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Total mercury and methylmercury in high altitude surface snow from the French Alps

Nicolas Marusczak 1 Catherine Larose 2 A. Dommergue 3 E. Yumvihoze 4 D. Lean 4 Rachid Nedjaï 5 C. Ferrari 3
1 CLIPS
LGGE - Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement, PACTE - Pacte, Laboratoire de sciences sociales
2 AMPERE - Ampère
3 CHANG
LGGE - Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement, Polytech Grenoble
4 Biology Department
5 PACTE - Pacte, Laboratoire de sciences sociales
Abstract : Surface snow samples were collected weekly from the 31st of December 2008 to the 21st of June 2009 from Lake Bramant in the French Alps. Total mercury (THg), total dissolved mercury (THgD), methylmercury (MeHg) and particle distributions in surface snow were analyzed. Results showed that THg concentrations, MeHg concentrations and particle load increased with snow surface temperature, which is an indicator of rising temperatures as the season progresses. Significant correlations between MeHg and snow surface temperature and MeHg and total particles greater than 10 μm were observed. This suggests that the MeHg found in the snow originates from atmospheric deposition processes rather than in situ snowpack sources. This study suggests that an important post-winter atmospheric deposition of MeHg and THg occurs on summital zones of the French Alps and it is likely that this contamination originates from the surrounding valleys.
Keywords : Atmospheric deposition processes Particles Methylmercury Snow French Alps Mercury
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Journal articles
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https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00647117
Contributor : Pascale Talour Connect in order to contact the contributor
Submitted on : Thursday, December 1, 2011 - 3:05:08 PM
Last modification on : Wednesday, October 20, 2021 - 1:52:07 AM

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INSU | CNRS | EC-LYON | AMPERE | LGGE | UNIV-LYON1 | INSA-LYON | INSA-GROUPE | IRSTEA | UNIV-SAVOIE | UDL | INRAE | UGA

Citation

Nicolas Marusczak, Catherine Larose, A. Dommergue, E. Yumvihoze, D. Lean, et al.. Total mercury and methylmercury in high altitude surface snow from the French Alps. Science of the Total Environment, Elsevier, 2011, 409 (19), pp.3949-3954. ⟨10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.06.040⟩. ⟨insu-00647117⟩

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