Permafrost Thaw Increases Methylmercury Formation in Subarctic Fennoscandia
Methylmercury (MeHg) forms in anoxic environments and can bioaccumulate and biomagnify in aquatic food webs to concentrations of concern for human and wildlife health. Mercury (Hg) pollution in the Arctic environment may worsen as these areas warm and Hg, currently locked in permafrost soils, is rem...
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ftsmithonian:oai:figshare.com:article/14493771 2023-05-15T15:00:42+02:00 Permafrost Thaw Increases Methylmercury Formation in Subarctic Fennoscandia Brittany Tarbier (10706886) Gustaf Hugelius (3861676) Anna Britta Kristina Sannel (10706889) Carluvy Baptista-Salazar (10706892) Sofi Jonsson (1694587) 1753-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c04108.s001 unknown https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Permafrost_Thaw_Increases_Methylmercury_Formation_in_Subarctic_Fennoscandia/14493771 doi:10.1021/acs.est.0c04108.s001 CC BY-NC 4.0 CC-BY-NC Biophysics Cell Biology Genetics Molecular Biology Ecology Developmental Biology Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified future estimates 178 soil samples 14 peat cores Hg methylation hotspots thermokarst formation report HgT thaw gradients HgT stocks carbon ratios representative peat plateau food webs 13 times Subarctic Fennoscandia Methylmercury Fennoscandian permafrost peatland sites collapse fen Arctic environment wildlife health anoxic environments permafrost soils MeHg concentrations 10 times interquartile range Total Hg thermokarst wetlands Fennoscandian permafrost peatlands Permafrost Thaw Increases Methylmer. Text Journal contribution 1753 ftsmithonian https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c04108.s001 2021-05-05T17:22:49Z Methylmercury (MeHg) forms in anoxic environments and can bioaccumulate and biomagnify in aquatic food webs to concentrations of concern for human and wildlife health. Mercury (Hg) pollution in the Arctic environment may worsen as these areas warm and Hg, currently locked in permafrost soils, is remobilized. One of the main concerns is the development of Hg methylation hotspots in the terrestrial environment due to thermokarst formation. The extent to which net methylation of Hg is enhanced upon thaw is, however, largely unknown. Here, we have studied the formation of Hg methylation hotspots using existing thaw gradients at five Fennoscandian permafrost peatland sites. Total Hg (HgT) and MeHg concentrations were analyzed in 178 soil samples from 14 peat cores. We observed 10 times higher concentrations of MeHg and 13 times higher %MeHg in the collapse fen (representing thawed conditions) as compared to the peat plateau (representing frozen conditions). This suggests significantly greater net methylation of Hg when thermokarst wetlands are formed. In addition, we report HgT to soil organic carbon ratios representative of Fennoscandian permafrost peatlands (median and interquartile range of 0.09 ± 0.07 μg HgT g –1 C) that are of value for future estimates of circumpolar HgT stocks. Other Non-Article Part of Journal/Newspaper Arctic Fennoscandia Fennoscandian Peat Peat plateau permafrost Subarctic Thermokarst Unknown Arctic |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Unknown |
op_collection_id |
ftsmithonian |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Biophysics Cell Biology Genetics Molecular Biology Ecology Developmental Biology Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified future estimates 178 soil samples 14 peat cores Hg methylation hotspots thermokarst formation report HgT thaw gradients HgT stocks carbon ratios representative peat plateau food webs 13 times Subarctic Fennoscandia Methylmercury Fennoscandian permafrost peatland sites collapse fen Arctic environment wildlife health anoxic environments permafrost soils MeHg concentrations 10 times interquartile range Total Hg thermokarst wetlands Fennoscandian permafrost peatlands Permafrost Thaw Increases Methylmer. |
spellingShingle |
Biophysics Cell Biology Genetics Molecular Biology Ecology Developmental Biology Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified future estimates 178 soil samples 14 peat cores Hg methylation hotspots thermokarst formation report HgT thaw gradients HgT stocks carbon ratios representative peat plateau food webs 13 times Subarctic Fennoscandia Methylmercury Fennoscandian permafrost peatland sites collapse fen Arctic environment wildlife health anoxic environments permafrost soils MeHg concentrations 10 times interquartile range Total Hg thermokarst wetlands Fennoscandian permafrost peatlands Permafrost Thaw Increases Methylmer. Brittany Tarbier (10706886) Gustaf Hugelius (3861676) Anna Britta Kristina Sannel (10706889) Carluvy Baptista-Salazar (10706892) Sofi Jonsson (1694587) Permafrost Thaw Increases Methylmercury Formation in Subarctic Fennoscandia |
topic_facet |
Biophysics Cell Biology Genetics Molecular Biology Ecology Developmental Biology Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified future estimates 178 soil samples 14 peat cores Hg methylation hotspots thermokarst formation report HgT thaw gradients HgT stocks carbon ratios representative peat plateau food webs 13 times Subarctic Fennoscandia Methylmercury Fennoscandian permafrost peatland sites collapse fen Arctic environment wildlife health anoxic environments permafrost soils MeHg concentrations 10 times interquartile range Total Hg thermokarst wetlands Fennoscandian permafrost peatlands Permafrost Thaw Increases Methylmer. |
description |
Methylmercury (MeHg) forms in anoxic environments and can bioaccumulate and biomagnify in aquatic food webs to concentrations of concern for human and wildlife health. Mercury (Hg) pollution in the Arctic environment may worsen as these areas warm and Hg, currently locked in permafrost soils, is remobilized. One of the main concerns is the development of Hg methylation hotspots in the terrestrial environment due to thermokarst formation. The extent to which net methylation of Hg is enhanced upon thaw is, however, largely unknown. Here, we have studied the formation of Hg methylation hotspots using existing thaw gradients at five Fennoscandian permafrost peatland sites. Total Hg (HgT) and MeHg concentrations were analyzed in 178 soil samples from 14 peat cores. We observed 10 times higher concentrations of MeHg and 13 times higher %MeHg in the collapse fen (representing thawed conditions) as compared to the peat plateau (representing frozen conditions). This suggests significantly greater net methylation of Hg when thermokarst wetlands are formed. In addition, we report HgT to soil organic carbon ratios representative of Fennoscandian permafrost peatlands (median and interquartile range of 0.09 ± 0.07 μg HgT g –1 C) that are of value for future estimates of circumpolar HgT stocks. |
format |
Other Non-Article Part of Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Brittany Tarbier (10706886) Gustaf Hugelius (3861676) Anna Britta Kristina Sannel (10706889) Carluvy Baptista-Salazar (10706892) Sofi Jonsson (1694587) |
author_facet |
Brittany Tarbier (10706886) Gustaf Hugelius (3861676) Anna Britta Kristina Sannel (10706889) Carluvy Baptista-Salazar (10706892) Sofi Jonsson (1694587) |
author_sort |
Brittany Tarbier (10706886) |
title |
Permafrost Thaw Increases Methylmercury Formation in Subarctic Fennoscandia |
title_short |
Permafrost Thaw Increases Methylmercury Formation in Subarctic Fennoscandia |
title_full |
Permafrost Thaw Increases Methylmercury Formation in Subarctic Fennoscandia |
title_fullStr |
Permafrost Thaw Increases Methylmercury Formation in Subarctic Fennoscandia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Permafrost Thaw Increases Methylmercury Formation in Subarctic Fennoscandia |
title_sort |
permafrost thaw increases methylmercury formation in subarctic fennoscandia |
publishDate |
1753 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c04108.s001 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Fennoscandia Fennoscandian Peat Peat plateau permafrost Subarctic Thermokarst |
genre_facet |
Arctic Fennoscandia Fennoscandian Peat Peat plateau permafrost Subarctic Thermokarst |
op_relation |
https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Permafrost_Thaw_Increases_Methylmercury_Formation_in_Subarctic_Fennoscandia/14493771 doi:10.1021/acs.est.0c04108.s001 |
op_rights |
CC BY-NC 4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY-NC |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c04108.s001 |
_version_ |
1766332779218337792 |