title: Net deposition of mercury to the Antarctic Plateau enhanced by sea salt.
abstract: Photochemically driven mercury (Hg) exchange between the atmosphere and the Antarctic Plateau snowpack has been observed. An imbalance in bidirectional flux causes a fraction of Hg to remain in the snowpack perennially, but the factors that control the amount of Hg sequestered on the Antarctic Plateau are not fully understood. We analyzed sub-annual variations in total Hg (HgT) deposition to Dome Fuji over the period of 1986-2010 using cold vapor inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and compared concentrations with those of sea salt components (Na+and Cl-). HgTranged from 0.12 to 5.19pgg-1(n=78) and was relatively high when the Na+concentrations were high in the same or underlying snow layers. A significant correlation (r=0.7) was found between the annual deposition fluxes of HgTand Na+. Despite different origins and behavior of Hg and sea salt, the near-synchronous increases in the concentrations and correlation between the fluxes suggest that sea salt can intervene in the air-snow Hg exchange and promote the net deposition of Hg in the Antarctic Plateau.
authors.affiliation: Korea Polar Research Institute, 26 Songdomirae-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon 21990, Republic of Korea; School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: yhan@kopri.re.kr.
authors.forename: Yeongcheol
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Youngsook
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huh
authors.affiliation: Korea Polar Research Institute, 26 Songdomirae-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon 21990, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Soon Do
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Hur
authors.affiliation: Department of Ocean Sciences, Inha University, 100 Inha-ro, Nam-gu, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sungmin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Korea Polar Research Institute, 26 Songdomirae-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon 21990, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ji Woong
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Polar Research, 10-3, Midori-cho, Tachikawa-shi, Tokyo 190-8518, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Motoyama
keywords: Antarctic snow; Global Hg cycle; Oxidation; Photochemistry; Reduction; Sequestration