ACP Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ACP 1680-7324 Copernicus GmbH Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/acp-12-11027-2012 Dynamic recycling of gaseous elemental mercury in the boundary layer of the Antarctic Plateau Dommergue A. 1 Barret M. 1 Courteaud J. 1 Cristofanelli P. 2 Ferrari C. P. 1 Gallée H. 1 UJF – Grenoble 1/CNRS, Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l'Environnement (LGGE) UMR5183, Grenoble, 38041, France Institute for Atmospheric Science and Climate, National Research Council, Bologna, Italy 21 11 2012 12 22 11027 11036 This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article is available from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/12/11027/2012/acp-12-11027-2012.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/12/11027/2012/acp-12-11027-2012.pdf

Gaseous elemental mercury (Hg<sup>0</sup>) was investigated in the troposphere and in the interstitial air extracted from the snow at Dome Concordia station (alt. 3320 m) on the Antarctic Plateau during January 2009. Measurements and modeling studies showed evidence of a very dynamic and daily cycling of Hg<sup>0</sup> inside the mixing layer with a range of values from 0.2 ng m<sup>−3</sup> up to 2.3 ng m<sup>−3</sup>. During low solar irradiation periods, fast Hg<sup>0</sup> oxidation processes in a confined layer were suspected. Unexpectedly high Hg<sup>0</sup> concentrations for such a remote place were measured under higher solar irradiation due to snow photochemistry. We suggest that a daily cycling of reemission/oxidation occurs during summer within the mixing layer at Dome Concordia. Hg<sup>0</sup> concentrations showed a negative correlation with ozone mixing ratios, which contrasts with atmospheric mercury depletion events observed during the Arctic spring. Unlike previous Antarctic studies, we think that atmospheric Hg<sup>0</sup> removal may not be the result of advection processes. The daily and dramatic Hg<sup>0</sup> losses could be a consequence of surface or snow induced oxidation pathways. It remains however unclear whether halogens are involved. The cycling of other oxidants should be investigated together with Hg species in order to clarify the complex reactivity on the Antarctic plateau.

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