Atmospheric depletion of mercury over Antarctica during glacial periods.
Mercury is a globally dispersed toxic metal that affects even remote polar areas. During seasonal atmospheric mercury depletion events in polar areas, mercury is removed from the atmosphere(1,2) and subsequently deposited in the surface snows(3). However, it is unknown whether these events, which ha...
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ftuniveneziairis:oai:iris.unive.it:10278/31180 2023-07-16T03:54:01+02:00 Atmospheric depletion of mercury over Antarctica during glacial periods. JITARU P GABRIELLI P MARTEEL A C. PLANE J. M PLANCHON F. A. M GAUCHARD P. A FERRARI C BOUTRON C. F ADAMS F. C HONG S CESCON, Paolo BARBANTE, Carlo Jitaru, P Gabrielli, P Marteel, A C. PLANE J., M. Planchon, F. A. M. Gauchard, P. A. Ferrari, C Boutron, C. F. Adams, F. C. Hong, S Cescon, Paolo Barbante, Carlo 2009 http://hdl.handle.net/10278/31180 eng eng firstpage:505 lastpage:508 journal:NATURE GEOSCIENCE http://hdl.handle.net/10278/31180 info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess EQUATORIAL PACIFIC-OCEAN PAST 800 000 YEARS ICE CORE SPRINGTIME DEPLETION METHYLATED MERCURY NATURAL SOURCE POLAR SUNRISE CYCLES SNOW TROPOSPHERE info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2009 ftuniveneziairis 2023-06-28T16:43:31Z Mercury is a globally dispersed toxic metal that affects even remote polar areas. During seasonal atmospheric mercury depletion events in polar areas, mercury is removed from the atmosphere(1,2) and subsequently deposited in the surface snows(3). However, it is unknown whether these events, which have been documented for the past two decades, have occurred in the past. Here we show that over the past 670,000 years, atmospheric mercury deposition in surface snows was greater during the coldest climatic stages, coincident with the highest atmospheric dust loads. A probable explanation for this increased scavenging is that the oxidation of gaseous mercury by sea-salt-derived halogens occurred in the cold atmosphere. The oxidized mercury compounds were then transferred to the abundant mineral dust particles and deposited on the snowpack, leading to the depletion of gaseous mercury in the Antarctic atmosphere. We conclude that polar regions acted as a mercury sink during the coldest climatic stages, and that substantial polar deposition of atmospheric mercury is therefore not an exclusively recent phenomenon. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica ice core Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia: ARCA (Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca) Antarctic Pacific The Antarctic |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia: ARCA (Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca) |
op_collection_id |
ftuniveneziairis |
language |
English |
topic |
EQUATORIAL PACIFIC-OCEAN PAST 800 000 YEARS ICE CORE SPRINGTIME DEPLETION METHYLATED MERCURY NATURAL SOURCE POLAR SUNRISE CYCLES SNOW TROPOSPHERE |
spellingShingle |
EQUATORIAL PACIFIC-OCEAN PAST 800 000 YEARS ICE CORE SPRINGTIME DEPLETION METHYLATED MERCURY NATURAL SOURCE POLAR SUNRISE CYCLES SNOW TROPOSPHERE JITARU P GABRIELLI P MARTEEL A C. PLANE J. M PLANCHON F. A. M GAUCHARD P. A FERRARI C BOUTRON C. F ADAMS F. C HONG S CESCON, Paolo BARBANTE, Carlo Atmospheric depletion of mercury over Antarctica during glacial periods. |
topic_facet |
EQUATORIAL PACIFIC-OCEAN PAST 800 000 YEARS ICE CORE SPRINGTIME DEPLETION METHYLATED MERCURY NATURAL SOURCE POLAR SUNRISE CYCLES SNOW TROPOSPHERE |
description |
Mercury is a globally dispersed toxic metal that affects even remote polar areas. During seasonal atmospheric mercury depletion events in polar areas, mercury is removed from the atmosphere(1,2) and subsequently deposited in the surface snows(3). However, it is unknown whether these events, which have been documented for the past two decades, have occurred in the past. Here we show that over the past 670,000 years, atmospheric mercury deposition in surface snows was greater during the coldest climatic stages, coincident with the highest atmospheric dust loads. A probable explanation for this increased scavenging is that the oxidation of gaseous mercury by sea-salt-derived halogens occurred in the cold atmosphere. The oxidized mercury compounds were then transferred to the abundant mineral dust particles and deposited on the snowpack, leading to the depletion of gaseous mercury in the Antarctic atmosphere. We conclude that polar regions acted as a mercury sink during the coldest climatic stages, and that substantial polar deposition of atmospheric mercury is therefore not an exclusively recent phenomenon. |
author2 |
Jitaru, P Gabrielli, P Marteel, A C. PLANE J., M. Planchon, F. A. M. Gauchard, P. A. Ferrari, C Boutron, C. F. Adams, F. C. Hong, S Cescon, Paolo Barbante, Carlo |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
JITARU P GABRIELLI P MARTEEL A C. PLANE J. M PLANCHON F. A. M GAUCHARD P. A FERRARI C BOUTRON C. F ADAMS F. C HONG S CESCON, Paolo BARBANTE, Carlo |
author_facet |
JITARU P GABRIELLI P MARTEEL A C. PLANE J. M PLANCHON F. A. M GAUCHARD P. A FERRARI C BOUTRON C. F ADAMS F. C HONG S CESCON, Paolo BARBANTE, Carlo |
author_sort |
JITARU P |
title |
Atmospheric depletion of mercury over Antarctica during glacial periods. |
title_short |
Atmospheric depletion of mercury over Antarctica during glacial periods. |
title_full |
Atmospheric depletion of mercury over Antarctica during glacial periods. |
title_fullStr |
Atmospheric depletion of mercury over Antarctica during glacial periods. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Atmospheric depletion of mercury over Antarctica during glacial periods. |
title_sort |
atmospheric depletion of mercury over antarctica during glacial periods. |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10278/31180 |
geographic |
Antarctic Pacific The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Pacific The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica ice core |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica ice core |
op_relation |
firstpage:505 lastpage:508 journal:NATURE GEOSCIENCE http://hdl.handle.net/10278/31180 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess |
_version_ |
1771551242297802752 |