Articles | Volume 18, issue 21
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15825-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15825-2018
Research article
 | 
05 Nov 2018
Research article |  | 05 Nov 2018

Understanding mercury oxidation and air–snow exchange on the East Antarctic Plateau: a modeling study

Shaojie Song, Hélène Angot, Noelle E. Selin, Hubert Gallée, Francesca Sprovieri, Nicola Pirrone, Detlev Helmig, Joël Savarino, Olivier Magand, and Aurélien Dommergue

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Land-based Monitoring Sites Global Mercury Observation System (GMOS) http://sdi.iia.cnr.it/geoint/publicpage/GMOS/gmos_historical.zul

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Short summary
Mercury is a trace metal with adverse health effects on human and wildlife. Its unique property makes it undergo long-range transport, and even remote Antarctica receives significant inputs. This paper presents the first model that aims to understand mercury behavior over the Antarctic Plateau. We find that mercury is quickly cycled between snow and air in the sunlit period, likely driven by bromine chemistry, and that several uncertain processes contribute to its behavior in the dark period.
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