Annual time-series of total filterable atmospheric mercury concentrations in the Arctic

Lu, Junjie; Schroeder, W. H.

doi:10.1111/j.1600-0889.2004.00107.x

Cited by 29 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…This method has been previously presented in many publications, for example: Munthe et al, 2001;Landis et al, 2002;. Calibration Lu et al, 2001;Steffen et al, 2002;Banic et al, 2003;Slemr et al, 2003;Steffen et al, 2003a;Steffen et al, 2003b;Ariya et al, 2004;Lu and Schroeder, 2004 (Berg et al, 2003a;Berg et al, 2003b;Wangberg et al, 2003;Ferrari et al, 2005;Sprovieri et al, 2005aSprovieri et al, , 2005bFain et al, 2006b;Fain et al, 2006a;Sommar et al, 2007) Resolute GEM Tekran 2537A (Lahoutifard et al, 2005) Station Nord GEM Tekran 2537A Gardis (Ferrari et al, 2004a;Ferrari et al, 2004b;Skov et al, 2004) Neumayer GEM, RGM Tekran 2537A Tekran 2537A /130 (prototype) (Ebinghaus et al, 2002;Temme et al, 2003) Terra Nova GEM, RGM Tekran 2537A/1130 (Sprovieri et al, 2002) North Atlantic Ocean…”

Section: Gaseous Elemental Mercury (Gem)mentioning

confidence: 99%

A synthesis of atmospheric mercury depletion event chemistry in the atmosphere and snow

Steffen

Douglas

Amyot³

et al. 2008

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

443

439

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Abstract. It was discovered in 1995 that, during the spring time, unexpectedly low concentrations of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) occurred in the Arctic air. This was surprising for a pollutant known to have a long residence time in the atmosphere; however conditions appeared to exist in the Arctic that promoted this depletion of mercury (Hg). This phenomenon is termed atmospheric mercury depletion events (AMDEs) and its discovery has revolutionized our understanding of the cycling of Hg in Polar Regions while stimulating a significant amount of research to understand its impact to this fragile ecosystem. Shortly after the discovery was made in Canada, AMDEs were confirmed to occur throughout the Arctic, sub-Artic and Antarctic coasts. It is now known that, through a series of photochemically initiated reactions involving halogens, GEM is converted to a Correspondence to: A. Steffen (alexandra.steffen@ec.gc.ca) more reactive species and is subsequently associated to particles in the air and/or deposited to the polar environment. AMDEs are a means by which Hg is transferred from the atmosphere to the environment that was previously unknown. In this article we review Hg research taken place in Polar Regions pertaining to AMDEs, the methods used to collect Hg in different environmental media, research results of the current understanding of AMDEs from field, laboratory and modeling work, how Hg cycles around the environment after AMDEs, gaps in our current knowledge and the future impacts that AMDEs may have on polar environments. The research presented has shown that while considerable improvements in methodology to measure Hg have been made but the main limitation remains knowing the speciation of Hg in the various media. The processes that drive AMDEs and how they occur are discussed. As well, the role that the snow pack and the sea ice play in the cycling of Hg is presented. It has been found that deposition of Hg from AMDEs occurs at marine coasts and not far inland and that a fraction of the Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. deposited Hg does not remain in the same form in the snow. Kinetic studies undertaken have demonstrated that bromine is the major oxidant depleting Hg in the atmosphere. Modeling results demonstrate that there is a significant deposition of Hg to Polar Regions as a result of AMDEs. Models have also shown that Hg is readily transported to the Arctic from source regions, at times during springtime when this environment is actively transforming Hg from the atmosphere to the snow and ice surfaces. The presence of significant amounts of methyl Hg in snow in the Arctic surrounding AMDEs is important because this species is the link between the environment and impacts to wildlife and humans. Further, much work on methylation and demethylation processes has occurred but these processes are not yet fully understood. Recent changes in the climate and sea ice cover in Polar Regions are likely to have strong effects on the cycling of Hg in this envir...

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Section: Gaseous Elemental Mercury (Gem)mentioning

confidence: 99%

A synthesis of atmospheric mercury depletion event chemistry in the atmosphere and snow

Steffen

Douglas

Amyot³

et al. 2008

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

443

439

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…PBM is associated with airborne particles -e.g., dust, soot, sea-salt aerosols or ice crystals -or originates from the adsorption of reactive mercury onto atmospheric particles (Lu and Schroeder, 2004). Field and modeling studies (Rutter and Schauer, 2007;Amos et al, 2012;Steffen et al, 2014) suggested that the partitioning of mercury onto particles might be driven by air temperature and aerosol particle loadings.…”

Section: Particle-bound Mercurymentioning

confidence: 99%

A 2-year record of atmospheric mercury species at a background Southern Hemisphere station on Amsterdam Island

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Although essential to fully understand the cycling of mercury at the global scale, mercury species records in the Southern Hemisphere are scarce. Under the framework of the Global Mercury Observation System (GMOS) project, a monitoring station has been set up on Amsterdam Island (37 • 48 S, 77 • 34 E) in the remote southern Indian Ocean. For the first time in the Southern Hemisphere, a 2-year record of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) and particle-bound mercury (PBM) is presented. GEM concentrations were remarkably steady (1.03 ± 0.08 ng m −3 ) while RGM and PBM concentrations were very low and exhibited a strong variability (mean: 0.34 pg m −3 , range: < detection limit-4.07 pg m −3 ; and mean: 0.67 pg m −3 , range: < detection limit-12.67 pg m −3 , respectively). Despite the remoteness of the island, wind sector analysis, air mass back trajectories and the observation of radonic storms highlighted a longrange contribution from the southern African continent to the GEM and PBM budgets from July to September during the biomass burning season. Low concentrations of GEM were associated with southerly polar and marine air masses from the remote southern Indian Ocean. This unique data set provides new baseline GEM concentrations in the Southern Hemisphere midlatitudes while mercury speciation along with upcoming wet deposition data will help to improve our understanding of the mercury cycle in the marine boundary layer.

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“…Particulate mercury is associated with airborne particles, such as dust, soot, and sea salt aerosols, and is likely produced by adsorption of RGM onto atmospheric particles (Lu and Schroeder, 2004). Most research indicates higher Hg P concentrations and fractions in suspended particles in urban or industrial areas than in rural areas (Fang et al, 2001a(Fang et al, , 2011a(Fang et al, , 2012Kim et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics of atmospheric mercury deposition and size-fractionated particulate mercury in urban Nanjing, China

et al. 2014

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Abstract.A comprehensive measurement study of mercury wet deposition and size-fractionated particulate mercury (Hg P ) concurrent with meteorological variables was conducted from June 2011 to February 2012 to evaluate the characteristics of mercury deposition and particulate mercury in urban Nanjing, China. The volume-weighted mean (VWM) concentration of mercury in rainwater was 52.9 ng L −1 with a range of 46.3-63.6 ng L −1 . The wet deposition per unit area was averaged 56.5 µg m −2 over 9 months, which was lower than that in most Chinese cities, but much higher than annual deposition in urban North America and Japan. The wet deposition flux exhibited obvious seasonal variation strongly linked with the amount of precipitation. Wet deposition in summer contributed more than 80 % to the total amount. A part of contribution to wet deposition of mercury from anthropogenic sources was evidenced by the association between wet deposition and sulfates, as well as nitrates in rainwater. The ions correlated most significantly with mercury were formate, calcium, and potassium, which suggested that natural sources including vegetation and resuspended soil should be considered as an important factor to affect the wet deposition of mercury in Nanjing. The average Hg P concentration was 1.10 ± 0.57 ng m −3 . A distinct seasonal distribution of Hg P concentrations was found to be higher in winter as a result of an increase in the PM 10 concentration. Overall, more than half of the Hg P existed in the particle size range less than 2.1 µm. The highest concentration of Hg P in coarse particles was observed in summer, while Hg P in fine particles dominated in fall and winter. The size distribution of averaged mercury content in particulates was bimodal, with two peaks in the bins of < 0.7 µm and 4.7-5.8 µm. Dry deposition per unit area of Hg P was estimated to be 47.2 µg m −2 using meteorological conditions and a size-resolved particle dry deposition model. This was 16.5 % less than mercury wet deposition. Compared to Hg P in fine particles, Hg P in coarse particles contributed more to the total dry deposition due to higher deposition velocities. Negative correlation between precipitation and the Hg P concentration reflected the effect of scavenging of Hg P by precipitation.

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Annual time-series of total filterable atmospheric mercury concentrations in the Arctic

Cited by 29 publications

References 41 publications

A synthesis of atmospheric mercury depletion event chemistry in the atmosphere and snow

A synthesis of atmospheric mercury depletion event chemistry in the atmosphere and snow

A 2-year record of atmospheric mercury species at a background Southern Hemisphere station on Amsterdam Island

Characteristics of atmospheric mercury deposition and size-fractionated particulate mercury in urban Nanjing, China

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