Shallow methylmercury production in the marginal sea ice zone of the central Arctic Ocean
Methylmercury (MeHg) is a neurotoxic compound that threatens wildlife and human health across the Arctic region. Though much is known about the source and dynamics of its inorganic mercury (Hg) precursor, the exact origin of the high MeHg concentrations in Arctic biota remains uncertain. Arctic coas...
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ftawi:oai:epic.awi.de:38003 2024-09-15T17:51:41+00:00 Shallow methylmercury production in the marginal sea ice zone of the central Arctic Ocean Heimbürger, Lars-Eric Sonke, Jeroen E. Cossa, Daniel Point, David Lagane, Christelle Laffont, Laure Galfond, Benjamin T. Nicolaus, Marcel Rabe, Benjamin Rutgers v. d. Loeff, Michiel 2015 application/pdf https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/38003/ https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/38003/1/HeimbuergerNatureSciRep2015.pdf https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.45583 https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.45583.d001 unknown Nature Publishing Group https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/38003/1/HeimbuergerNatureSciRep2015.pdf https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.45583.d001 Heimbürger, L. E. , Sonke, J. E. , Cossa, D. , Point, D. , Lagane, C. , Laffont, L. , Galfond, B. T. , Nicolaus, M. orcid:0000-0003-0903-1746 , Rabe, B. orcid:0000-0001-5794-9856 and Rutgers v. d. Loeff, M. orcid:0000-0003-1393-3742 (2015) Shallow methylmercury production in the marginal sea ice zone of the central Arctic Ocean , Scientific Reports, 5 (10318) . doi:10.1038/srep10318 <https://doi.org/10.1038/srep10318> , hdl:10013/epic.45583 EPIC3Scientific Reports, Nature Publishing Group, 5(10318), ISSN: (online): 2045-2322 Article isiRev 2015 ftawi https://doi.org/10.1038/srep10318 2024-06-24T04:12:21Z Methylmercury (MeHg) is a neurotoxic compound that threatens wildlife and human health across the Arctic region. Though much is known about the source and dynamics of its inorganic mercury (Hg) precursor, the exact origin of the high MeHg concentrations in Arctic biota remains uncertain. Arctic coastal sediments, coastal marine waters and surface snow are known sites for MeHg production. Observations on marine Hg dynamics, however, have been restricted to the Canadian Archipelago and the Beaufort Sea (<79°N). Here we present the first central Arctic Ocean (79–90°N) profiles for total mercury (tHg) and MeHg. We find elevated tHg and MeHg concentrations in the marginal sea ice zone (81–85°N). Similar to other open ocean basins, Arctic MeHg concentration maxima also occur in the pycnocline waters, but at much shallower depths (150–200 m). The shallow MeHg maxima just below the productive surface layer possibly result in enhanced biological uptake at the base of the Arctic marine food web and may explain the elevated MeHg concentrations in Arctic biota. We suggest that Arctic warming, through thinning sea ice, extension of the seasonal sea ice zone, intensified surface ocean stratification and shifts in plankton ecodynamics, will likely lead to higher marine MeHg production. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Arctic Ocean Beaufort Sea Canadian Archipelago Human health Sea ice Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI): ePIC (electronic Publication Information Center) Scientific Reports 5 1 |
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Open Polar |
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Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI): ePIC (electronic Publication Information Center) |
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ftawi |
language |
unknown |
description |
Methylmercury (MeHg) is a neurotoxic compound that threatens wildlife and human health across the Arctic region. Though much is known about the source and dynamics of its inorganic mercury (Hg) precursor, the exact origin of the high MeHg concentrations in Arctic biota remains uncertain. Arctic coastal sediments, coastal marine waters and surface snow are known sites for MeHg production. Observations on marine Hg dynamics, however, have been restricted to the Canadian Archipelago and the Beaufort Sea (<79°N). Here we present the first central Arctic Ocean (79–90°N) profiles for total mercury (tHg) and MeHg. We find elevated tHg and MeHg concentrations in the marginal sea ice zone (81–85°N). Similar to other open ocean basins, Arctic MeHg concentration maxima also occur in the pycnocline waters, but at much shallower depths (150–200 m). The shallow MeHg maxima just below the productive surface layer possibly result in enhanced biological uptake at the base of the Arctic marine food web and may explain the elevated MeHg concentrations in Arctic biota. We suggest that Arctic warming, through thinning sea ice, extension of the seasonal sea ice zone, intensified surface ocean stratification and shifts in plankton ecodynamics, will likely lead to higher marine MeHg production. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Heimbürger, Lars-Eric Sonke, Jeroen E. Cossa, Daniel Point, David Lagane, Christelle Laffont, Laure Galfond, Benjamin T. Nicolaus, Marcel Rabe, Benjamin Rutgers v. d. Loeff, Michiel |
spellingShingle |
Heimbürger, Lars-Eric Sonke, Jeroen E. Cossa, Daniel Point, David Lagane, Christelle Laffont, Laure Galfond, Benjamin T. Nicolaus, Marcel Rabe, Benjamin Rutgers v. d. Loeff, Michiel Shallow methylmercury production in the marginal sea ice zone of the central Arctic Ocean |
author_facet |
Heimbürger, Lars-Eric Sonke, Jeroen E. Cossa, Daniel Point, David Lagane, Christelle Laffont, Laure Galfond, Benjamin T. Nicolaus, Marcel Rabe, Benjamin Rutgers v. d. Loeff, Michiel |
author_sort |
Heimbürger, Lars-Eric |
title |
Shallow methylmercury production in the marginal sea ice zone of the central Arctic Ocean |
title_short |
Shallow methylmercury production in the marginal sea ice zone of the central Arctic Ocean |
title_full |
Shallow methylmercury production in the marginal sea ice zone of the central Arctic Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Shallow methylmercury production in the marginal sea ice zone of the central Arctic Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Shallow methylmercury production in the marginal sea ice zone of the central Arctic Ocean |
title_sort |
shallow methylmercury production in the marginal sea ice zone of the central arctic ocean |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/38003/ https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/38003/1/HeimbuergerNatureSciRep2015.pdf https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.45583 https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.45583.d001 |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Arctic Ocean Beaufort Sea Canadian Archipelago Human health Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Arctic Ocean Beaufort Sea Canadian Archipelago Human health Sea ice |
op_source |
EPIC3Scientific Reports, Nature Publishing Group, 5(10318), ISSN: (online): 2045-2322 |
op_relation |
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/38003/1/HeimbuergerNatureSciRep2015.pdf https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.45583.d001 Heimbürger, L. E. , Sonke, J. E. , Cossa, D. , Point, D. , Lagane, C. , Laffont, L. , Galfond, B. T. , Nicolaus, M. orcid:0000-0003-0903-1746 , Rabe, B. orcid:0000-0001-5794-9856 and Rutgers v. d. Loeff, M. orcid:0000-0003-1393-3742 (2015) Shallow methylmercury production in the marginal sea ice zone of the central Arctic Ocean , Scientific Reports, 5 (10318) . doi:10.1038/srep10318 <https://doi.org/10.1038/srep10318> , hdl:10013/epic.45583 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/srep10318 |
container_title |
Scientific Reports |
container_volume |
5 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1810293651786432512 |