Chemical cycling and deposition of atmospheric mercury in polar regions: review of recent measurements and comparison with models
Name
acp-16-10735-2016.pdf
Size
5.32 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
4ea4612dfdd5d5ae077f3f0c34e3e829
Author(s)
Angot, Hélène
Dastoor, Ashu
De Simone, Francesco
Gårdfeldt, Katarina
Gencarelli, Christian N.
Hedgecock, Ian M.
Langer, Sarka
Magand, Olivier
Mastromonaco, Michelle N.
Nordstrøm, Claus
Date Issued
August 2016
Journal
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Publisher
Copernicus Publications
Citation
Angot, Hélène et al. “Chemical Cycling and Deposition of Atmospheric Mercury in Polar Regions: Review of Recent Measurements and Comparison with Models.” Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 16, 16 (August 2016): 10735–10763 © 2016 The Author(s)
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Mercury (Hg) is a worldwide contaminant that can cause adverse health effects to wildlife and humans. While atmospheric modeling traces the link from emissions to deposition of Hg onto environmental surfaces, large uncertainties arise from our incomplete understanding of atmospheric processes (oxidation pathways, deposition, and re-emission). Atmospheric Hg reactivity is exacerbated in high latitudes and there is still much to be learned from polar regions in terms of atmospheric processes. This paper provides a synthesis of the atmospheric Hg monitoring data available in recent years (2011-2015) in the Arctic and in Antarctica along with a comparison of these observations with numerical simulations using four cutting-edge global models. The cycle of atmospheric Hg in the Arctic and in Antarctica presents both similarities and differences. Coastal sites in the two regions are both influenced by springtime atmospheric Hg depletion events and by summertime snowpack re-emission and oceanic evasion of Hg. The cycle of atmospheric Hg differs between the two regions primarily because of their different geography. While Arctic sites are significantly influenced by northern hemispheric Hg emissions especially in winter, coastal Antarctic sites are significantly influenced by the reactivity observed on the East Antarctic ice sheet due to katabatic winds. Based on the comparison of multi-model simulations with observations, this paper discusses whether the processes that affect atmospheric Hg seasonality and interannual variability are appropriately represented in the models and identifies research gaps in our understanding of the atmospheric Hg cycling in high latitudes.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Data, Systems, and Society
Terms of Use
Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.5194/ACP-16-10735-2016
