scholarly journals Supplementary material to "First Measurement of Atmospheric Mercury Species in Qomolangma Nature Preserve, Tibetan Plateau, and Evidence of Transboundary Pollutant Invasion"

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huiming Lin ◽  
Yindong Tong ◽  
Xiufeng Yin ◽  
Qianggong Zhang ◽  
Hui Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Atmospheric Mercury ◽  
Mercury Species ◽  
Nature Preserve ◽  
Supplementary Material

scholarly journals First measurement of atmospheric mercury species in Qomolangma Natural Nature Preserve, Tibetan Plateau, and evidence oftransboundary pollutant invasion

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 1373-1391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huiming Lin ◽  
Yindong Tong ◽  
Xiufeng Yin ◽  
Qianggong Zhang ◽  
Hui Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Indian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Atmospheric Pollutants ◽  
Mercury Species ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Monsoon Period ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
Nature Preserve

Abstract. Located in the world's “third pole” and a remote region connecting the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate, Qomolangma National Nature Preserve (QNNP) is an ideal region to study the long-range transport of atmospheric pollutants. In this study, gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), gaseous oxidized mercury (GOM) and particle-bound mercury (PBM) were continuously measured during the Indian monsoon transition period in QNNP. A slight increase in the GEM concentration was observed from the period preceding the Indian summer monsoon (1.31±0.42 ng m−3) to the Indian summer monsoon period (1.44±0.36 ng m−3), while significant decreases were observed in the GOM and PBM concentrations, with concentrations decreasing from 35.2±18.6 to 19.3±10.9 pg m−3 (p < 0.001) for GOM and from 30.5±12.5 to 24.9±19.8 pg m−3 (p < 0.001) for PBM. A unique daily pattern was observed in QNNP with respect to the GEM concentration, with a peak value before sunrise and a low value at noon. Relative to the (low) GEM concentrations, GOM concentrations (with a mean value of 21.4±13.4 pg m−3, n=1239) in this region were relatively high compared with the measured values in some other regions of China. A cluster analysis indicated that the air masses transported to QNNP changed significantly at different stages of the monsoon, and the major potential mercury (Hg) sources shifted from northern India and western Nepal to eastern Nepal and Bangladesh. As there is a large area covered in glaciers in QNNP, local glacier winds could increase the transboundary transport of pollutants and transport polluted air masses to the Tibetan Plateau. The atmospheric Hg concentration in QNNP in the Indian summer monsoon period was influenced by transboundary Hg flows. This highlights the need for a more specific identification of Hg sources impacting QNNP and underscores the importance of international cooperation regarding global Hg controls.

scholarly journals First Measurement of Atmospheric Mercury Species in Qomolangma Nature Preserve, Tibetan Plateau, and Evidence of Transboundary Pollutant Invasion

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huiming Lin ◽  
Yindong Tong ◽  
Xiufeng Yin ◽  
Qianggong Zhang ◽  
Hui Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Indian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Atmospheric Pollutants ◽  
North India ◽  
Mercury Species ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
Nature Preserve

Abstract. Located in the world’s ‘Third Pole’ and a remote region connecting the Indian Ocean plate and the Eurasian plate, Qomolangma National Nature Preserve (QNNP) is an ideal region to study the long-range transport of atmospheric pollutants. In this study, gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), gaseous oxidized mercury (GOM) and particle-bound mercury (PBM) were continuously measured during the Indian monsoon transition period in QNNP. A slight increase in GEM concentration was observed from the period preceding the Indian Summer Monsoon (1.31±0.42 ng m−3) to the Indian Summer Monsoon period (1.44±0.36 ng m−3), while significant decreases were observed in GOM and PBM concentrations, decreasing from 35.2±18.7 to 19.1±11.0 pg m−3 and from 30.5±12.6 to 24.7±19.9 pg m−3, respectively. A unique daily pattern of GEM concentration in QNNP was observed, with a peak value before sunrise and a low value at noon. Unexpectedly, GOM concentrations (with a mean value of 21.3±13.5 pg m−3) in this region were considerably higher than the values in other clean or even polluted regions. A cluster analysis indicated that the air masses transported to QNNP changed significantly at different stages of the monsoon, and the major potential Hg sources shifted from north India and west Nepal to east Nepal and Bangladesh. With large coverage of glacier in QNNP, local glacier winds could enforce the transboundary transport of pollutants and transport the polluted air masses to the Tibetan Plateau. It should be noted that the atmospheric Hg concentrations in QNNP are higher than the reported values in some background regions, which addresses the need for a more specific identification of Hg sources in QNNP and the importance of international cooperation for global Hg controls.

Distribution of atmospheric mercury species near ground

1974 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 1003-1009 ◽  
Author(s):  
David L. Johnson ◽  
Robert S. Braman
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Mercury ◽  
Mercury Species

scholarly journals Simulation of atmospheric mercury depletion events (AMDEs) during polar springtime using the MECCA box model

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (23) ◽  
pp. 7165-7180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z.-Q. Xie ◽  
R. Sander ◽  
U. Pöschl ◽  
F. Slemr
Keyword(s):  
Aqueous Phase ◽  
Ozone Depletion ◽  
Elemental Mercury ◽  
Atmospheric Mercury ◽  
Box Model ◽  
Rate Coefficients ◽  
Mercury Species ◽  
Phase Reaction ◽  
Gaseous Elemental Mercury ◽  
Sea Salt Aerosol

Abstract. Atmospheric mercury depletion events (AMDEs) during polar springtime are closely correlated with bromine-catalyzed tropospheric ozone depletion events (ODEs). To study gas- and aqueous-phase reaction kinetics and speciation of mercury during AMDEs, we have included mercury chemistry into the box model MECCA (Module Efficiently Calculating the Chemistry of the Atmosphere), which enables dynamic simulation of bromine activation and ODEs. We found that the reaction of Hg with Br atoms dominates the loss of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM). To explain the experimentally observed synchronous depletion of GEM and O3, the reaction rate of Hg+BrO has to be much lower than that of Hg+Br. The synchronicity is best reproduced with rate coefficients at the lower limit of the literature values for both reactions, i.e. kHg+Br≈3×10−13 and kHg+BrO≤1×10−15 cm3 molecule−1 s−1, respectively. Throughout the simulated AMDEs, BrHgOBr was the most abundant reactive mercury species, both in the gas phase and in the aqueous phase. The aqueous-phase concentrations of BrHgOBr, HgBr2, and HgCl2 were several orders of magnitude larger than that of Hg(SO3)22−. Considering chlorine chemistry outside depletion events (i.e. without bromine activation), the concentration of total divalent mercury in sea-salt aerosol particles (mostly HgCl42−) was much higher than in dilute aqueous droplets (mostly Hg(SO3)22−), and did not exhibit a diurnal cycle (no correlation with HO2 radicals).

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