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Title: The Marginal Ice Zone as a dominant source region of atmospheric mercury during central Arctic summertime

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
 [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [5];  [6]; ORCiD logo [3];  [7]; ORCiD logo [8];  [9];  [4];  [3]; ORCiD logo [10];  [11];  [11];  [11]; ORCiD logo [11]; ORCiD logo [12];  [3];  [13] more »;  [14]; ORCiD logo [15];  [12]; ORCiD logo [1] « less
  1. University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei (China)
  2. Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne (EPFL) (Switzerland); University of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); Université Grenoble Alpes (France)
  3. University of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States)
  4. Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne (EPFL) (Switzerland)
  5. Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven (Germany)
  6. Polar Research Institute of China, Shanghai (China)
  7. Third Institute of Oceanography (TIO), Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), Xiamen (China)
  8. Second Institute of Oceanography (SIO), Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), Hangzhou (China)
  9. Shanghai Jiao Tong University (China)
  10. University of Helsinki (Finland); Cyprus Institute, Nicosia (Cyprus)
  11. University of Helsinki (Finland)
  12. Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay, ME (United States)
  13. Boulder Atmosphere Innovation Research (A.I.R.), CO (United States)
  14. JH Atmospheric Instrumentation Design, Boulder, CO (United States)
  15. Université Grenoble Alpes (France)

Atmospheric gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) concentrations in the Arctic exhibit a clear summertime maximum, while the origin of this peak is still a matter of debate in the community. Based on summertime observations during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition and a modeling approach, we further investigate the sources of atmospheric Hg in the central Arctic. Simulations with a generalized additive model (GAM) show that long-range transport of anthropogenic and terrestrial Hg from lower latitudes is a minor contribution (~2%), and more than 50% of the explained GEM variability is caused by oceanic evasion. A potential source contribution function (PSCF) analysis further shows that oceanic evasion is not significant throughout the ice-covered central Arctic Ocean but mainly occurs in the Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ) due to the specific environmental conditions in that region. Our results suggest that this regional process could be the leading contributor to the observed summertime GEM maximum. In the context of rapid Arctic warming and the observed increase in width of the MIZ, oceanic Hg evasion may become more significant and strengthen the role of the central Arctic Ocean as a summertime source of atmospheric Hg.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Archive
Sponsoring Organization:
National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); National Science Foundation (NSF); Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF); Swiss Polar Institute (SPI); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0019251
OSTI ID:
1996773
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 14; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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