Articles | Volume 25, issue 17
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-9645-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-9645-2025
Research article
 | 
01 Sep 2025
Research article |  | 01 Sep 2025

Constraining elemental mercury air–sea exchange using long-term ground-based observations

Koketso M. Molepo, Johannes Bieser, Alkuin M. Koenig, Ian M. Hedgecock, Ralf Ebinghaus, Aurélien Dommergue, Olivier Magand, Hélène Angot, Oleg Travnikov, Lynwill Martin, Casper Labuschagne, Katie Read, and Yann Bertrand

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Cited articles

Adams, H. M., Cui, X., Lamborg, C. H., and Schartup, A. T.: Dimethylmercury as a Source of Monomethylmercury in a Highly Productive Upwelling System, Environ. Sci. Technol., 58, 10591–10600, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.4c01112, 2024. 
Al-Sulaiti, M. M., Soubra, L., and Al-Ghouti, M. A.: The causes and effects of mercury and methylmercury contamination in the marine environment: A review, Current Pollution Reports, 8, 249–272, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40726-022-00226-7, 2022. 
AMAP/UN Environment: Technical Background Report to the Global Mercury Assessment 2018, Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, Oslo, Norway/UN Environment Programme, Chemicals and Health Branch, Geneva, Switzerland, https://www.amap.no/documents/doc/technical-background-report-for-the-global-mercury-assessment-2018/1815 (last access: 25 January 2023), 2019. 
Amos, H. M., Jacob, D. J., Streets, D. G., and Sunderland, E. M.: Legacy impacts of all-time anthropogenic emissions on the global mercury cycle, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 27, 410–421, https://doi.org/10.1002/gbc.20040, 2013. 
Amos, H. M., Jacob, D. J., Kocman, D., Horowitz, H. M., Zhang, Y., Dutkiewicz, S., Horvat, M., Corbitt, E. S., Krabbenhoft, D. P., and Sunderland, E. M.: Global biogeochemical implications of mercury discharges from rivers and sediment burial, Environ. Sci. Technol., 48, 9514–9522, https://doi.org/10.1021/es502134t, 2014. 
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Short summary
Mercury exchange between the ocean and atmosphere is poorly understood due to limited in situ data. Here, using atmospheric mercury observations from ground-based monitoring stations along with air mass trajectories, we found that atmospheric Hg levels increase with air mass ocean exposure time, matching predictions for ocean Hg emissions. This finding indicates that ocean emissions directly influence atmospheric Hg levels and enables us to estimate these emissions on a global scale.
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