Elevated methylmercury in Antarctic surface seawater: The role of phytoplankton mass and sea ice

Abstract

Methylmercury is a neurotoxin that is biomagnified in marine food webs. Its distribution and biogeochemical cycle in Antarctic seas are still poorly understood due to scarce studies. Here, we report the total methylmercury profiles (up to 4000 m) in unfiltered seawater (MeHgT) from the Ross Sea to the Amundsen Sea. We found high MeHgT levels in oxic unfiltered surface seawater (upper 50 m depth) in these regions. It was characterized by an obviously higher maximum concentration level of MeHgT (up to 0.44 pmol/L, at a depth of 3.35 m), which is higher than other open seas (including the Arctic Ocean, the North Pacific Ocean and the equatorial Pacific), and a high MeHgT average concentration in the summer surface water (SSW, 0.16 ± 0.12 pmol/ L). Further analyses suggest that the high phytoplankton mass and sea-ice fraction are important drivers of the high MeHgT level that we observed in the surface water. For the influence of phytoplankton, the model simulation showed that the uptake of MeHg by phytoplankton would not fully explain the high levels of MeHgT, and we speculated that high phytoplankton mass may emit more particulate organic matter as microenvironments that can sustain Hg in-situ methylation by microorganisms. The presence of sea-ice may not only harbor a microbial source of MeHg to surface water but also trigger increased phytoplankton mass, facilitating elevation of MeHg in surface seawater. This study provides insight into the mechanisms that impact the content and distribution of MeHgT in the Southern Ocean.