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Forurens: Mercury in the Arctic: The roles that atmosphere, aerosols, snow and ground play on the mercury cycle at Ny-Ålesund.

It was discovered in 1995 that, during the spring time, unexpectedly low concentrations of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) occurred in the Arctic air. This was surprising for a pollutant known to have a long residence time in the atmosphere; however cond itions appeared to exist in the Arctic that promoted this depletion of mercury (Hg). The phenomenon is called Atmospheric Mercury Depetion Events (AMDE) and its discovery has revolutionized our understanding of the cycling of Hg in Polar Regions while sti mulating a significant amount of research to understand its impact to this fragile ecosystem.This is because studies have indicated the possibility of large depositional fluxes of Hg occurring during AMDEs. While the ecological importance of AMDEs in cold environments is now accepted by the scientific community, several uncertainties remain in our understanding of the AMDE phenomenon. The present project include research efforts that are needed to move the state of knowledge further: These are:1) What p article size range is most characteristic for hosting particulate Hg?2) How is the distribution of Hg on aerosol particles dependent on regional vs local processes?3) Can we detect a cloud-signal in the particulate distribution of Hg based on air mass h istory? 4)Can we observe systematic similarities/ differences between Hg and other aerosol species such as Black Carbon with respect to the questions above?5) What is the annual and seasonal variability in the mercury flux? 6) Is the surface (snow and soil) in Ny-Ålesund a sink for mercury?7) What effect has the radiative regime (solar elevation, clouds, aerosols, surface reflection, etc.) and the associated ultraviolet radiation profiles on the formation of reactive gaseous mercury?8) What effect h as the complexation capacity and redox properties of dissolved natural organic matter in soil water and rivers?

Prosjektleder:
Torunn Berg
Institusjon:
UoH-sektor/Norges teknisk-naturvitenskape/Institutt for kjemi
Aktivitetsnavn:
Norsk miljøforskning mot 2015
Prosjektstatus:
Bevilgning
Prosjektperiode:
01.07.2013 - 01.07.2016
Geografi:
Norge/SØR-TRØNDELAG/TRONDHEIM
Fagområder:
Matematikk og naturvitenskap/Zoologiske og botaniske fag
Prosjektnummer:
221418