Mercury and stable isotopes data in zooplankton across the Canadian High Arctic: Amundsen Gulf

Zooplankton samples were collected onboard the research Icebreaker CCGS Amundsen during Leg 1 in 2005 (4 stations) and Leg 1 in 2006 (8 stations) with a vertically towed net frame equipped with a set of 4 adjacent 1-m2 nets (mesh size 200 µm and 500 µm) from near the bottom to the surface and by trawling an oblique rectangular mid-water trawl (mesh size 1600 µm) or an oblique Tucker net (mesh size 2x500 µm) in the surface layer from 100 m depth to the surface. Samples were placed into 30 ml plastic vials and/or whirl-pak bags and were kept frozen at -20 Degree Celcius. Representative sub-samples of individual zooplankton genera were placed in 4 ml glass vials for stable isotope analysis. Three keystone zooplankton genus were included in this study: Calanus spp. (mostly adult Calanus hyperboreus), Themisto spp. (mostly adult Themisto libellula) and Euchaeta spp. THg analysis was conducted at the Freshwater Institute with cold vapour atomic absorption spectroscopy (CVAAS). MMHg analysis was conducted at the University of Ottawa by Gas Chromatography Atomic Fluorescence Spectroscopy (GCAFS). Carbon and nitrogen isotopic analyses were performed at the University of Winnipeg Isotope Laboratory by continuous flow ion ratio mass spectrometry (CF-IRMS). Oceanographic data (Hg levels in water column, salinity, 18O) were collected by our team. Water samples were collected with 24 12-L Niskin bottles attached to a rosette sampler equipped with Seabird 911+ CTD (Sea-Bird)