Profiles of Mercury in the snow pack at Station Nord, Greenland shortly after polar sunrise

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Ferrari, Christophe, Dommergue, Aurélien, Boutron, Claude, Jitaru, Petru, Adams, Freddy
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP ), Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS), Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Micro and Trace Analysis Center (Micro and Trace Analysis Center), University of Antwerp (UA)-Micro and Trace Analysis Center
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2004
• Subjects: [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Greenland; Station Nord
• Online Access: https://hal.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/hal-04482765; https://hal.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/hal-04482765/document; https://hal.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/hal-04482765/file/Geophysical%20Research%20Letters%20-%202004%20-%20Ferrari%20-%20Profiles%20of%20Mercury%20in%20the%20snow%20pack%20at%20Station%20Nord%20Greenland%20shortly.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2003gl018961

International audience Mercury (Hg) species have been measured in the snow pack at Station Nord, Greenland both in the snow and in the air of snow from February 25 to March 15, 2002, during twilight and low solar irradiation periods. More than 99% of Hg is in the snow itself (∼94–97% as Hg 2+ and ∼5% as MeHg + ) while less than 1% is in the interstitial air of snow as Hg°. Gaseous Elemental Mercury (Hg°) concentrations, decreased exponentially with depth from ∼1.5 ng/m 3 outside to ∼0.1 ng/m 3 at 120 cm depth in the snow air. Hg° incorporation flux to the snow pack has been evaluated to ∼5.8–7.0 pg/m 2 /h which is weak, indicating that this process does not change significantly the Hg content in the snow. We believe that this decrease in the air of snow is the result of fast oxidation processes of Hg° rather than adsorption of Hg° onto snow surfaces.