Abstract
We have measured total gaseous mercury concentrations(Hg°) at Point Barrow, Alaska since September 1998 in aneffort to determine the geographic extent and reaction mechanismof the so-called mercury depletion events (MDE) previouslyreported in the high Arctic at Alert, Canada. Hg° has beensampled now for nearly 2 years at Barrow. In September, 1999, webegan making the first automated measurements of reactive gaseousmercury (RGM) attempted in the Arctic, along with measurements ofHg accumulation in snowpack to determine the fate of the ‘depleted’ Hg°. During the fall and early winter, Hg°and RGM exhibit only minor variation, Hg° remaining within∼10% of global background, near 1.6–1.8 ng m-3. The MDEperiods are quite different, however; within days of Arcticsunrise in January, Hg° exhibits major variations from themean, rapidly dropping as low as 0.05 ng m-3 and then cyclingback to typical levels, sometimes exceeding global background. These events continue throughout Arctic spring, then end abruptlyfollowing snowmelt, in early June. Prior to Arctic sunrise, RGMremains near detection (<2 pg m-3), but after sunriseincreases dramatically (to levels as high as 900 pg/m3) insynchrony with the ‘depletion’ of Hg°. Both phenomenaexhibit a strong diel cycle, in parallel with UV-B. We concludethat MDE's involve rapid in-air oxidation of Hg° to aspecies of RGM by photochemically-driven reactions, probablyinvolving the same reactive bromine and chlorine compoundsinvolved in ozone destruction. Sharp increases in Hg in thesurface snowpack after sunrise coincident with periods of peakRGM suggest surface accumulation of the RGM by dry deposition.
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Lindberg, S.E., Brooks, S., Lin, CJ. et al. Formation of Reactive Gaseous Mercury in the Arctic: Evidence of Oxidation of Hg° to Gas-Phase Hg-II Compounds after Arctic Sunrise. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution: Focus 1, 295–302 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013171509022
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013171509022