title: Dynamic oxidation of gaseous mercury in the Arctic troposphere at polar sunrise.
abstract: Gaseous elemental mercury (Hg0) is a globally distributed air toxin with a long atmospheric residence time. Any process that reduces its atmospheric lifetime increases its potential accumulation in the biosphere. Our data from Barrow, AK, at 71 degrees N show that rapid, photochemically driven oxidation of boundary-layer Hg0 after polar sunrise, probably by reactive halogens, creates a rapidly depositing species of oxidized gaseous mercury in the remote Arctic troposphere at concentrations in excess of 900 pg m(-3). This mercury accumulates in the snowpack during polar spring at an accelerated rate in a form that is bioavailable to bacteria and is released with snowmelt during the summer emergence of the Arctic ecosystem. Evidence suggests that this is a recent phenomenon that may be occurring throughout the earth's polar regions.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee 37831-6038, USA. Lindbergse@ornl.gov
authors.forename: Steve E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Lindberg
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Karen J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: Matthew S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Landis
authors.forename: Robert K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goodsite
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Richter
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D001110:Arctic Regions; D001419:Bacteria; D001682:Biological Availability; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005740:Gases; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010507:Periodicity; D010777:Photochemistry; D012914:Snow
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D005740:Gases; D008628:Mercury