A global ocean inventory of anthropogenic mercury based on water column measurements
Mercury is a toxic, bioaccumulating trace metal whose emissions to the environment have increased significantly as a result of anthropogenic activities such as mining and fossil fuel combustion. Several recent models have estimated that these emissions have increased the oceanic mercury inventory by...
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ftnioz:oai:imis.nioz.nl:240456 2023-05-15T15:08:31+02:00 A global ocean inventory of anthropogenic mercury based on water column measurements Lamborg, C.H. Hammerschmidt, C.R. Bowman, K.L. Swarr, G.J. Munson, K.M. Ohnemus, D.C. Lam, P.L. Heimbürger, L.-E. Rijkenberg, M.J.A. Saito, M.A. 2014 http://imis.nioz.nl/imis.php?module=ref&refid=240456 en eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/000339908000032 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/oi.org/10.1038/nature13563 http://imis.nioz.nl/imis.php?module=ref&refid=240456 info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess %3Ci%3ENature+%28Lond.%29+512%287512%29%3C%2Fi%3E%3A+65-68.+%3Ca+href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1038%2Fnature13563%22+target%3D%22_blank%22%3Ehttp%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1038%2Fnature13563%3C%2Fa%3E info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2014 ftnioz https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13563 2022-05-01T13:59:12Z Mercury is a toxic, bioaccumulating trace metal whose emissions to the environment have increased significantly as a result of anthropogenic activities such as mining and fossil fuel combustion. Several recent models have estimated that these emissions have increased the oceanic mercury inventory by 36–1,313 million moles since the 1500s. Such predictions have remained largely untested owing to a lack of appropriate historical data and natural archives. Here we report oceanographic measurements of total dissolved mercury and related parameters from several recent expeditions to the Atlantic, Pacific, Southern and Arctic oceans. We find that deep North Atlantic waters and most intermediate waters are anomalously enriched in mercury relative to the deep waters of the South Atlantic, Southern and Pacific oceans, probably as a result of the incorporation of anthropogenic mercury. We estimate the total amount of anthropogenic mercury present in the global ocean to be 290 ± 80 million moles, with almost two-thirds residing in water shallower than a thousand metres. Our findings suggest that anthropogenic perturbations to the global mercury cycle have led to an approximately 150 per cent increase in the amount of mercury in thermocline waters and have tripled the mercury content of surface waters compared to pre-anthropogenic conditions. This information may aid our understanding of the processes and the depths at which inorganic mercury species are converted into toxic methyl mercury and subsequently bioaccumulated in marine food webs. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic North Atlantic NIOZ Repository (Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research) Arctic Pacific Nature 512 7512 65 68 |
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English |
description |
Mercury is a toxic, bioaccumulating trace metal whose emissions to the environment have increased significantly as a result of anthropogenic activities such as mining and fossil fuel combustion. Several recent models have estimated that these emissions have increased the oceanic mercury inventory by 36–1,313 million moles since the 1500s. Such predictions have remained largely untested owing to a lack of appropriate historical data and natural archives. Here we report oceanographic measurements of total dissolved mercury and related parameters from several recent expeditions to the Atlantic, Pacific, Southern and Arctic oceans. We find that deep North Atlantic waters and most intermediate waters are anomalously enriched in mercury relative to the deep waters of the South Atlantic, Southern and Pacific oceans, probably as a result of the incorporation of anthropogenic mercury. We estimate the total amount of anthropogenic mercury present in the global ocean to be 290 ± 80 million moles, with almost two-thirds residing in water shallower than a thousand metres. Our findings suggest that anthropogenic perturbations to the global mercury cycle have led to an approximately 150 per cent increase in the amount of mercury in thermocline waters and have tripled the mercury content of surface waters compared to pre-anthropogenic conditions. This information may aid our understanding of the processes and the depths at which inorganic mercury species are converted into toxic methyl mercury and subsequently bioaccumulated in marine food webs. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lamborg, C.H. Hammerschmidt, C.R. Bowman, K.L. Swarr, G.J. Munson, K.M. Ohnemus, D.C. Lam, P.L. Heimbürger, L.-E. Rijkenberg, M.J.A. Saito, M.A. |
spellingShingle |
Lamborg, C.H. Hammerschmidt, C.R. Bowman, K.L. Swarr, G.J. Munson, K.M. Ohnemus, D.C. Lam, P.L. Heimbürger, L.-E. Rijkenberg, M.J.A. Saito, M.A. A global ocean inventory of anthropogenic mercury based on water column measurements |
author_facet |
Lamborg, C.H. Hammerschmidt, C.R. Bowman, K.L. Swarr, G.J. Munson, K.M. Ohnemus, D.C. Lam, P.L. Heimbürger, L.-E. Rijkenberg, M.J.A. Saito, M.A. |
author_sort |
Lamborg, C.H. |
title |
A global ocean inventory of anthropogenic mercury based on water column measurements |
title_short |
A global ocean inventory of anthropogenic mercury based on water column measurements |
title_full |
A global ocean inventory of anthropogenic mercury based on water column measurements |
title_fullStr |
A global ocean inventory of anthropogenic mercury based on water column measurements |
title_full_unstemmed |
A global ocean inventory of anthropogenic mercury based on water column measurements |
title_sort |
global ocean inventory of anthropogenic mercury based on water column measurements |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://imis.nioz.nl/imis.php?module=ref&refid=240456 |
geographic |
Arctic Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Pacific |
genre |
Arctic North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Arctic North Atlantic |
op_source |
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op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/000339908000032 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/oi.org/10.1038/nature13563 http://imis.nioz.nl/imis.php?module=ref&refid=240456 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13563 |
container_title |
Nature |
container_volume |
512 |
container_issue |
7512 |
container_start_page |
65 |
op_container_end_page |
68 |
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1766339863893770240 |