Influence of Snow and Ice Crystal Formation and Accumulation on Mercury Deposition to the Arctic

Douglas, Thomas A.; Sturm, Matthew; Simpson, W. R.; Blum, Joel D.; Alvarez-Aviles, L.; Keeler, Gerald J.; Perovich, Donald K.; Biswas, Abir; Johnson, Kelsey P.

doi:10.1021/es070502d

Cited by 105 publications

(146 citation statements)

References 51 publications

(106 reference statements)

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“…[6] The results suggest that at least half of the AMDE Hg is lost within 1 week since deposition but that ,10 to 25 % remains. A recent study based on snow collected on land and on the sea ice near Barrow, Alaska, [5] provides some insight into why the results in Fig. 10 suggest that the variance in Hg concentrations increases with time.…”

Section: Eastern Beaufort Sea Belugamentioning

confidence: 90%

“…When new sea ice (nilas) forms, brine and frost flowers fractionate halogens and other chemical compounds, depositing them onto the sea ice surface. [5][6][7] These sea ice processes, together with the seasonality of sunlight, are key factors underpinning Arctic Mercury Depletion Events (AMDEs), which are unique to polar regions. The most visible change in the Arctic over the past 30 years is the loss of multiyear sea ice from the Arctic Ocean and its replacement by seasonal sea ice.…”

Section: Jane Kirk Is An Environment Canada Research Scientist At Thementioning

confidence: 99%

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The fate of mercury in Arctic terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, a review

Douglas

Loseto²,

Macdonald³

et al. 2012

Environ. Chem.

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Environmental context. Mercury, in its methylated form, is a neurotoxin that biomagnifies in marine and terrestrial foodwebs leading to elevated levels in fish and fish-eating mammals worldwide, including at numerous Arctic locations. Elevated mercury concentrations in Arctic country foods present a significant exposure risk to Arctic people. We present a detailed review of the fate of mercury in Arctic terrestrial and marine ecosystems, taking into account the extreme seasonality of Arctic ecosystems and the unique processes associated with sea ice and Arctic hydrology.Abstract. This review is the result of a series of multidisciplinary meetings organised by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme as part of their 2011 Assessment 'Mercury in the Arctic'. This paper presents the state-of-the-art knowledge on the environmental fate of mercury following its entry into the Arctic by oceanic, atmospheric and terrestrial pathways. Our focus is on the movement, transformation and bioaccumulation of Hg in aquatic (marine and fresh water) and terrestrial ecosystems. The processes most relevant to biological Hg uptake and the potential risk associated with Hg exposure in wildlife are emphasised. We present discussions of the chemical transformations of newly deposited or transported Hg in marine, fresh water and terrestrial environments and of the movement of Hg from air, soil and water environmental compartments into food webs. Methylation, a key process controlling the fate of Hg in most ecosystems, and the role of trophic processes in controlling Hg in higher order animals are also included. Case studies on Eastern Beaufort Sea beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) and landlocked Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) are presented as examples of the relationship between ecosystem trophic processes and biologic Hg levels. We examine whether atmospheric mercury depletion events (AMDEs) contribute to increased Hg levels in Arctic biota and provide information on the links between organic carbon and Hg speciation, dynamics and bioavailability. Long-term sequestration of Hg into non-biological archives is also addressed. The review concludes by identifying major knowledge gaps in our understanding, including:(1) the rates of Hg entry into marine and terrestrial ecosystems and the rates of inorganic and MeHg uptake by Arctic microbial and algal communities; (2) the bioavailable fraction of AMDE-related Hg and its rate of accumulation by biota and (3) the fresh water and marine MeHg cycle in the Arctic, especially the marine MeHg cycle.

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Section: Eastern Beaufort Sea Belugamentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Jane Kirk Is An Environment Canada Research Scientist At Thementioning

confidence: 99%

The fate of mercury in Arctic terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, a review

Douglas

Loseto²,

Macdonald³

et al. 2012

Environ. Chem.

Self Cite

123

147

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Other aerosols such as sea salts and ice crystals are also common during the spring at Alert. Both these aerosols are effective scavengers of RGM and have been associated with elevated levels of PHg and Hg in the snow (Rutter and Schauer, 2007a;Douglas et al, 2008;Malcolm et al, 2010;Steffen et al, 2013). Coarse particle Na + , mostly sea salt derived, is elevated in February and at the beginning of March at Alert (Leaitch et al, 2014) but decreases in April.…”

Section: Gem (Ng Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies have been reported on the deposition and fate of mercury on snow and ice surfaces (Boutron et al, 1998; Lu et al Lalonde et al, 2002;Dommergue et al, 2003aDommergue et al, , b, 2009Ariya et al, 2004;Douglas and Sturm, 2004;Ferrari et al, 2004aFerrari et al, , b, 2005Douglas et al, 2005Douglas et al, , 2008Douglas et al, , 2012Fitzgerald et al, 2005;Lahoutifard et al, 2005;St. Louis et al, 2005;Kirk et al, 2006;Constant et al, 2007;Poulain et al, 2007;Outridge et al, 2008;Poissant et al, 2008;Carignan and Sonke, 2010;Durnford and Dastoor, 2011;Durnford et al, 2012), but the long-term snow data presented here are unique.…”

Section: Mercury In Snow At Alertmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric mercury speciation and mercury in snow over time at Alert, Canada

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Ten years of atmospheric mercury speciation data and 14 years of mercury in snow data from Alert, Nunavut, Canada, are examined. The speciation data, collected from 2002 to 2011, includes gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), particulate mercury (PHg) and reactive gaseous mercury (RGM). During the winter-spring period of atmospheric mercury depletion events (AMDEs), when GEM is close to being completely depleted from the air, the concentration of both PHg and RGM rise significantly. During this period, the median concentrations for PHg is 28.2 pgm−3 and RGM is 23.9 pgm−3, from March to June, in comparison to the annual median concentrations of 11.3 and 3.2 pgm−3 for PHg and RGM, respectively. In each of the ten years of sampling, the concentration of PHg increases steadily from January through March and is higher than the concentration of RGM. This pattern begins to change in April when the levels of PHg peak and RGM begin to increase. In May, the high PHg and low RGM concentration regime observed in the early spring undergoes a transition to a regime with higher RGM and much lower PHg concentrations. The higher RGM concentration continues into June. The transition is driven by the atmospheric conditions of air temperature and particle availability. Firstly, a high ratio of the concentrations of PHg to RGM is reported at low temperatures which suggests that oxidized gaseous mercury partitions to available particles to form PHg. Prior to the transition, the median air temperature is −24.8 °C and after the transition the median air temperature is −5.8 °C. Secondly, the high PHg concentrations occur in the spring when high particle concentrations are present. The high particle concentrations are principally due to Arctic haze and sea salts. In the snow, the concentrations of mercury peak in May for all years. Springtime deposition of total mercury to the snow at Alert peaks in May when atmospheric conditions favour higher levels of RGM. Therefore, the conditions in the atmosphere directly impact when the highest amount of mercury will be deposited to the snow during the Arctic spring.

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“…Instead, Asuma et al [40] observed both densely rimed dendrites and graupels in the western Canadian Arctic together with crystals grown by diffusion (plates, columns, bullet rosettes). These two different growth [41] collected snow and ice crystals in the air, on the ground and on sea-ice in Alaska to study the deposition of mercury, predominantly present in the atmosphere as a gaseous element. Their results showed that mercury concentrations were related to the type and formation of snow and ice crystals.…”

Section: Physical and Chemical Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%