Dynamic oxidation of gaseous mercury in the Arctic troposphere at polar sunrise

Gaseous elemental mercury (Hg0) is a globally distributed air toxin with a long atmospheric residence time. Any process that reduces its atmospheric lifetime increases its potential accumulation in the biosphere. Our data from Barrow, AK, at 71 degrees N show that rapid, photochemically driven oxida...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental Science & Technology
Main Authors: Lindberg, Steve E, Brooks, Steve, Lin, C J, Scott, Karen J, Landis, Matthew S, Stevens, Robert K, Goodsite, Michael Evan, Richter, Andreas
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2002
Subjects:
Air Pollutants
Arctic Regions
Bacteria
Biological Availability
Ecosystem
Environmental Monitoring
Gases
Mercury
Oxidation-Reduction
Periodicity
Photochemistry
Snow
Arctic
Online Access:https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/da/publications/69e7d110-ff0d-11dc-86ef-000ea68e967b
https://doi.org/10.1021/es0111941
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Summary:Gaseous elemental mercury (Hg0) is a globally distributed air toxin with a long atmospheric residence time. Any process that reduces its atmospheric lifetime increases its potential accumulation in the biosphere. Our data from Barrow, AK, at 71 degrees N show that rapid, photochemically driven oxidation of boundary-layer Hg0 after polar sunrise, probably by reactive halogens, creates a rapidly depositing species of oxidized gaseous mercury in the remote Arctic troposphere at concentrations in excess of 900 pg m(-3). This mercury accumulates in the snowpack during polar spring at an accelerated rate in a form that is bioavailable to bacteria and is released with snowmelt during the summer emergence of the Arctic ecosystem. Evidence suggests that this is a recent phenomenon that may be occurring throughout the earth's polar regions. Udgivelsesdato: 2002-Mar-15

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