Mercury cycling in the global marine environment
Mercury is a globally distributed contaminant that exists in the atmosphere in its elemental form as a stable monoatomic gas. Having a residence time of around one year in air allows it to be transported far from emission sources and end up in polar ecosystems. Gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) can in...
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ftchalmersuniv:oai:research.chalmers.se:243105 2023-05-15T13:52:01+02:00 Mercury cycling in the global marine environment Nerentorp, Michelle 2016 text https://research.chalmers.se/en/publication/243105 unknown https://research.chalmers.se/en/publication/243105 Inorganic Chemistry Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences Oceanography Hydrology Water Resources Environmental Sciences sea ice air seasonal and spatial variation snow Mercury cycling seawater mercury flux 2016 ftchalmersuniv 2022-12-11T07:01:47Z Mercury is a globally distributed contaminant that exists in the atmosphere in its elemental form as a stable monoatomic gas. Having a residence time of around one year in air allows it to be transported far from emission sources and end up in polar ecosystems. Gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) can in air be oxidized by photo-induced processes which produce water soluble oxidized forms of mercury which are more easily deposited. Deposited mercury can in the environment be transformed to organic and bio-accumulating compounds which are neurotoxic, making mercury a global concern. Deposited oxidized mercury into the sea can be reduced back to the elemental form (GEM) and be re-emitted to air. This re-evasion constitutes of around 30% of the total emissions of mercury to air and originates from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Models have estimated that the yearly mercury emission from global sea surfaces is between 2000 and 3000 tonnes. The mercury flux rate at the interphase between air and water depends on the Henry´s law constant, the concentration gradient and the gas transfer velocity. How to properly account for weather parameters such as wind speed, and how to accurately adjust the flux model to mercury (originally developed for CO2) has been debated in the literature and have resulted in diverse results of mercury flux rates. In this work, mercury has been measured in air and in seawater during several campaigns in Antarctica, the Mediterranean Sea, the west coast of Sweden, Northern Finland and in the Arctic. From measured concentrations of mercury, the mercury flux rates from the studied areas were calculated using the gas exchange model described in Johnson (2010). Large spatial and seasonal variations of measured mercury concentrations were found which resulted in similar variations in calculated flux rates. In Antarctica and the Arctic, high concentrations of mercury were also measured in the sea ice environment. Seasonal variations in mercury concentrations were found and a correlation between ... Other/Unknown Material Antarc* Antarctica Arctic Northern Finland Sea ice Chalmers University of Technology: Chalmers research Arctic |
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Chalmers University of Technology: Chalmers research |
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Inorganic Chemistry Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences Oceanography Hydrology Water Resources Environmental Sciences sea ice air seasonal and spatial variation snow Mercury cycling seawater mercury flux |
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Inorganic Chemistry Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences Oceanography Hydrology Water Resources Environmental Sciences sea ice air seasonal and spatial variation snow Mercury cycling seawater mercury flux Nerentorp, Michelle Mercury cycling in the global marine environment |
topic_facet |
Inorganic Chemistry Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences Oceanography Hydrology Water Resources Environmental Sciences sea ice air seasonal and spatial variation snow Mercury cycling seawater mercury flux |
description |
Mercury is a globally distributed contaminant that exists in the atmosphere in its elemental form as a stable monoatomic gas. Having a residence time of around one year in air allows it to be transported far from emission sources and end up in polar ecosystems. Gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) can in air be oxidized by photo-induced processes which produce water soluble oxidized forms of mercury which are more easily deposited. Deposited mercury can in the environment be transformed to organic and bio-accumulating compounds which are neurotoxic, making mercury a global concern. Deposited oxidized mercury into the sea can be reduced back to the elemental form (GEM) and be re-emitted to air. This re-evasion constitutes of around 30% of the total emissions of mercury to air and originates from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Models have estimated that the yearly mercury emission from global sea surfaces is between 2000 and 3000 tonnes. The mercury flux rate at the interphase between air and water depends on the Henry´s law constant, the concentration gradient and the gas transfer velocity. How to properly account for weather parameters such as wind speed, and how to accurately adjust the flux model to mercury (originally developed for CO2) has been debated in the literature and have resulted in diverse results of mercury flux rates. In this work, mercury has been measured in air and in seawater during several campaigns in Antarctica, the Mediterranean Sea, the west coast of Sweden, Northern Finland and in the Arctic. From measured concentrations of mercury, the mercury flux rates from the studied areas were calculated using the gas exchange model described in Johnson (2010). Large spatial and seasonal variations of measured mercury concentrations were found which resulted in similar variations in calculated flux rates. In Antarctica and the Arctic, high concentrations of mercury were also measured in the sea ice environment. Seasonal variations in mercury concentrations were found and a correlation between ... |
author |
Nerentorp, Michelle |
author_facet |
Nerentorp, Michelle |
author_sort |
Nerentorp, Michelle |
title |
Mercury cycling in the global marine environment |
title_short |
Mercury cycling in the global marine environment |
title_full |
Mercury cycling in the global marine environment |
title_fullStr |
Mercury cycling in the global marine environment |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mercury cycling in the global marine environment |
title_sort |
mercury cycling in the global marine environment |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://research.chalmers.se/en/publication/243105 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Arctic Northern Finland Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Arctic Northern Finland Sea ice |
op_relation |
https://research.chalmers.se/en/publication/243105 |
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1766256205376782336 |