The Arctic: a sink for mercury

Ariya, Parisa A.; Dastoor, Ashu; Amyot, Marc; Schroeder, W. H.; Barrie, Leonard A.; Anlauf, K. G.; Raofie, Farhad; Ryzhkov, A.; Davignon, Didier; Lalonde, Janick D.; Steffen, Alexandra

doi:10.3402/tellusb.v56i5.16458

Cited by 138 publications

(118 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…More than a decade has been devoted to understanding the loss mechanisms of gaseous elemental mercury (Hg°) in the Arctic spring since Schroeder et al (1998) first reported a rapid surface level decrease following polar sunrise. Theoretical and laboratory studies speculate that Hg°is oxidized by halogens, primarily atomic bromine (Br) and bromine monoxide (BrO) (Ariya et al 2002;Ariya et al 2004;Calvert and Lindberg 2003;Goodsite et al 2004) derived from sea-salt aerosols over open sea water (von Glasow 2008). Supportive evidence from field measurements show concomitant decreases in Hg°and peaks in reactive gaseous mercury (RGM), particulate mercury (Hg P ) and BrO (Lu et al 2001;Lindberg et al 2001;Brooks et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Arctic mercury depletion and its quantitative link with halogens

et al. 2010

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Gas phase elemental mercury (Hg°) was measured aboard the NASA DC-8 research aircraft during the Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) campaign conducted in spring 2008 primarily over the North American Arctic. We examined the vertical distributions of Hg°and ozone (O 3 ) together with tetrachloroethylene (C 2 Cl 4 ), ethyne (C 2 H 2 ), and alkanes when Hg°-and O 3 -depleted air masses were sampled near the surface (<1 km). This study suggests that Hg°a nd O 3 depletions commonly occur over linear distances of~20-200 km. Horizontally there was a sharp decreasing gradient of~100 ppqv in Hg°over <10 km in going from the bay near Ellesmere Island to the frozen open ocean. There was a distinct land-ocean difference in the vertical thickness of the Hg°-depleted layer -being variable but around a few 100 meters over the ocean whereas occurring only very near the surface over land. Data J Atmos Chem (2010)

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Arctic mercury depletion and its quantitative link with halogens

et al. 2010

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“…Determinations of net deposition to the Arctic are therefore difficult. Current estimates by Holmes et al (2010) and Ariya et al (2004) are 60 and 300 metric tons Hg per year, respectively. The observations reported here, indicating that Hg chemistry and deposition occur atop the Greenland ice sheet, will upwardly revise these estimates for the Arctic by ∼4-20 %.…”

Section: Prior Polar Mercury Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temperature and sunlight controls of mercury oxidation and deposition atop the Greenland ice sheet

Brooks¹,

Moore

Lew³

et al. 2011

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. We conducted the first ever mercury speciation measurements atop the Greenland ice sheet at Summit Station (Latitude 72.6 • N, Longitude 38.5 • W, Altitude 3200 m) in the Spring and Summer of 2007 and 2008. These measurements were part of the collaborative Greenland Summit Halogen-HO x experiment (GSHOX) campaigns investigating the importance of halogen chemistry in this remote environment. Significant levels of BrO (1-5 pptv) in the near surface air were often accompanied by diurnal dips in gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), and in-situ production of reactive gaseous mercury (RGM). While halogen (i.e. Br) chemistry is normally associated with marine boundary layers, at Summit, Greenland, far from any marine source, we have conclusively detected bromine and mercury chemistry in the near surface air. The likely fate of the formed mercurybromine radical (HgBr) is further oxidation to stable RGM (HgBr 2 , HgBrOH, HgBrCl. . . ), or thermal decomposition. These fates appear to be controlled by the availability of Br, OH, Cl, etc. to produce RGM (Hg(II)), versus the lifetime of HgBr by thermal dissociation. At Summit, the production of RGM appears to require a sun elevation angle of >5 degrees, and an air temperature of < −15 • C. Possibly the availability of Br, controlled by photolysis J(Br 2 ), requires a sun angle >5 degrees, while the formation of RGM from HgBr requires a temperature < −15 • C . A portion of the deposited RGM is readily photoreduced and re-emitted to the air as GEM. However, a very small fraction becomes buried at depth. Extrapolating core samples from Summit to the Correspondence to: S. Brooks (steve.brooks@noaa.gov) entire Greenland ice sheet, we calculate an estimated net annual sequestration of ∼13 metric tons Hg per year, buried long-term under the sunlit photoreduction zone.

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“…Several studies have been reported on the deposition and fate of mercury on snow and ice surfaces (Boutron et al, 1998; Lu et al Lalonde et al, 2002;Dommergue et al, 2003aDommergue et al, , b, 2009Ariya et al, 2004;Douglas and Sturm, 2004;Ferrari et al, 2004aFerrari et al, , b, 2005Douglas et al, 2005Douglas et al, , 2008Douglas et al, , 2012Fitzgerald et al, 2005;Lahoutifard et al, 2005;St. Louis et al, 2005;Kirk et al, 2006;Constant et al, 2007;Poulain et al, 2007;Outridge et al, 2008;Poissant et al, 2008;Carignan and Sonke, 2010;Durnford and Dastoor, 2011;Durnford et al, 2012), but the long-term snow data presented here are unique.…”

Section: Mercury In Snow At Alertmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric mercury speciation and mercury in snow over time at Alert, Canada

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Ten years of atmospheric mercury speciation data and 14 years of mercury in snow data from Alert, Nunavut, Canada, are examined. The speciation data, collected from 2002 to 2011, includes gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), particulate mercury (PHg) and reactive gaseous mercury (RGM). During the winter-spring period of atmospheric mercury depletion events (AMDEs), when GEM is close to being completely depleted from the air, the concentration of both PHg and RGM rise significantly. During this period, the median concentrations for PHg is 28.2 pgm−3 and RGM is 23.9 pgm−3, from March to June, in comparison to the annual median concentrations of 11.3 and 3.2 pgm−3 for PHg and RGM, respectively. In each of the ten years of sampling, the concentration of PHg increases steadily from January through March and is higher than the concentration of RGM. This pattern begins to change in April when the levels of PHg peak and RGM begin to increase. In May, the high PHg and low RGM concentration regime observed in the early spring undergoes a transition to a regime with higher RGM and much lower PHg concentrations. The higher RGM concentration continues into June. The transition is driven by the atmospheric conditions of air temperature and particle availability. Firstly, a high ratio of the concentrations of PHg to RGM is reported at low temperatures which suggests that oxidized gaseous mercury partitions to available particles to form PHg. Prior to the transition, the median air temperature is −24.8 °C and after the transition the median air temperature is −5.8 °C. Secondly, the high PHg concentrations occur in the spring when high particle concentrations are present. The high particle concentrations are principally due to Arctic haze and sea salts. In the snow, the concentrations of mercury peak in May for all years. Springtime deposition of total mercury to the snow at Alert peaks in May when atmospheric conditions favour higher levels of RGM. Therefore, the conditions in the atmosphere directly impact when the highest amount of mercury will be deposited to the snow during the Arctic spring.

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The Arctic: a sink for mercury

Cited by 138 publications

References 29 publications

Arctic mercury depletion and its quantitative link with halogens

Arctic mercury depletion and its quantitative link with halogens

Temperature and sunlight controls of mercury oxidation and deposition atop the Greenland ice sheet

Atmospheric mercury speciation and mercury in snow over time at Alert, Canada

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