Natural and anthropogenic atmospheric mercury in the European Arctic: a fractionation study
Gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) is converted to reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) during springtime Atmospheric Mercury Depletion Events (AMDE). This study reports the longest time series of GEM, RGM and particle-bound mercury (PHg) concentrations from a European Arctic site. From 27 April 2007 until 3...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:cba916af12c24cfaad870eff14f066be 2023-05-15T14:55:47+02:00 Natural and anthropogenic atmospheric mercury in the European Arctic: a fractionation study A. O. Steen T. Berg A. P. Dastoor D. A. Durnford O. Engelsen L. R. Hole K. A. Pfaffhuber 2011-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-6273-2011 https://doaj.org/article/cba916af12c24cfaad870eff14f066be EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/11/6273/2011/acp-11-6273-2011.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 doi:10.5194/acp-11-6273-2011 1680-7316 1680-7324 https://doaj.org/article/cba916af12c24cfaad870eff14f066be Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 11, Iss 13, Pp 6273-6284 (2011) Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 article 2011 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-6273-2011 2022-12-31T05:39:00Z Gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) is converted to reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) during springtime Atmospheric Mercury Depletion Events (AMDE). This study reports the longest time series of GEM, RGM and particle-bound mercury (PHg) concentrations from a European Arctic site. From 27 April 2007 until 31 December 2008 composite GEM, RGM and PHg measurements were conducted in Ny-Ålesund (78° 54′ N, 11° 53′ E). The average concentrations of the complete dataset were 1.6 ± 0.3 ng m −3 , 8 ± 13 pg m −3 and 8 ± 25 pg m −3 for GEM, RGM and PHg, respectively. For the complete dataset the atmospheric mercury distribution was 99 % GEM, whereas RGM and PHg constituted <1 %. The study revealed a seasonal distribution of GEM, RGM and PHg previously undiscovered in the Arctic. Increased concentrations of RGM were observed during the insolation period from March through August, while increased PHg concentrations occurred almost exclusively during the spring AMDE period in March and April. The elevated RGM concentrations suggest that atmospheric RGM deposition also occurs during the polar summer. RGM was suggested as the precursor for the PHg existence, but long range transportation of PHg has to be taken into consideration. Still there remain gaps in the knowledge of how RGM and PHg are related in the environment. RGM and PHg accounted for on average about 10 % of the depleted GEM during AMDEs. Although speculative, the fairly low RGM and PHg concentrations supported by the predominance of PHg with respect to RGM and no clear meteorological regime associated with these AMDEs would all suggest the events to be of non-local origin. With some exceptions, no clear meteorological regime was associated with the GEM, RGM and PHg concentrations throughout the year. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Ny Ålesund Ny-Ålesund Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Ny-Ålesund Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 11 13 6273 6284 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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language |
English |
topic |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
spellingShingle |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 A. O. Steen T. Berg A. P. Dastoor D. A. Durnford O. Engelsen L. R. Hole K. A. Pfaffhuber Natural and anthropogenic atmospheric mercury in the European Arctic: a fractionation study |
topic_facet |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
description |
Gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) is converted to reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) during springtime Atmospheric Mercury Depletion Events (AMDE). This study reports the longest time series of GEM, RGM and particle-bound mercury (PHg) concentrations from a European Arctic site. From 27 April 2007 until 31 December 2008 composite GEM, RGM and PHg measurements were conducted in Ny-Ålesund (78° 54′ N, 11° 53′ E). The average concentrations of the complete dataset were 1.6 ± 0.3 ng m −3 , 8 ± 13 pg m −3 and 8 ± 25 pg m −3 for GEM, RGM and PHg, respectively. For the complete dataset the atmospheric mercury distribution was 99 % GEM, whereas RGM and PHg constituted <1 %. The study revealed a seasonal distribution of GEM, RGM and PHg previously undiscovered in the Arctic. Increased concentrations of RGM were observed during the insolation period from March through August, while increased PHg concentrations occurred almost exclusively during the spring AMDE period in March and April. The elevated RGM concentrations suggest that atmospheric RGM deposition also occurs during the polar summer. RGM was suggested as the precursor for the PHg existence, but long range transportation of PHg has to be taken into consideration. Still there remain gaps in the knowledge of how RGM and PHg are related in the environment. RGM and PHg accounted for on average about 10 % of the depleted GEM during AMDEs. Although speculative, the fairly low RGM and PHg concentrations supported by the predominance of PHg with respect to RGM and no clear meteorological regime associated with these AMDEs would all suggest the events to be of non-local origin. With some exceptions, no clear meteorological regime was associated with the GEM, RGM and PHg concentrations throughout the year. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
A. O. Steen T. Berg A. P. Dastoor D. A. Durnford O. Engelsen L. R. Hole K. A. Pfaffhuber |
author_facet |
A. O. Steen T. Berg A. P. Dastoor D. A. Durnford O. Engelsen L. R. Hole K. A. Pfaffhuber |
author_sort |
A. O. Steen |
title |
Natural and anthropogenic atmospheric mercury in the European Arctic: a fractionation study |
title_short |
Natural and anthropogenic atmospheric mercury in the European Arctic: a fractionation study |
title_full |
Natural and anthropogenic atmospheric mercury in the European Arctic: a fractionation study |
title_fullStr |
Natural and anthropogenic atmospheric mercury in the European Arctic: a fractionation study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Natural and anthropogenic atmospheric mercury in the European Arctic: a fractionation study |
title_sort |
natural and anthropogenic atmospheric mercury in the european arctic: a fractionation study |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-6273-2011 https://doaj.org/article/cba916af12c24cfaad870eff14f066be |
geographic |
Arctic Ny-Ålesund |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Ny-Ålesund |
genre |
Arctic Ny Ålesund Ny-Ålesund |
genre_facet |
Arctic Ny Ålesund Ny-Ålesund |
op_source |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 11, Iss 13, Pp 6273-6284 (2011) |
op_relation |
http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/11/6273/2011/acp-11-6273-2011.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 doi:10.5194/acp-11-6273-2011 1680-7316 1680-7324 https://doaj.org/article/cba916af12c24cfaad870eff14f066be |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-6273-2011 |
container_title |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
13 |
container_start_page |
6273 |
op_container_end_page |
6284 |
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1766327802181713920 |