Overview of mercury measurements in the Antarctic troposphere

• Published in: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
• Main Authors: Dommergue, A., Sprovieri, F., Pirrone, N., Ebinghaus, R., Brooks, S., Courteaud, J., Ferrari, P.
• Other Authors: CHANG (CHANG), Laboratoire d'étude des transferts en hydrologie et environnement (LTHE), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble (INPG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble (INPG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research (IIA), National Research Council of Italy, GKSS-Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH, Institute for Coastal Research, ARL Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division (ATD), NOAA Air Resources Laboratory (ARL), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), program Glaciologie 902
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2010
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology; AMAP; Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctica; Arctic; Human health; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/insu-00554305; https://insu.hal.science/insu-00554305/document; https://insu.hal.science/insu-00554305/file/acp-10-3309-2010.pdf; https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-3309-2010

International audience Polar ecosystems are considered to be the last pristine environments of the earth relatively uninfluenced by human activities. Antarctica in particular, compared to the Arctic is considered to be even less affected by any kind of anthropogenic influences. Once contaminants reach the Polar Regions, their lifetime in the troposphere depends on local removal processes. Atmospheric mercury, in particular, has unique characteristics that include long-range transport to Polar Regions and the transformation to more toxic and water-soluble compounds that may potentially become bioavailable. These chemical-physical properties have placed mercury on the priority list of an increasing number of International, European and National conventions, and agreements, aimed at the protection of the ecosystems including human health (i.e. GEO, UNEP, AMAP, UN-ECE, HELCOM, OSPAR). This interest, in turn, stimulates a significant amount of research including measurements of gaseous elemental mercury reaction rate constant with atmospheric oxidants, experimental and modelling studies in order to understand the cycling of mercury in Polar Regions, and its impact to these ecosystems. Special attention in terms of contamination of Polar Regions is paid to the consequences of the springtime phenomena, referred to as "Atmospheric Mercury Depletion Events" (AMDEs), during which elemental mercury through a series of photochemically-initiated reactions involving halogens, may be converted to a reactive form that may accumulate in polar coastal, or sea ice, ecosystems. The discovery of the AMDEs, first noted in the Arctic, has also been observed at both poles and was initially considered to result in an important net input of atmospheric mercury into the polar surfaces. However, recent studies point out that complex processes take place after deposition that may result in less significant net-inputs from the atmosphere since a fraction, sometimes significant, of deposited mercury may be recycled. Therefore, the ...