A 320 Year Ice-Core Record of Atmospheric Hg Pollution in the Altai, Central Asia
| Autor: | Tatyana Papina, Natalia Malygina, Margit Schwikowski, Stella Eyrikh, Leonhard Tobler, Anja Eichler |
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| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
Pollution
Asia 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences media_common.quotation_subject Central asia Environmental pollution 010501 environmental sciences 01 natural sciences Ice core Environmental Chemistry 0105 earth and related environmental sciences media_common Metal mercury Air Pollutants geography geography.geographical_feature_category Glacier Mercury General Chemistry Europe Deposition (aerosol physics) North America Period (geology) Physical geography Environmental Pollution Environmental Monitoring |
| Zdroj: | Environmental Science & Technology. 51:11597-11606 |
| ISSN: | 1520-5851 0013-936X |
| Popis: | Anthropogenic emissions of the toxic heavy metal mercury (Hg) have substantially increased atmospheric Hg levels during the 20th century compared to preindustrial times. However, on a regional scale, atmospheric Hg concentration or deposition trends vary to such an extent during the industrial period that the consequences of recent Asian emissions on atmospheric Hg levels are still unclear. Here we present a 320 year Hg deposition history for Central Asia, based on a continuous high-resolution ice-core Hg record from the Belukha glacier in the Siberian Altai, covering the time period 1680-2001. Hg concentrations and deposition fluxes start rising above background levels at the beginning of the 19th century due to emissions from gold/silver mining and Hg production. A steep increase occurs after the 1940s culminating during the 1970s, at the same time as the maximum Hg use in consumer products in Europe and North America. After a distinct decrease in the 1980s, Hg levels in the 1990s and beginning of the 2000s return to their maximum values, which we attribute to increased Hg emissions from Asia. Thus, rising Hg emissions from coal combustion and artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in Asian countries determine recent atmospheric Hg levels in Central Asia, counteracting emission reductions due to control measures in Europe and North America. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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