Sediment Mercury Profile, Laguna de Pozuelos, Argentine Northwest

The data represent a shallow mercury chronology using sediment core from a playa lake system situated in a high-altitude setting in northwest Argentina. Archive samples were used from sediment core (LP07-1A) that was collected from a location (lat -22.362100°, lon -66.003600°) in the center of the playa-lake Laguna de Pozuelos in the dry season of 2007, when the water level was 2 to 3 cm. The samples were taken over 1 to 2 cm intervals and had been dried and homogenized. Sediment total mercury analyses were conducted by digesting sediment (0.30 g) in boiling concentrated nitric/sulfuric acid (ratio 3:1), followed by 12 hour oxidation with bromine monochloride, tin chloride reduction, gold amalgamation, and detection by CVAFS.