Project: Collaborative Research: GEOTRACES Arctic Section: Determination of atmospheric wet and dry deposition and air-sea exchange of mercury species from coastal and offshore waters

NSF Award Abstract:
In this project, a group of investigators participating in the 2015 U.S. GEOTRACES Arctic expedition will measure concentrations of atmospherically-derived mercury in the Arctic Ocean. In common with other multinational initiatives in the International GEOTRACES Program, the goals of the U.S. Arctic expedition are to identify processes and quantify fluxes that control the distributions of key trace elements and isotopes in the ocean, and to establish the sensitivity of these distributions to changing environmental conditions. Some trace elements are essential to life, others are known biological toxins, and still others are important because they can be used as tracers of a variety of physical, chemical, and biological processes in the sea. Mercury, primarily as methylmercury, is an element that substantially bioaccumulates through aquatic food webs and impacts neurological functions in humans and wildlife, and it is therefore critical to understand the inputs of mercury to the region. Educational activities as part of this study include training and mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students and a postdoctoral researcher. Researchers will also conduct public outreach activities about mercury impacts to local Arctic communities.

In the Arctic Ocean, subsistence local fishermen and several species of Arctic wildlife, such as beluga whales, seals and polar bears, commonly have elevated levels of methylmercury in their system. Atmospheric deposition is the major pathway of mercury input to the marine environment as both wet and dry (aerosol and gaseous ionic mercury) deposition. Therefore, measurements of mercury and a better understanding of its cycling in the Arctic Ocean are critical. This study will provide further understanding of the drivers of mercury speciation in air and surface waters, including snow/ice, melt ponds, and surface seawater and how these concentrations, and other physical and biological factors, impact deposition rates at the air-sea interface. The primary measurements to be made include a baseline of mercury measurements over the open water from the ship, and over sea-ice environments of the Arctic Ocean, which will be compared to simultaneous and historic coastal measurements, as well as model studies. Overall, results will provide the crucial data and information necessary to comprehend the role of human activity and climate change in exacerbating or ameliorating the exposure of humans and wildlife to methylmercury in the Arctic Ocean.