Dataset Information

Mercury isotope evidence for Arctic summertime re-emission of mercury from the cryosphere.

ABSTRACT: During Arctic springtime, halogen radicals oxidize atmospheric elemental mercury (Hg⁰), which deposits to the cryosphere. This is followed by a summertime atmospheric Hg⁰ peak that is thought to result mostly from terrestrial Hg inputs to the Arctic Ocean, followed by photoreduction and emission to air. The large terrestrial Hg contribution to the Arctic Ocean and global atmosphere has raised concern over the potential release of permafrost Hg, via rivers and coastal erosion, with Arctic warming. Here we investigate Hg isotope variability of Arctic atmospheric, marine, and terrestrial Hg. We observe highly characteristic Hg isotope signatures during the summertime peak that reflect re-emission of Hg deposited to the cryosphere during spring. Air mass back trajectories support a cryospheric Hg emission source but no major terrestrial source. This implies that terrestrial Hg inputs to the Arctic Ocean remain in the marine ecosystem, without substantial loss to the global atmosphere, but with possible effects on food webs.

SUBMITTER: Araujo BF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9402541 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Mercury isotope evidence for Arctic summertime re-emission of mercury from the cryosphere.

Araujo Beatriz Ferreira BF Osterwalder Stefan S Szponar Natalie N Lee Domenica D Petrova Mariia V MV Pernov Jakob Boyd JB Pernov Jakob Boyd JB Ahmed Shaddy S Heimbürger-Boavida Lars-Eric LE Laffont Laure L Teisserenc Roman R Tananaev Nikita N Nordstrom Claus C Magand Olivier O Stupple Geoff G Skov Henrik H Steffen Alexandra A Bergquist Bridget B Pfaffhuber Katrine Aspmo KA Thomas Jennie L JL Scheper Simon S Petäjä Tuukka T Dommergue Aurélien A Sonke Jeroen E JE

Nature communications 20220824 1

During Arctic springtime, halogen radicals oxidize atmospheric elemental mercury (Hg<sup>0</sup>), which deposits to the cryosphere. This is followed by a summertime atmospheric Hg<sup>0</sup> peak that is thought to result mostly from terrestrial Hg inputs to the Arctic Ocean, followed by photoreduction and emission to air. The large terrestrial Hg contribution to the Arctic Ocean and global atmosphere has raised concern over the potential release of permafrost Hg, via rivers and coastal erosio ...[more]

PMID: 36002442

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Project description:BackgroundTissue-specific stable isotope signatures can provide insights into the trophic ecology of consumers and their roles in food webs. Two parameters are central for making valid inferences based on stable isotopes, isotopic discrimination (difference in isotopic ratio between consumer and its diet) and turnover time (renewal process of molecules in a given tissue usually measured when half of the tissue composition has changed). We investigated simultaneously the effects of age, sex, and diet types on the variation of discrimination and half-life in nitrogen and carbon stable isotopes (δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C, respectively) in five tissues (blood cells, plasma, muscle, liver, nail, and hair) of a top predator, the arctic fox Vulpes lagopus.Methodology/principal findingsWe fed 40 farmed foxes (equal numbers of adults and yearlings of both sexes) with diet capturing the range of resources used by their wild counterparts. We found that, for a single species, six tissues, and three diet types, the range of discrimination values can be almost as large as what is known at the scale of the whole mammalian or avian class. Discrimination varied depending on sex, age, tissue, and diet types, ranging from 0.3‰ to 5.3‰ (mean = 2.6‰) for δ¹⁵N and from 0.2‰ to 2.9‰ (mean = 0.9‰) for δ¹³C. We also found an impact of population structure on δ¹⁵N half-life in blood cells. Varying across individuals, δ¹⁵N half-life in plasma (6 to 10 days) was also shorter than for δ¹³C (14 to 22 days), though δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C half-lives are usually considered as equal.Conclusion/significanceOverall, our multi-factorial experiment revealed that at least six levels of isotopic variations could co-occur in the same population. Our experimental analysis provides a framework for quantifying multiple sources of variation in isotopic discrimination and half-life that needs to be taken into account when designing and analysing ecological field studies.

Dataset Information

Mercury isotope evidence for Arctic summertime re-emission of mercury from the cryosphere.

Publications

Mercury isotope evidence for Arctic summertime re-emission of mercury from the cryosphere.

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