High variability of atmospheric mercury in the summertime boundary layer through the central Arctic Ocean

Juan Yu; Zhouqing Xie; Hui Kang; Zheng Li; Chen Sun; Lingen Bian; Pengfei Zhang

doi:10.1038/srep06091

High variability of atmospheric mercury in the summertime boundary layer through the central Arctic Ocean

Sci Rep. 2014 Aug 15:4:6091. doi: 10.1038/srep06091.

Authors

Juan Yu¹, Zhouqing Xie¹, Hui Kang¹, Zheng Li¹, Chen Sun¹, Lingen Bian², Pengfei Zhang³

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Polar Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
² Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
³ 1] Institute of Polar Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China [2] Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, City College of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA.

Abstract

The biogeochemical cycles of mercury in the Arctic springtime have been intensively investigated due to mercury being rapidly removed from the atmosphere. However, the behavior of mercury in the Arctic summertime is still poorly understood. Here we report the characteristics of total gaseous mercury (TGM) concentrations through the central Arctic Ocean from July to September, 2012. The TGM concentrations varied considerably (from 0.15 ng/m(3) to 4.58 ng/m(3)), and displayed a normal distribution with an average of 1.23 ± 0.61 ng/m(3). The highest frequency range was 1.0-1.5 ng/m(3), lower than previously reported background values in the Northern Hemisphere. Inhomogeneous distributions were observed over the Arctic Ocean due to the effect of sea ice melt and/or runoff. A lower level of TGM was found in July than in September, potentially because ocean emission was outweighed by chemical loss.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't