Mercury in the Arctic tundra snowpack: temporal and spatial concentration patterns and trace gas exchanges
In the Arctic, the snowpack forms the major interface between atmospheric and terrestrial cycling of mercury (Hg), a global pollutant. We investigated Hg dynamics in an interior Arctic tundra snowpack in northern Alaska during two winter seasons. Using a snow tower system to monitor Hg trace gas exc...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
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Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2018
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1939-2018 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/1939/2018/tc-12-1939-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/article/03bada886b004f6395a3dd2e32b60fbd |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:03bada886b004f6395a3dd2e32b60fbd 2023-05-15T14:34:28+02:00 Mercury in the Arctic tundra snowpack: temporal and spatial concentration patterns and trace gas exchanges Y. Agnan T. A. Douglas D. Helmig J. Hueber D. Obrist 2018-06-01 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1939-2018 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/1939/2018/tc-12-1939-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/article/03bada886b004f6395a3dd2e32b60fbd en eng Copernicus Publications doi:10.5194/tc-12-1939-2018 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/1939/2018/tc-12-1939-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/article/03bada886b004f6395a3dd2e32b60fbd undefined The Cryosphere, Vol 12, Pp 1939-1956 (2018) envir geo Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2018 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1939-2018 2023-01-22T18:03:51Z In the Arctic, the snowpack forms the major interface between atmospheric and terrestrial cycling of mercury (Hg), a global pollutant. We investigated Hg dynamics in an interior Arctic tundra snowpack in northern Alaska during two winter seasons. Using a snow tower system to monitor Hg trace gas exchange, we observed consistent concentration declines of gaseous elemental Hg (Hg0gas) from the atmosphere to the snowpack to soils. The snowpack itself was unlikely a direct sink for atmospheric Hg0gas. In addition, there was no evidence of photochemical reduction of HgII to Hg0gas in the tundra snowpack, with the exception of short periods during late winter in the uppermost snow layer. The patterns in this interior Arctic snowpack thus differ substantially from observations in Arctic coastal and temperate snowpacks. We consistently measured low concentrations of both total and dissolved Hg in snowpack throughout the two seasons. Chemical tracers showed that Hg was mainly associated with local mineral dust and regional marine sea spray inputs. Mass balance calculations show that the snowpack represents a small reservoir of Hg, resulting in low inputs during snowmelt. Taken together, the results from this study suggest that interior Arctic snowpacks are negligible sources of Hg to the Arctic. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic The Cryosphere Tundra Alaska Unknown Arctic The Cryosphere 12 6 1939 1956 |
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language |
English |
topic |
envir geo |
spellingShingle |
envir geo Y. Agnan T. A. Douglas D. Helmig J. Hueber D. Obrist Mercury in the Arctic tundra snowpack: temporal and spatial concentration patterns and trace gas exchanges |
topic_facet |
envir geo |
description |
In the Arctic, the snowpack forms the major interface between atmospheric and terrestrial cycling of mercury (Hg), a global pollutant. We investigated Hg dynamics in an interior Arctic tundra snowpack in northern Alaska during two winter seasons. Using a snow tower system to monitor Hg trace gas exchange, we observed consistent concentration declines of gaseous elemental Hg (Hg0gas) from the atmosphere to the snowpack to soils. The snowpack itself was unlikely a direct sink for atmospheric Hg0gas. In addition, there was no evidence of photochemical reduction of HgII to Hg0gas in the tundra snowpack, with the exception of short periods during late winter in the uppermost snow layer. The patterns in this interior Arctic snowpack thus differ substantially from observations in Arctic coastal and temperate snowpacks. We consistently measured low concentrations of both total and dissolved Hg in snowpack throughout the two seasons. Chemical tracers showed that Hg was mainly associated with local mineral dust and regional marine sea spray inputs. Mass balance calculations show that the snowpack represents a small reservoir of Hg, resulting in low inputs during snowmelt. Taken together, the results from this study suggest that interior Arctic snowpacks are negligible sources of Hg to the Arctic. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Y. Agnan T. A. Douglas D. Helmig J. Hueber D. Obrist |
author_facet |
Y. Agnan T. A. Douglas D. Helmig J. Hueber D. Obrist |
author_sort |
Y. Agnan |
title |
Mercury in the Arctic tundra snowpack: temporal and spatial concentration patterns and trace gas exchanges |
title_short |
Mercury in the Arctic tundra snowpack: temporal and spatial concentration patterns and trace gas exchanges |
title_full |
Mercury in the Arctic tundra snowpack: temporal and spatial concentration patterns and trace gas exchanges |
title_fullStr |
Mercury in the Arctic tundra snowpack: temporal and spatial concentration patterns and trace gas exchanges |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mercury in the Arctic tundra snowpack: temporal and spatial concentration patterns and trace gas exchanges |
title_sort |
mercury in the arctic tundra snowpack: temporal and spatial concentration patterns and trace gas exchanges |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1939-2018 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/1939/2018/tc-12-1939-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/article/03bada886b004f6395a3dd2e32b60fbd |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic The Cryosphere Tundra Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic The Cryosphere Tundra Alaska |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 12, Pp 1939-1956 (2018) |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-12-1939-2018 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/12/1939/2018/tc-12-1939-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/article/03bada886b004f6395a3dd2e32b60fbd |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1939-2018 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
1939 |
op_container_end_page |
1956 |
_version_ |
1766307494645202944 |