title: [Records and sources of mercury pollution over the past 200 years in Ny-Alesund, Arctic].
abstract: Hg pollution has become a global problem since the industrial revolution. In this study,we collected a pond sediment core rich in moss residues from the Ny-Alesund of Svalbard, and determined the content and flux of Hg in the sediments. Combined with 210Pb and 137Cs dating,we reconstructed the changes of Hg concentration and depositional flux in the recent 200 years,and focused on the main controlling factors on the elevated inputs of Hg since the 1850s. The results show that the Hg contents increase significantly since the World Industrial Revolution. The highest value of Hg is up to 180 ng x g(-1) in the surface sediments, and the ratios of anthropogenic Hg increase from 30% to 90%, thus the input of anthropogenic Hg has become a main source of total mercury in the study area. The range of Hg deposition flux is between 8-20 microg x (m(2) x a)(-1) in past 200 years, and show three distinct peaks,corresponding to 1800 s, 1880 s and 1970 s. Compared the historical Hg deposition flux with the records of local coal combustion and globe Hg production, we suggest that the anthropogenic Hg is mainly derived from the long-range atmosphere Hg transport, whereas the influence of local coal mining is likely minor. The Ny-Alesund has similar Hg pollution degree with Sweden, Canada and other circum-arctic areas, but obviously higher than Greenland and significantly lower than America and Russia,as well as other industrialized countries.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polar Environment, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China. jscyc@mail.ustc.edu.cn
authors.forename: Shan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Xiao-Dong
authors.initials: XD
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Li-Guang
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D001110:Arctic Regions; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D009664:Norway
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D008628:Mercury