雪冰中汞的研究进展

汞是具有特殊物理化学性质的重金属元素,其较强的挥发性使之能够参与全球尺度传输,汞的高毒性又能对人类和高等生物体产生极大危害,因而汞是一种全球性污染物,在近几十年来备受科学界的关注.汞的全球生物地球化学循环演化规律是目前环境科学领域的研究热点.冰冻圈是地球系统的关键组成部分之一,是各圈层相互作用的重要环节;而雪冰是冰冻圈的主体,是环境和气候记录的良好载体之一.对南极、北极和中低纬高海拔冰川现代雪冰和冰芯中汞的季节变化、空间差异以及历史变化的研究成果进行了综述,总结了北极和亚北极地区汞的雪/气界面过程研究,归纳了汞的实验室检测手段和方法.针对该领域目前研究上的空白和热点,分别对利用冰芯高分辨率和长时间序列记录重建工业革命以来汞的变化历史(特别在青藏高原)、中低纬冰川区汞的雪/气界面过程、雪冰中汞的同位素分析等进行了展望.

Progress in the Study of Mercury in Snow and Ice

Because of its high toxic property and capability of long-distance transport, mercury has been recognized as a global pollutant and is among the most concerned heavy metals within the natural environment in recent decades. The global biogeochemistry cycling of mercury has received considerable attention and has been a hot topic in environmental science for years, The cryosphere is one of the key components of the Earth System, and also is itself a key component of the climate system, therefore playing a significant role in interaction among other spheres. Snow and ice are the most important components of the cryosphere and they represent excellent archives of climatic and environmental changes. Therefore, studying behaviors of mercury in the past and present snow/ice is of significance for understanding the global biogeochemical cycling of mercury. In this paper, previous studies regarding seasonal and spatial variations of mercury concentrations in present snow/ice and the history of mercury research in ice cores over the past several decades were reviewed. Studies of snow-air exchangeof mercury in Arctic and sub-Arctic environments are summerized, and progressof methods for mercury measurement was presented. We suggested that several aspects should be highlighted in the future studies on merany in snow and ice, reconstruction historical records of mercur changes using ice cores (particularly from Tibetan Plateau) are highly recommended. Additionally, studies regarding behaviors of snow-air exchange of mercury in mid-latitude and low-latitude glaciers as well as the potential application of mercury isotopes to snow/ice research are recommended.