Input of terrestrial organic matter linked to deglaciation increased mercury transport to the Svalbard fjords

Abstract Deglaciation has accelerated the transport of minerals as well as modern and ancient organic matter from land to fjord sediments in Spitsbergen, Svalbard, in the European Arctic Ocean. Consequently, such sediments may contain significant levels of total mercury (THg) bound to terrestrial or...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific Reports
Main Authors: Kim, Haryun, Kwon, Sae Yun, Lee, Kitack, Lim, Dhongil, Han, Seunghee, Kim, Tae-Wook, Joo, Young Ji, Lim, Jaesoo, Kang, Moo-Hee, Nam, Seung-Il
Other Authors: National Research Foundation of Korea, National Marine Biodiversity Institute of Korea Research Program, Polar Academic Program
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2020
Subjects:
Multidisciplinary
Arctic
Arctic Ocean
Dicksonfjorden
Hornsund
Svalbard
Wijdefjorden
glacier
Tidewater
Wijdefjord*
Spitsbergen
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-60261-6
http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-60261-6.pdf
http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-60261-6
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Summary:Abstract Deglaciation has accelerated the transport of minerals as well as modern and ancient organic matter from land to fjord sediments in Spitsbergen, Svalbard, in the European Arctic Ocean. Consequently, such sediments may contain significant levels of total mercury (THg) bound to terrestrial organic matter. The present study compared THg contents in surface sediments from three fjord settings in Spitsbergen: Hornsund in the southern Spitsbergen, which has high annual volume of loss glacier and receives sediment from multiple tidewater glaciers, Dicksonfjorden in the central Spitsbergen, which receives sediment from glacifluvial rivers, and Wijdefjorden in the northern Spitsbergen, which receive sediments from a mixture of tidewater glaciers and glacifluvial rivers. Our results showed that the THg (52 ± 15 ng g −1 ) bound to organic matter (OM) was the highest in the Hornsund surface sediments, where the glacier loss (0.44 km 3 yr −1 ) and organic carbon accumulation rates (9.3 ~ 49.4 g m −2 yr −1 ) were elevated compared to other fjords. Furthermore, the δ 13 C (–27 ~ –24‰) and δ 34 S values (–10 ~ 15‰) of OM indicated that most of OM were originated from terrestrial sources. Thus, the temperature-driven glacial melting could release more OM originating from the meltwater or terrestrial materials, which are available for THg binding in the European Arctic fjord ecosystems.

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