Total and methylated mercury in Arctic multiyear sea ice.

Abstract

Mercury is one of the primary contaminants of concern in the Arctic marine ecosystem. While considerable efforts have been directed toward understanding mercury cycling in the Arctic, little is known about mercury dynamics within Arctic multiyear sea ice, which is being rapidly replaced with first-year ice. Here we report the first study on the distribution and potential methylation of mercury in Arctic multiyear sea ice. Based on three multiyear ice cores taken from the eastern Beaufort Sea and McClure Strait, total mercury concentrations ranged from 0.65 to 60.8 pM in bulk ice, with the highest values occurring in the topmost layer (∼40 cm) which is attributed to the dynamics of particulate matter. Methylated mercury concentrations ranged from below the method detection limit (<0.1 pM) to as high as 2.64 pM. The ratio of methylated to total mercury peaked, up to ∼40%, in the mid to bottom sections of the ice, suggesting the potential occurrence of in situ mercury methylation. The annual fluxes of total and methylated mercury into the Arctic Ocean via melt of multiyear ice are estimated to be 420 and 42 kg yr(-1), respectively, representing an important and changing source of mercury and methylmercury into the Arctic Ocean marine ecosystem.