Redox transformations of mercury in an Arctic snowpack at springtime

Abstract

We investigated the springtime temporal dynamics of both total mercury (Hg) and gaseous Hg in snowpacks from the High Arctic. In situ incubation experiments of snow samples indicated that the production of volatile mercury in snow (VMS) was photo-mediated and occurred in the first 3 cm of snow. The newly produced VMS (consisting mainly of elemental Hg) was partly oxidized back to Hg(II) when light intensity declined or in the absence of UV radiation, probably through a chain of reactions involving photo-induced radicals and organic compounds in the surface snow. During a 2 week monitoring of total Hg in surface snow, we observed a sharp increase in total Hg concentrations, reaching levels 11 times higher than background concentrations, likely as a result of an atmospheric mercury depletion event. Stratigraphic depth profiles indicated that this increase was restricted to the first 2 cm of the snowpack. Total Hg levels subsequently decreased by 92%, reaching background concentrations within 2 days after this event. The photoproduction rate of VMS calculated on the basis of this episode could account for subsequent daily loss of total Hg from the surface of the snowpack.