Spatial and temporal variations of total mercury in Antarctic snow along the transect from Zhongshan Station to Dome A

Tellus: Series B, Chemical and Physical Meteorology

Minghu Ding¹  Lulu Zhang²  Junming Guo³  Qianggong Zhang³  Jie Huang³  Bo Sun⁴  Guitao Shi⁴  Shugui Hou⁵  Jiawen Ren⁶  Dahe Qin⁶  Cunde Xiao⁶  Chuanjin Li⁶  Shichang Kang⁶ 

[1] Climate System Institute, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China;Institute of Polar Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China;Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;Polar Research Institute of China, Shanghai 200136, China;School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China;State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China;

关键词: total mercury;    spatio-temporal variation;    Dome A;    eastern Antarctica;   

DOI  :  10.3402/tellusb.v66.25152

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

In this study, the concentrations of total mercury (THg) and ions deposited in the surface snow and snow pits in the eastern Antarctic along the 29th inland route of the Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition were analysed. The THg concentrations in the surface snow ranged from 0.22 to 8.29 ng/L and elevated concentrations were detected in the inland regions of higher altitudes (3000–4000 m). The spatial distribution of the THg in the snow pits showed greater inland concentrations with mean concentrations of <0.2–1.33 ng/L. The THg concentrations in the coastal snow pit (29-A) showed higher concentrations in the summer snow layers than in the winter snow layers. The THg records from the two inland snow pits (29-K and 29-L) spanned decades and indicated elevated THg concentrations between the late 1970s and early 1980s and during the mid-1990s. The temporal variations of THg in the Antarctic snow layers were consistent with anthropogenic emissions around the world. In addition, the Pinatubo volcanic eruption was the primary contributor to the 1992 THg peak that was observed in the inland snow pits.

【 授权许可】

Unknown