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 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.

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Author Gratz, L.
Ambrose, J.
Jaffe, D.
Shah, V.
Jaeglé, L.
Stutz, J.
Festa, J.
Spolaor, M.
Tsa, C.
Selin, N.
Song, S.
Zhou, X.
Weinheimer, Andrew
Knapp, David
Montzka, Denise
Flocke, Frank
Campos, Teresa
Apel, Eric
Hornbrook, Rebecca
Blake, N.
Hall, Samuel
Tyndall, Geoffrey
Reeves, John
Stechman, Daniel
Stell, Meghan
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2015-12-16T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
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Topic Category geoscientificInformation
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Metadata Date 2023-08-18T19:03:33.263067
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:17903
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Gratz, L., Ambrose, J., Jaffe, D., Shah, V., Jaeglé, L., Stutz, J., Festa, J., Spolaor, M., Tsa, C., Selin, N., Song, S., Zhou, X., Weinheimer, Andrew, Knapp, David, Montzka, Denise, Flocke, Frank, Campos, Teresa, Apel, Eric, Hornbrook, Rebecca, Blake, N., Hall, Samuel, Tyndall, Geoffrey, Reeves, John, Stechman, Daniel, Stell, Meghan. (2015). Oxidation of mercury by bromine in the subtropical Pacific free troposphere. UCAR/NCAR - Library. http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7qc050h. Accessed 04 April 2025.

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