Tundra uptake of atmospheric elemental mercury drives Arctic mercury pollution
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 o...
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Online Access: | https://edoc.unibas.ch/68585/ https://edoc.unibas.ch/68585/1/20190118132748_5c41c6448b055.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22997 |
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ftunivbasel:oai:edoc.unibas.ch:68585 2023-05-15T14:27:02+02:00 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 2017 application/pdf https://edoc.unibas.ch/68585/ https://edoc.unibas.ch/68585/1/20190118132748_5c41c6448b055.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22997 eng eng Nature Research https://edoc.unibas.ch/68585/1/20190118132748_5c41c6448b055.pdf Obrist, Daniel and Agnan, Yannick and Jiskra, Martin and Olson, Christine L. and Colegrove, Dominique P. and Hueber, Jacques and Moore, Christopher W. and Sonke, Jeroen E. and Helmig, Detlev. (2017) Tundra uptake of atmospheric elemental mercury drives Arctic mercury pollution. Nature, 547 (7662). pp. 201-204. doi:10.1038/nature22997 info:pmid/28703199 urn:ISSN:0028-0836 urn:ISSN:1476-4687 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Article PeerReviewed 2017 ftunivbasel https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22997 2023-03-05T07:21:17Z 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 Arctic Ocean Tundra University of Basel: edoc Arctic Arctic Ocean Nature 547 7662 201 204 |
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University of Basel: edoc |
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ftunivbasel |
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English |
description |
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. |
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 |
spellingShingle |
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 |
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 |
Nature Research |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://edoc.unibas.ch/68585/ https://edoc.unibas.ch/68585/1/20190118132748_5c41c6448b055.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22997 |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Arctic Ocean Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Arctic Ocean Tundra |
op_relation |
https://edoc.unibas.ch/68585/1/20190118132748_5c41c6448b055.pdf Obrist, Daniel and Agnan, Yannick and Jiskra, Martin and Olson, Christine L. and Colegrove, Dominique P. and Hueber, Jacques and Moore, Christopher W. and Sonke, Jeroen E. and Helmig, Detlev. (2017) Tundra uptake of atmospheric elemental mercury drives Arctic mercury pollution. Nature, 547 (7662). pp. 201-204. doi:10.1038/nature22997 info:pmid/28703199 urn:ISSN:0028-0836 urn:ISSN:1476-4687 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22997 |
container_title |
Nature |
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547 |
container_issue |
7662 |
container_start_page |
201 |
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204 |
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