UTM researchers use tree rings to measure Canadian Klondike-era mercury contamination
A U of T Mississauga research team has bored into the past, unlocking the secrets hidden beneath tree bark, to meticulously record the history of Klondike-era pollution – prompting a larger study of mercury contamination in the north.
Paleoclimatologist Trevor Porter, an assistant professor of geography who uses tree rings to understand past climate, recently combined his expertise with Igor Lehnherr, a fellow geography professor who studies contaminants, and UTM master’s student Sydney Clackett to investigate annual pollution levels at an old mining site in the Yukon. Their findings were recently published in Environmental Pollution.