Mercury isotope evidence for Arctic summertime re-emission of mercury from the cryosphere

Beatriz Ferreira Araujo, Stefan Osterwalder (), Natalie Szponar, Domenica Lee, Mariia V. Petrova, Jakob Boyd Pernov, Shaddy Ahmed, Lars-Eric Heimbürger-Boavida, Laure Laffont, Roman Teisserenc, Nikita Tananaev, Claus Nordstrom, Olivier Magand, Geoff Stupple, Henrik Skov, Alexandra Steffen, Bridget Bergquist, Katrine Aspmo Pfaffhuber, Jennie L. Thomas, Simon Scheper, Tuukka Petäjä, Aurélien Dommergue and Jeroen E. Sonke ()
Additional contact information
Beatriz Ferreira Araujo: Université de Toulouse
Stefan Osterwalder: ETH Zurich
Natalie Szponar: University of Toronto
Domenica Lee: University of Toronto
Mariia V. Petrova: Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography
Jakob Boyd Pernov: Aarhus University
Shaddy Ahmed: CNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP, IGE
Lars-Eric Heimbürger-Boavida: Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography
Laure Laffont: Université de Toulouse
Roman Teisserenc: Laboratoire Écologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement
Nikita Tananaev: Russian Academy of Sciences
Claus Nordstrom: Aarhus University
Olivier Magand: CNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP, IGE
Geoff Stupple: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Henrik Skov: Aarhus University
Alexandra Steffen: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Bridget Bergquist: University of Toronto
Katrine Aspmo Pfaffhuber: Norwegian Institute for Air Research
Jennie L. Thomas: CNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP, IGE
Simon Scheper: Dr. Simon Scheper—Research | Consulting | Teaching
Tuukka Petäjä: University of Helsinki
Aurélien Dommergue: CNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP, IGE
Jeroen E. Sonke: Université de Toulouse

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract During Arctic springtime, halogen radicals oxidize atmospheric elemental mercury (Hg0), which deposits to the cryosphere. This is followed by a summertime atmospheric Hg0 peak that is thought to result mostly from terrestrial Hg inputs to the Arctic Ocean, followed by photoreduction and emission to air. The large terrestrial Hg contribution to the Arctic Ocean and global atmosphere has raised concern over the potential release of permafrost Hg, via rivers and coastal erosion, with Arctic warming. Here we investigate Hg isotope variability of Arctic atmospheric, marine, and terrestrial Hg. We observe highly characteristic Hg isotope signatures during the summertime peak that reflect re-emission of Hg deposited to the cryosphere during spring. Air mass back trajectories support a cryospheric Hg emission source but no major terrestrial source. This implies that terrestrial Hg inputs to the Arctic Ocean remain in the marine ecosystem, without substantial loss to the global atmosphere, but with possible effects on food webs.

Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-32440-8

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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32440-8

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