Mercury in the Atlantic Ocean: factors controlling air–sea exchange of mercury and its distribution in the upper waters

Mason, Robert P.; Lawson, Nicole; Sheu, Guey Rong

doi:10.1016/s0967-0645(01)00020-0

Cited by 163 publications

(178 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…[30] The mean concentration of Hg (g) 0 measured during marine flow (1.6 pg m À3 ) is similar to that measured on cruises on the Atlantic Ocean [Lamborg et al, 1999;Mason et al, 2001] of 1.6 ± 0.09 and 2.0 ± 0.4 ng m À3 , respectively. These concentrations are also similar to those measured in the wintertime Arctic (1.6 -1.8 ng m À3 ) [Lindberg et al, 2002].…”

Section: Elemental Gaseous Mercurysupporting

confidence: 59%

“…Only one sample was collected each day on 3, 15, 18, 22, 25, 26, and 28 June. Mason et al [2001] (mean = 280 pg m À3 ). The denuder method we employed for RGM has been extensively evaluated and is currently being widely used by other research groups [Lindberg et al, 2002;Sprovieri et al, 2002;Temme et al, 2003].…”

Section: The Marine Boundary Layer As a Source Of Hgmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[7] Lastly, Mason et al [2001] made RGM measurements over the Atlantic, near Bermuda, using a cation exchange filter [Prestbo and Bloom, 1996], and found average concentrations of 280 ± 260 pg m À3 , which are surprisingly high for samples including both daytimes and nighttimes, even compared to measurements from anthropogenic source areas. The authors suggest that the marine boundary layer (MBL) may be a large source of RGM not only over the open ocean but also in coastal marine environments .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effects of the coastal environment on the atmospheric mercury cycle

2003

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[1] Atmospheric mercury (Hg) species were investigated on the east coast of Florida during June 2000. The site was impacted by air mass transport from the Atlantic Ocean and south Florida. Periods with atmospheric transport from the Atlantic were characterized by low concentrations of elemental gaseous Hg and inorganic divalent reactive gaseous mercury (RGM), demonstrating that the marine boundary layer was not a significant source of RGM to this coastal site as previous researchers have hypothesized. When anthropogenic impacts were observed at the site, indicated by elevated concentrations of gases including HNO 3 and SO 2 , RGM concentrations had higher daytime maximums. Particulate phase Hg concentrations were higher than can be explained by sea spray alone, as determined by chemical analysis of the seawater, suggesting that gaseous Hg is diffusing into the sea-salt aerosol. Although atmospheric Hg concentrations were not elevated, the observed scavenging of Hg gases by sea-salt aerosols indicates that Hg may be rapidly cycled at the atmosphere-ocean interface between gaseous, aerosol, and oceanic forms. Deposition of aerosol enriched in Hg via this process may constitute a significant global mercury flux to the oceans.

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Section: Elemental Gaseous Mercurysupporting

confidence: 59%

Section: The Marine Boundary Layer As a Source Of Hgmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effects of the coastal environment on the atmospheric mercury cycle

2003

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“…Our concentrations were also higher than the mean concentrations (36.5 ± 14.9 pg L −1 ) of the northern SCS in the summer cruise but were very similar to those of stations near the Hainan Island (~40-80 pg L −1 , Fu et al 2010). Many field measurements also widely reported that the water Hg(0) concentrations in nearshore environments were generally higher than those in the open water (e.g., Mason et al 2001;Ci et al 2011d). The field observations and incubation experiments suggest that the special properties of nearshore environment, such as the enhanced THg levels, the estuarine mixing, and the high biological activity, can either promote the production of water Hg(0) and/or increase the Hg(0) input to the coastal water (Amyot et al 1997;Lanzillotta et al 2002;Rolfhus et al 2003;Covelli et al 2008;Fantozzi et al 2009;Schartup et al 2015;Ci et al 2016).…”

Section: Hg(0) In Watersupporting

confidence: 79%

“…These values were significantly lower than those in open oceans (~10-50 %, e.g., Mason et al 2001;Soerensen et al 2013;Schartup et al 2015) and comparable to concentrations of many coast and offshore environments (1-5 %, e.g., Ci et al 2011a, d). It should be noted that our values were slightly higher than those in the northern SCS in the summer cruise (3.0 %, Fu et al 2010) but significantly higher than those in the winter in the SEATS (~1 %) and other seasons (1-1.6 %) (Tseng et al 2013).…”

Section: Hg(0) In Watermentioning

confidence: 55%

Air–sea exchange of gaseous mercury in the tropical coast (Luhuitou fringing reef) of the South China Sea, the Hainan Island, China

Zhang

Wang

2016

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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The air-sea exchange of gaseous mercury (mainly Hg(0)) in the tropical ocean is an important part of the global Hg biogeochemical cycle, but the related investigations are limited. In this study, we simultaneously measured Hg(0) concentrations in surface waters and overlaying air in the tropical coast (Luhuitou fringing reef) of the South China Sea (SCS), Hainan Island, China, for 13 days on January-February 2015. The purpose of this study was to explore the temporal variation of Hg(0) concentrations in air and surface waters, estimate the air-sea Hg(0) flux, and reveal their influencing factors in the tropical coastal environment. The mean concentrations (±SD) of Hg(0) in air and total Hg (THg) in waters were 2.34 ± 0.26 ng m −3 and 1.40 ± 0.48 ng L −1 , respectively. Both Hg(0) concentrations in waters (53.7 ± 18.8 pg L −1 ) and Hg(0)/THg ratios (3.8 %) in this study were significantly higher than those of the open water of the SCS in winter. Hg(0) in waters usually exhibited a clear diurnal variation with increased concentrations in daytime and decreased concentrations in nighttime, especially in cloudless days with low wind speed. Linear regression analysis suggested that Hg(0) concentrations in waters were positively and significantly correlated to the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) (R 2 = 0.42, p < 0.001). Surface waters were always supersaturated with Hg(0) compared to air (the degree of saturation, 2.46 to 13.87), indicating that the surface water was one of the atmospheric Hg(0) sources. The air-sea Hg(0) fluxes were estimated to be 1.73 ± 1.25 ng m −2 h −1 with a large range between 0.01 and 6.06 ng m −2 h −1 . The high variation of Hg(0) fluxes was mainly attributed to the greatly temporal variation of wind speed.

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Natural biogeochemical cycle of mercury in a global three‐dimensional ocean tracer model

Zhang

Jaeglé

Thompson

2014

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

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We implement mercury (Hg) biogeochemistry in the offline global 3-D ocean tracer model (OFFTRAC) to investigate the natural Hg cycle, prior to any anthropogenic input. The simulation includes three Hg tracers: dissolved elemental (Hg 0 aq ), dissolved divalent (Hg II aq ), and particle-bound mercury (Hg P aq ). Our Hg parameterization takes into account redox chemistry in ocean waters, air-sea exchange of Hg 0 , scavenging of Hg II aq onto sinking particles, and resupply of Hg II aq at depth by remineralization of sinking particles. Atmospheric boundary conditions are provided by a global simulation of the natural atmospheric Hg cycle in the GEOS-Chem model. In the surface ocean, the OFFTRAC model predicts global mean concentrations of 0.16 pM for total Hg, partitioned as 80% Hg II aq , 14% Hg 0 aq , and 6% Hg P aq . Total Hg concentrations increase to 0.38 pM in the thermocline/intermediate waters (between the mixed layer and 1000 m depth) and 0.82 pM in deep waters (below 1000 m), reflecting removal of Hg from the surface to the subsurface ocean by particle sinking followed by remineralization at depth. Our model predicts that Hg concentrations in the deep North Pacific Ocean (>2000 m) are a factor of 2-3 higher than in the deep North Atlantic Ocean. This is the result of cumulative input of Hg from particle remineralization as deep waters transit from the North Atlantic to the North Pacific on their~2000 year journey. The model is able to reproduce the relatively uniform concentrations of total Hg observed in the old deep waters of the North Pacific Ocean (observations: 1.2 ± 0.4 pM; model: 1.1 ± 0.04 pM) and Southern Ocean (observations: 1.1 ± 0.2 pM; model: 0.8 ± 0.02 pM). However, the modeled concentrations are factors of 5-6 too low compared to observed concentrations in the surface ocean and in the young water masses of the deep North Atlantic Ocean. This large underestimate for these regions implies a factor of 5-6 anthropogenic enhancement in Hg concentrations.

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Mercury in the Atlantic Ocean: factors controlling air–sea exchange of mercury and its distribution in the upper waters

Cited by 163 publications

References 34 publications

The effects of the coastal environment on the atmospheric mercury cycle

The effects of the coastal environment on the atmospheric mercury cycle

Air–sea exchange of gaseous mercury in the tropical coast (Luhuitou fringing reef) of the South China Sea, the Hainan Island, China

Natural biogeochemical cycle of mercury in a global three‐dimensional ocean tracer model

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