Elevated oxidized mercury in the free troposphere: analytical advances and application at a remote continental mountaintop site

Abstract

Mercury (Hg) is a global atmospheric pollutant. In its oxidized form (HgII), it can readily deposit to ecosystems, where it may bioaccumulate and cause severe health effects. High HgII concentrations are reported in the free troposphere, but spatiotemporal data coverage is limited. Underestimation of HgII by commercially available measurement systems hinders quantification of Hg cycling and fate. During spring–summer 2021 and 2022, we measured elemental (Hg0) and oxidized Hg using a calibrated dual-channel system alongside trace gases, aerosol properties, and meteorology at the high-elevation Storm Peak Laboratory (SPL) above Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Oxidized Hg concentrations displayed diel and episodic behavior similar to previous work at SPL but were approximately 3 times higher in magnitude due to improved measurement accuracy. We identified 18 multi-day events of elevated HgII (mean enhancement of 36 pg m−3) that occurred in dry air (mean ± SD of relative humidity = 32 ± 16 %). Lagrangian particle dispersion model (HYSPLIT–STILT, Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory–Stochastic Time-Inverted Lagrangian Transport) 10 d back trajectories showed that the majority of transport prior to events occurred in the low to middle free troposphere. Oxidized Hg was anticorrelated with Hg0 during events, with an average (± SD) slope of −0.39 ± 0.14. We posit that event HgII resulted from upwind oxidation followed by deposition or cloud uptake during transport. Meanwhile, sulfur dioxide measurements verified that three upwind coal-fired power plants did not influence ambient Hg at SPL. Principal component analysis showed HgII consistently inversely related to Hg0 and generally not associated with combustion tracers, confirming oxidation in the clean, dry free troposphere as its primary origin.