Oxidation of mercury by bromine in the subtropical Pacific free troposphere
Mercury is a global toxin that can be introduced to ecosystems through atmospheric deposition. Mercury oxidation is thought to occur in the free troposphere by bromine radicals, but direct observational evidence for this process is currently unavailable. During the 2013 Nitrogen, Oxidants, Mercury a...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2016
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/105814 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6396-5622 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6395-7422 |
| _version_ | 1826197984450183168 |
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| author | Gratz, L. E. Ambrose, J. L. Jaffe, D. A. Shah, V. Jaeglé, L. Stutz, J. Festa, J. Spolaor, M. Tsai, C. Zhou, X. Weinheimer, A. J. Knapp, D. J. Montzka, D. D. Flocke, F. M. Campos, T. L. Apel, E. Hornbrook, R. Blake, N. J. Hall, S. Tyndall, G. S. Reeves, M. Stechman, D. Stell, M. Selin, Noelle E Song, Shaojie |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Data, Systems, and Society |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Data, Systems, and Society Gratz, L. E. Ambrose, J. L. Jaffe, D. A. Shah, V. Jaeglé, L. Stutz, J. Festa, J. Spolaor, M. Tsai, C. Zhou, X. Weinheimer, A. J. Knapp, D. J. Montzka, D. D. Flocke, F. M. Campos, T. L. Apel, E. Hornbrook, R. Blake, N. J. Hall, S. Tyndall, G. S. Reeves, M. Stechman, D. Stell, M. Selin, Noelle E Song, Shaojie |
| author_sort | Gratz, L. E. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Mercury is a global toxin that can be introduced to ecosystems through atmospheric deposition. Mercury oxidation is thought to occur in the free troposphere by bromine radicals, but direct observational evidence for this process is currently unavailable. During the 2013 Nitrogen, Oxidants, Mercury and Aerosol Distributions, Sources and Sinks campaign, we measured enhanced oxidized mercury and bromine monoxide in a free tropospheric air mass over Texas. We use trace gas measurements, air mass back trajectories, and a chemical box model to confirm the origin and chemical history of the sampled air mass. We find the presence of elevated oxidized mercury to be consistent with oxidation of elemental mercury by bromine atoms in this subsiding upper tropospheric air mass within the subtropical Pacific High, where dry atmospheric conditions are conducive to oxidized mercury accumulation. Our results support the role of bromine as the dominant oxidant of mercury in the upper troposphere |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:57:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/105814 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:57:03Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1058142022-09-27T16:08:32Z Oxidation of mercury by bromine in the subtropical Pacific free troposphere Gratz, L. E. Ambrose, J. L. Jaffe, D. A. Shah, V. Jaeglé, L. Stutz, J. Festa, J. Spolaor, M. Tsai, C. Zhou, X. Weinheimer, A. J. Knapp, D. J. Montzka, D. D. Flocke, F. M. Campos, T. L. Apel, E. Hornbrook, R. Blake, N. J. Hall, S. Tyndall, G. S. Reeves, M. Stechman, D. Stell, M. Selin, Noelle E Song, Shaojie Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Data, Systems, and Society Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Selin, Noelle Selin, Noelle E Song, Shaojie Mercury is a global toxin that can be introduced to ecosystems through atmospheric deposition. Mercury oxidation is thought to occur in the free troposphere by bromine radicals, but direct observational evidence for this process is currently unavailable. During the 2013 Nitrogen, Oxidants, Mercury and Aerosol Distributions, Sources and Sinks campaign, we measured enhanced oxidized mercury and bromine monoxide in a free tropospheric air mass over Texas. We use trace gas measurements, air mass back trajectories, and a chemical box model to confirm the origin and chemical history of the sampled air mass. We find the presence of elevated oxidized mercury to be consistent with oxidation of elemental mercury by bromine atoms in this subsiding upper tropospheric air mass within the subtropical Pacific High, where dry atmospheric conditions are conducive to oxidized mercury accumulation. Our results support the role of bromine as the dominant oxidant of mercury in the upper troposphere National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grants 121701 and, 1215712) 2016-12-13T20:37:59Z 2016-12-13T20:37:59Z 2015-11 2015-11 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 00948276 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/105814 Gratz, L. E. et al. “Oxidation of Mercury by Bromine in the Subtropical Pacific Free Troposphere” Geophysical Research Letters 42.23 (2015): 10,494-10,502. CrossRef. Web. © 2016 American Geophysical Union https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6396-5622 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6395-7422 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2015gl066645 Geophysical Research Letters Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Geophysical Union (AGU) Prof. Selin via Phoebe Ayers |
| spellingShingle | Gratz, L. E. Ambrose, J. L. Jaffe, D. A. Shah, V. Jaeglé, L. Stutz, J. Festa, J. Spolaor, M. Tsai, C. Zhou, X. Weinheimer, A. J. Knapp, D. J. Montzka, D. D. Flocke, F. M. Campos, T. L. Apel, E. Hornbrook, R. Blake, N. J. Hall, S. Tyndall, G. S. Reeves, M. Stechman, D. Stell, M. Selin, Noelle E Song, Shaojie Oxidation of mercury by bromine in the subtropical Pacific free troposphere |
| title | Oxidation of mercury by bromine in the subtropical Pacific free troposphere |
| title_full | Oxidation of mercury by bromine in the subtropical Pacific free troposphere |
| title_fullStr | Oxidation of mercury by bromine in the subtropical Pacific free troposphere |
| title_full_unstemmed | Oxidation of mercury by bromine in the subtropical Pacific free troposphere |
| title_short | Oxidation of mercury by bromine in the subtropical Pacific free troposphere |
| title_sort | oxidation of mercury by bromine in the subtropical pacific free troposphere |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/105814 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6396-5622 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6395-7422 |
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