Tundra uptake of atmospheric elemental mercury drives Arctic mercury pollution
International audience Anthropogenic activities have led to large-scale mercury (Hg) pollution in the Arctic. It has been suggested that sea-salt-induced chemical cycling of Hg (through ‘atmospheric mercury depletion events’, or AMDEs) and wet deposition via precipitation are sources of Hg to the Ar...
Published in: | Nature |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
Other Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
HAL CCSD
2017
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://insu.hal.science/insu-03661370 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22997 |
id |
ftinsu:oai:HAL:insu-03661370v1 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftinsu:oai:HAL:insu-03661370v1 2023-12-17T10:24:03+01:00 Tundra uptake of atmospheric elemental mercury drives Arctic mercury pollution Obrist, Daniel Agnan, Yannick Jiskra, Martin Olson, Christine L. Colegrove, Dominique P. Hueber, Jacques Moore, Christopher W. Sonke, Jeroen E. Helmig, Detlev Géosciences Environnement Toulouse (GET) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3) Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP) Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) 2017 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03661370 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22997 en eng HAL CCSD info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1038/nature22997 insu-03661370 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03661370 BIBCODE: 2017Natur.547.201O doi:10.1038/nature22997 Nature https://insu.hal.science/insu-03661370 Nature, 2017, 547, pp.201-204. ⟨10.1038/nature22997⟩ [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2017 ftinsu https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22997 2023-11-22T17:31:52Z International audience Anthropogenic activities have led to large-scale mercury (Hg) pollution in the Arctic. It has been suggested that sea-salt-induced chemical cycling of Hg (through ‘atmospheric mercury depletion events’, or AMDEs) and wet deposition via precipitation are sources of Hg to the Arctic in its oxidized form (Hg(II)). However, there is little evidence for the occurrence of AMDEs outside of coastal regions, and their importance to net Hg deposition has been questioned. Furthermore, wet-deposition measurements in the Arctic showed some of the lowest levels of Hg deposition via precipitation worldwide, raising questions as to the sources of high Arctic Hg loading. Here we present a comprehensive Hg-deposition mass-balance study, and show that most of the Hg (about 70%) in the interior Arctic tundra is derived from gaseous elemental Hg (Hg(0)) deposition, with only minor contributions from the deposition of Hg(II) via precipitation or AMDEs. We find that deposition of Hg(0)—the form ubiquitously present in the global atmosphere—occurs throughout the year, and that it is enhanced in summer through the uptake of Hg(0) by vegetation. Tundra uptake of gaseous Hg(0) leads to high soil Hg concentrations, with Hg masses greatly exceeding the levels found in temperate soils. Our concurrent Hg stable isotope measurements in the atmosphere, snowpack, vegetation and soils support our finding that Hg(0) dominates as a source to the tundra. Hg concentration and stable isotope data from an inland-to-coastal transect show high soil Hg concentrations consistently derived from Hg(0), suggesting that the Arctic tundra might be a globally important Hg sink. We suggest that the high tundra soil Hg concentrations might also explain why Arctic rivers annually transport large amounts of Hg to the Arctic Ocean. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Ocean Tundra Institut national des sciences de l'Univers: HAL-INSU Arctic Arctic Ocean Nature 547 7662 201 204 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Institut national des sciences de l'Univers: HAL-INSU |
op_collection_id |
ftinsu |
language |
English |
topic |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] |
spellingShingle |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] Obrist, Daniel Agnan, Yannick Jiskra, Martin Olson, Christine L. Colegrove, Dominique P. Hueber, Jacques Moore, Christopher W. Sonke, Jeroen E. Helmig, Detlev Tundra uptake of atmospheric elemental mercury drives Arctic mercury pollution |
topic_facet |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] |
description |
International audience Anthropogenic activities have led to large-scale mercury (Hg) pollution in the Arctic. It has been suggested that sea-salt-induced chemical cycling of Hg (through ‘atmospheric mercury depletion events’, or AMDEs) and wet deposition via precipitation are sources of Hg to the Arctic in its oxidized form (Hg(II)). However, there is little evidence for the occurrence of AMDEs outside of coastal regions, and their importance to net Hg deposition has been questioned. Furthermore, wet-deposition measurements in the Arctic showed some of the lowest levels of Hg deposition via precipitation worldwide, raising questions as to the sources of high Arctic Hg loading. Here we present a comprehensive Hg-deposition mass-balance study, and show that most of the Hg (about 70%) in the interior Arctic tundra is derived from gaseous elemental Hg (Hg(0)) deposition, with only minor contributions from the deposition of Hg(II) via precipitation or AMDEs. We find that deposition of Hg(0)—the form ubiquitously present in the global atmosphere—occurs throughout the year, and that it is enhanced in summer through the uptake of Hg(0) by vegetation. Tundra uptake of gaseous Hg(0) leads to high soil Hg concentrations, with Hg masses greatly exceeding the levels found in temperate soils. Our concurrent Hg stable isotope measurements in the atmosphere, snowpack, vegetation and soils support our finding that Hg(0) dominates as a source to the tundra. Hg concentration and stable isotope data from an inland-to-coastal transect show high soil Hg concentrations consistently derived from Hg(0), suggesting that the Arctic tundra might be a globally important Hg sink. We suggest that the high tundra soil Hg concentrations might also explain why Arctic rivers annually transport large amounts of Hg to the Arctic Ocean. |
author2 |
Géosciences Environnement Toulouse (GET) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3) Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP) Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Obrist, Daniel Agnan, Yannick Jiskra, Martin Olson, Christine L. Colegrove, Dominique P. Hueber, Jacques Moore, Christopher W. Sonke, Jeroen E. Helmig, Detlev |
author_facet |
Obrist, Daniel Agnan, Yannick Jiskra, Martin Olson, Christine L. Colegrove, Dominique P. Hueber, Jacques Moore, Christopher W. Sonke, Jeroen E. Helmig, Detlev |
author_sort |
Obrist, Daniel |
title |
Tundra uptake of atmospheric elemental mercury drives Arctic mercury pollution |
title_short |
Tundra uptake of atmospheric elemental mercury drives Arctic mercury pollution |
title_full |
Tundra uptake of atmospheric elemental mercury drives Arctic mercury pollution |
title_fullStr |
Tundra uptake of atmospheric elemental mercury drives Arctic mercury pollution |
title_full_unstemmed |
Tundra uptake of atmospheric elemental mercury drives Arctic mercury pollution |
title_sort |
tundra uptake of atmospheric elemental mercury drives arctic mercury pollution |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://insu.hal.science/insu-03661370 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22997 |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Tundra |
op_source |
Nature https://insu.hal.science/insu-03661370 Nature, 2017, 547, pp.201-204. ⟨10.1038/nature22997⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1038/nature22997 insu-03661370 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03661370 BIBCODE: 2017Natur.547.201O doi:10.1038/nature22997 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22997 |
container_title |
Nature |
container_volume |
547 |
container_issue |
7662 |
container_start_page |
201 |
op_container_end_page |
204 |
_version_ |
1785562355757744128 |