven currents and baroclinic circulation patterns redistribute Hg throughout the lake. Methylmercury (MeHg) production in this system is controlled by both sulfate-reducing bacteria as well as newly identified iron-reducing bacteria. Sediment cores (dated with dichlorodiphenyldichlorethane [DDD], 210pb, and 14C) to approximately 250 cm depth (representing up to approximately 3000 years before present) elucidate a record of total Hg (TotHg) loading to the lake from natural sources and mining and demonstrate how MeHg remains stable at depth within the sediment column for decades to millenia. Core data also identify other stresses that have influenced the Clear Lake Basin especially over the past 150 years. Although Clear Lake is one of the most Hg-contaminated lakes in the world, biota do not exhibit MeHg concentrations as high as would be predicted based on the gross level of Hg loading. We compare Clear Lake's TotHg and MeHg concentrations with other sites worldwide and suggest several hypotheses to explain why this discrepancy exists. Based on our data, together with state and federal water and sediment quality criteria, we predict potential resulting environmental and human health effects and provide data that can assist remediation efforts.