Atmospheric mercury depletion event study in Ny-Alesund (Svalbard) in spring 2005. Deposition and transformation of Hg in surface snow during springtime

A field campaign was conducted in Ny-Ǻlesund (78°54'N, 11°53'E), Svalbard (Norway) during April and May 2005. An Atmospheric Mercury (Hg) Depletion Event (AMDE) was observed from the morning of April 24 until the evening of April 27. Transport of already Hg and ozone (O 3) depleted air mas...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Science of the total environment 2008-07, Vol.397 (1), p.167-177
Main Authors: Ferrari, Christophe P., Padova, Cyril, Faïn, Xavier, Gauchard, Pierre-Alexis, Dommergue, Aurélien, Aspmo, Katrine, Berg, Torunn, Cairns, Warren, Barbante, Carlo, Cescon, Paolo, Kaleschke, Lars, Richter, Andreas, Wittrock, Folkard, Boutron, Claude
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AMDEs
Applied sciences
Atmospheric pollution
Chemical composition and interactions. Ionic interactions and processes
Chemical transformation
Deposition
Earth Sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Glaciology
Mercury
Meteorology
Pollutants physicochemistry study: properties, effects, reactions, transport and distribution
Pollution
Sciences of the Universe
Snow
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Summary:A field campaign was conducted in Ny-Ǻlesund (78°54'N, 11°53'E), Svalbard (Norway) during April and May 2005. An Atmospheric Mercury (Hg) Depletion Event (AMDE) was observed from the morning of April 24 until the evening of April 27. Transport of already Hg and ozone (O 3) depleted air masses could explain this observed depletion. Due to a snowfall event during the AMDE, surface snow Hg concentrations increased two fold. Hg deposition took place over a short period of time corresponding to 3–4 days. More than 80% of the deposited Hg was estimated to be reemitted back to the atmosphere in the days following the event. During the campaign, we observed night and day variations in surface snow Hg concentrations, which may be the result of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) oxidation to divalent Hg at the snow/air interface by daylight surface snow chemistry. Finally, a decrease in the reactive Hg (Hg R) fraction of total Hg (Hg T) in the surface snow was observed during spring. We postulate that the transformation of Hg R to a more stable form may occur in Arctic snow during spring.
ISSN:0048-9697
1879-1026
DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2008.01.064