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Photoreduction of gaseous oxidized mercury changes global atmospheric mercury speciation, transport and deposition

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [4];  [5];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [7];  [7];  [8];  [4];  [4];  [4];  [9];  [10];  [5]
  1. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Madrid (Spain). Inst. of Physical Chemistry Rocasolano. Dept. of Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate; DOE/OSTI
  2. Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Donostia (Spain). Kimika Fakultatea. Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC); Univ. of Valencia (Spain). Inst. de Ciencia Molecular
  3. Univ. of Valencia (Spain). Inst. de Ciencia Molecular
  4. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Madrid (Spain). Inst. of Physical Chemistry Rocasolano. Dept. of Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate
  5. Univ. de Toulouse (France). Geosciences Environment Toulouse
  6. Univ. of Manitoba, Winnepeg, MB (Canada). Centre for Earth Observation Science. Dept. of Environment and Geography
  7. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States). Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
  8. Meteorological Synthesizing Centre, Moscow (Russia)
  9. Univ. of Leeds, Leeds (United Kingdom). School of Chemistry
  10. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States). Atmospheric Chemistry Observations and Modelling
Anthropogenic mercury (Hg(0)) emissions oxidize to gaseous Hg(II) compounds, before deposition to Earth surface ecosystems. Atmospheric reduction of Hg(II) competes with deposition, thereby modifying the magnitude and pattern of Hg deposition. Global Hg models have postulated that Hg(II) reduction in the atmosphere occurs through aqueous-phase photoreduction that may take place in clouds. Here we report that experimental rainfall Hg(II) photoreduction rates are much slower than modelled rates. We compute absorption cross sections of Hg(II) compounds and show that fast gas-phase Hg(II) photolysis can dominate atmospheric mercury reduction and lead to a substantial increase in the modelled, global atmospheric Hg lifetime by a factor two. Models with Hg(II) photolysis show enhanced Hg (0) deposition to land, which may prolong recovery of aquatic ecosystems long after Hg emissions are lowered, due to the longer residence time of Hg in soils compared with the ocean. Fast Hg(II) photolysis substantially changes atmospheric Hg dynamics and requires further assessment at regional and local scales.
Research Organization:
Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0010687
OSTI ID:
1624123
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 9; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (6)

Influence of Species‐Specific Feeding Ecology on Mercury Concentrations in Seabirds Breeding on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand journal January 2021
Dataset of eddy covariance flux measurements of gaseous elemental mercury over a grassland collection January 2020
Photodissociation Mechanisms of Major Mercury(II) Species in the Atmospheric Chemical Cycle of Mercury journal January 2020
Photodissociation Mechanisms of Major Mercury(II) Species in the Atmospheric Chemical Cycle of Mercury journal January 2020
Ab initio quantum-chemical computations of the absorption cross sections of HgX 2 and HgXY (X, Y = Cl, Br, and I): molecules of interest in the Earth's atmosphere journal January 2019
Diurnal cycle of iodine, bromine, and mercury concentrations in Svalbard surface snow journal January 2019

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