title: High variability of atmospheric mercury in the summertime boundary layer through the central Arctic Ocean.
abstract: The biogeochemical cycles of mercury in the Arctic springtime have been intensively investigated due to mercury being rapidly removed from the atmosphere. However, the behavior of mercury in the Arctic summertime is still poorly understood. Here we report the characteristics of total gaseous mercury (TGM) concentrations through the central Arctic Ocean from July to September, 2012. The TGM concentrations varied considerably (from 0.15 ng/m(3) to 4.58 ng/m(3)), and displayed a normal distribution with an average of 1.23 ± 0.61 ng/m(3). The highest frequency range was 1.0-1.5 ng/m(3), lower than previously reported background values in the Northern Hemisphere. Inhomogeneous distributions were observed over the Arctic Ocean due to the effect of sea ice melt and/or runoff. A lower level of TGM was found in July than in September, potentially because ocean emission was outweighed by chemical loss.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polar Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polar Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
authors.forename: Zhouqing
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polar Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polar Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polar Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
authors.forename: Lingen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bian
authors.affiliation: 1] Institute of Polar Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China [2] Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, City College of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA.
authors.forename: Pengfei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang