Mercury and Other Trace Metals in the Surface Soils of Ny-Ålesund, Arctic

Mercury and Other Trace Metals in the Surface Soils of Ny-Ålesund, Arctic

Mercury contamination and its rate of transformation and transport are increasing in the environment due to climatic variations. The mercury contamination is also rising in the polar ecosystems too. The present study assessed the content of mercury and other metals in the surface soils of tundra eco...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water, air, and soil pollution Vol. 231; no. 7
Main Authors: Gopikrishna, V. G., Sebastian, Anu, Akhilghosh, K. A., Mohan, Mahesh
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-07-2020
Springer
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Atmospheric conditions
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts
Contaminants
Contamination
Degassing of metals
Earth and Environmental Science
Environment
Environmental monitoring
Expeditions
Heavy metals
Hydrogeology
Melting
Mercury
Mercury (metal)
Mercury surface
Metals
Permafrost
Polar environments
Polar regions
Runoff
Soil
Soil contamination
Soil Science & Conservation
Soil surfaces
Soils
Thawing
Trace metals
Tundra
Tundra ecology
Variation
Water Quality/Water Pollution
Arctic region
Environment
Svalbard
Pollution
Polar regions
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Summary:Mercury contamination and its rate of transformation and transport are increasing in the environment due to climatic variations. The mercury contamination is also rising in the polar ecosystems too. The present study assessed the content of mercury and other metals in the surface soils of tundra ecosystem of Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. The samples were taken during summer months of 2015–2018 as part of Indian Arctic expedition. Mercury content in the surface soils were ranged from 0.01 to 0.14 μg/g and is comparable with the earlier studies carried out in the circumpolar regions. Total mercury content in plant samples was also comparable and the mean concentration was 83.45 ng/g. The mercury content is significantly varied from site to site; however, no significant variation was found between years. The interrelationship shown by mercury and other metals indicated a common contaminant pathway. The results indicated that the metals might have influenced by the local variations in the environment especially the increased thawing of permafrost as it led to more runoff of accumulated as well as atmospherically deposited metals. Hence, more detailed studies are required to understand the effect of thawing and atmospheric conditions on the cycling of metals in the polar environment.
ISSN:0049-6979
1573-2932
DOI:10.1007/s11270-020-04745-1