Evasion of Elemental Mercury from a Boreal Peatland Suppressed by Long-Term Sulfate Addition

Abstract

We investigated the evasion of TGM (total gaseous mercury) fromexperimental plots on a boreal peatland that had been exposed for 15 years todifferent combinations of atmospheric sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) deposition as wellas greenhouse treatments simulating climate change. Shaded dynamicflux chambermeasurements during the summer in 2009 showed emission of TGM to theatmosphere from most of the treated plots (0.7±0.94 ng m-2h-1). However, TGMexchange rates were significantly lower, occasionally indicating Hg uptake, on plotssubjected to S addition at rates of 20 kg ha-1year-1. Enhanced nitrogen depositionand greenhouse treatment had no significant effect on TGMfluxes. We hypothesizethat the lower Hg evasion from the sulfur-treated plots is related to either earlier Hgevasion or Hg binding to S in organic matter, making Hg less susceptible tovolatilization and more prone to transport in runoff.

Published in

Environmental Science and Technology Letters
2014, volume: 1, number: 10, pages: 421-425

SLU Authors

• Osterwalder, Stefan

  • University of Basel

• Nilsson, Mats

  • Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Sagerfors, Jörgen

  • Unit for Field-based Forest Research, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Åkerblom, Staffan

  • Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Bishop, Kevin

  • Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Uppsala University

UKÄ Subject classification

Forest Science

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/ez500223a

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/61910