Mercury in the free troposphere and bidirectional atmosphere–vegetation exchanges – insights from Maïdo mountain observatory in the Southern Hemisphere tropics
Alkuin M. Koenig,Olivier Magand,Bert Verreyken,Jerome Brioude,Crist Amelynck,Niels Schoon,Aurélie Colomb,Beatriz Ferreira Araujo,Michel Ramonet,Mahesh K. Sha,Jean-Pierre Cammas,Jeroen E. Sonke,and Aurélien Dommergue
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement,
Université Paris-Saclay, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, UMR8212, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Jean-Pierre Cammas
Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers à La Réunion (OSU-R),
UAR 3365, CNRS, Université de La Réunion, Météo France,
97744 Saint-Denis, La Réunion, France
Jeroen E. Sonke
Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, CNRS/IRD/Université Paul
Sabatier Toulouse 3, Toulouse, France
The global distribution of mercury, a potent neurotoxin, depends on atmospheric transport, chemistry, and interactions between the Earth’s surface and the air. Our understanding of these processes is still hampered by insufficient observations. Here, we present new data from a mountain observatory in the Southern Hemisphere. We give insights into mercury concentrations in air masses coming from aloft, and we show that tropical mountain vegetation may be a daytime source of mercury to the air.
The global distribution of mercury, a potent neurotoxin, depends on atmospheric transport,...