Abstract
The role of oceans in the global cycle of mercury is still poorly characterized, mainly because of a lack a long-term data on atmospheric mercury concentrations in the remote Southern Ocean. In the frame of GMOS (Global Mercury Observation System), we present here the first results from a new monitoring station at Amsterdam Island in the Southern Indian Ocean. For the period January to April 2012, we recorded mean concentration of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) and particulate-bounded mercury (PHg) of 1.03 ng m−3 , 0.37 and 0.34 pg m−3 respectively. While GEM concentrations showed little variations, RGM and PHg exhibited fast variations with alternation of value below the instrumental detection limit and maximum values up to 4 pg m−3 .
Highlights
Mercury (Hg) is a worldwide pollutant, which can cause severe problems to environment and human health
In the frame of GMOS (Global Mercury Observation System), we present here the first results from a new monitoring station at Amsterdam Island in the Southern Indian Ocean
Among Hg(II) species, reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) is operationally defined as mercury collected by a KCl denuder tube
Summary
Mercury (Hg) is a worldwide pollutant, which can cause severe problems to environment and human health. Mercury is emitted into the atmosphere from a variety of anthropogenic and natural sources. Fossil fuel combustion, smelting, cement production and waste incineration are the major anthropogenic sources, while the oceans reemission to the atmosphere is the largest natural source. Hg is mostly emitted to the atmosphere as gaseous elemental mercury (GEM). GEM has an estimated mean tropospheric residence time of about 1 year, which makes mercury prone to long-range atmospheric transport at the global scale. GEM can be oxidized by species such as ozone, hydroxyl or halogens radicals (Holmes et al, 2010; Pal and Ariya, 2004; Stephens et al, 2012). GEM oxidation results in divalent species (Hg(II)) production. Among Hg(II) species, reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) is operationally defined as mercury collected by a KCl denuder tube
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