Research progress on behaviors and environmental effects of mercury in the cryosphere of the Tibetan Plateau: a critical review

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1226.2022.21049.

Abstract

Abstract:

The behavior and fates of environmental pollutants within the cryosphere and the associated environmental impacts are of increasing concerns in the context of global warming. The Tibetan Plateau (TP), also known as the "Third Pole", represents one of the most important cryospheric regions in the world. Mercury (Hg) is recognized as a global pollutant. Here, we summarize the current knowledge of Hg concentration levels, pools and spatio-temporal distribution in cryospheric environments (e.g., glacier, permafrost), and its transfer and potential cycle in the TP cryospheric region. Transboundary transport of anthropogenic Hg from the surrounding heavily-polluted regions, such as South and Southeast Asia, provides significant sources of atmospheric Hg depositions onto the TP cryosphere. We concluded that the melting of the cryosphere on the TP represents an increasing source of Hg and brings a risk to the TP environment. In addition, global warming acts as an important catalyst accelerating the release of legacy Hg from the melting cryosphere, adversely impacting ecosystems and biological health. Furthermore, we emphasize on the remaining gaps and proposed issues needed to be addressed in future work, including enhancing our knowledge on some key release pathways and the related environmental effects of Hg in the cryospheric region, integrated observation and consideration of Hg distribution, migration and cycle processes at a key region, and uses of Hg isotopic technical and Hg models to improve the understanding of Hg cycling in the TP cryospheric region.

Key words: mercury, cryosphere, environmental effects, Tibetan Plateau

ShiWei Sun,ShiChang Kang,QiangGong Zhang,JunMing Guo,XueJun Sun. Research progress on behaviors and environmental effects of mercury in the cryosphere of the Tibetan Plateau: a critical review[J].Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions, 2022, 14(1): 1-22.

Figures/Tables 7

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Table S1

Summary of concentrations and wet deposition fluxes of THg in precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau and other typical regions"

Sites	Site type	Period	Annual precipitation (mm)	Volume-weighted mean concentration (ng/L)		Mean THg (ng/L)	PHg	Wet deposition flux (μg/(m²·a))		Reference
Sites	Site type	Period	Annual precipitation (mm)	THg	MeHg	Mean THg (ng/L)	PHg	THg	MeHg	Reference
Muztag Station, Northwestern TP	Remote	July-October, 2010	200	-	-	10.3±11.5	69.5%	2.1	-	Huang, 2011
Laohugou Station, Northeastern TP	Remote	July-October, 2010	369	-	-	32.9±54.6	77.1%	12.1	-	Huang, 2011
Nam Co Station, Southern TP	Remote	2009-2011	364.9	4.8±5.9	0.03	6.1±6.9	71.2%	1.75	0.01	Huang et al., 2012b
SET Station, Southeastern TP	Remote	2010-2012	978	4.0	0.11	3.4±1.6	43.6%	3.9	0.11	Huang et al., 2015
Two sites in central Himalaya	Remote	2011-2012	-	-	-	6.5-7.1	63%-80%	-	-	Tripathee et al., 2019
Mt.Gongga, Southeastern TP	Rural	2005-2007	1,818	14.3	0.16	-	-	26.1	0.30	Fu et al., 2010a
Dhunche, central Himalaya	Rural	2011-2012	-	6.7	-	8.0±8.3	60%	15.9	-	Tripathee et al., 2019
Yulong Station, Southeastern TP	Urban	August-October, 2010	921	-	-	11.4±5.8	92.6%	10.5	-	Huang, 2011
Lhasa, Capital of Tibet	Urban	2010	359	24.8	-	32.6±34.9	77%±12%	8.2	-	Huang et al., 2013
Kathmandu, Nepal	Urban	2011-2012	-	18.3	-	19.8±18.3	59%	34.9	-	Tripathee et al., 2019
Mt. Changbai, northeastern China	Alpine	2005-2006	630	13.3	-	-	-	8.4	-	Wan et al., 2009
Mt. Leigong, southwestern China	Alpine	2008-2009	1,533	4.0	0.040	-	-	6.1	0.06	Fu et al., 2010b
Pengjiayu, Taiwan, China	Remote	2009	1,438	8.85	-	-	-	10.18	-	Sheu and Lin, 2013
Three sites in southwestern China	Rural to Suburban	2005-2006	1,120-1,230	12.9-32.3	-	-	-	16.8-29.0	-	Wang et al., 2009
Beijing, China	Urban	1994-1995	647	224	-	-	-	115	-	Liu, 1997
Changchun, China	Urban	1999-2000	567	354	-	-	-	152.4	-	Fang et al., 2004
Kodiak, USA	Sub-Arctic	2008	2,500	2.1	-	-	-	5.2	-	MDN, 2010
Experimental Lakes Area, Canada	Boreal	1992-1994	730	4.0	0.052	-	-	2.9	0.04	Louis et al., 1995
Churchill, Canada	Sub-Arctic	2007	332	6.2	-	-	-	0.54	-	Sanei et al., 2010
North America MDN (>100 sites)	Remote to industrial	2008	-	2.1-18.7	-	-	-	1.9-25.0	-	MDN, 2010
Korea	Rural	2006-2008	1,062	8.8	-	-	-	9.4	-	Ahn et al., 2011
Durham, USA	Rural	2007, 2008	114-160	8-8.1	-	-	-	8.4-12.3	-	Lombard et al., 2011
New York, USA	Rural	2003-2005	110	5.5	-	-	-	5.9	-	Lai et al., 2007
Eastern Ohio, USA	Urban	2003, 2004	-	13.5-14	-	-	-	13.5-19.7	-	Keeler et al., 2006
Toronto, Canada	Urban	2005-2008	-	22.0	-	-	-	18.60	-	Zhang et al., 2012b
Seoul, Korea	Urban	2006, 2007	1,235-1,645	10.1-16.3	-	-	-	16.8-20.2	-	Seo et al., 2012

Table S1

Table S2

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Glacier name	Study region	Sample type	Depth (cm)	Date	ELA (m a.s.l.)	Altitude (m a.s.l.)	THg (ng/L)		PHg	Reference
Glacier name	Study region	Sample type	Depth (cm)	Date	ELA (m a.s.l.)	Altitude (m a.s.l.)	mean±SD	range	PHg	Reference
LHG (the Laohugou No.12 Glacier)	Northeastern TP	Fresh snow and aged Snow surface ice	0-5	July, 2013	4,800	4,452-5,038	5.1±8.8	<1-39.7	-	Huang et al., 2014
LHG (the Laohugou No.12 Glacier)	Northeastern TP	Fresh snow and aged Snow surface ice	0-5	July, 2013	4,800	4,400-4,900	96.9	20.1-306.5	-	Huang et al., 2014
MZ (Muztagata Glacier)	Northwestern TP	Coarse-grained snow	0-5	July, 2010	4,800-5,200	5,400-5,800	8.6±3.1	<4-13	-	Huang et al., 2012b
GQ (Guoqu Glacier)	Central TP	Coarse-grained snow	0-5	April, 2009	>5,300	5,200-5,700	3.6±1.1	2.5-7.5	-	Huang et al., 2012b
GQ (Guoqu Glacier)	Central TP	Ice core	0-147 m	November, 2005	>5,300	5,750	0.8±0.8	<0.5-9.8	-	Kang et al., 2016
XDKMD (the Xiao Dongkemadi Glacier)	Central TP	Surface snow	0-5	May-October, 2015	5,620	5,400-5,700	30.6±53.9	1.0-246.9	72.9%	Paudyal et al., 2017
ZD (Zhadang Glacier)	Southern TP	Coarse-grained snow	0-5	May, 2009	5,750	5,500-5,750	0.9±0.3	<1-1.5	-	Huang et al., 2012b
ZD (Zhadang Glacier)	Southern TP	Fresh snow	0-5	August, September, 2011	5,750	5,550-5,800	0.7±0.2	0.4-1.4	-	Sun et al., 2018a
QY (Qiangyong Glacier)	Southern TP	Surface snow	0-5	August, 2012	5,600	5,101-5,597	8.8±0.5	7.6-10.6	71.9%	Sun et al., 2016
ER (East Rongbuk Glacier)	Southern edge of the TP	Coarse-grained snow	0-5	October, 2010	6,419	6,300-6,550	2.2±0.6	1-3	-	Huang et al., 2012b
		Intensive surface snow coarse-grained snow	0-5	April, 2016	6,419	6,280	3.9±1.2	2.6-6.4	70.7%±6.6%	Sun et al., 2018a
		Fine-grained snow	0-5	April, 2016	6,419	6,300-6,700	19.1±16.5	9.6-69.8	87.8%±6.0%
		Surface ice	0-5	April, 2016	6,419	6,250-6,400	21.3±30.0	7.6-90.7	89.7%±6.0%
YL (The Baishui No.1 Glacier)	Southeastern TP	Aged snow	0-5	May-August, 2015	4,900	4,640-4,800	37±26	3.1-137.8	55%	Paudyal et al., 2019

Glacier name	Study region	Sample type	Date	Altitude (m a.s.l.)	THg (ng/L)		PHg	Export flux (g/a)	Reference
Glacier name	Study region	Sample type	Date	Altitude (m a.s.l.)	mean± SD	range	PHg	Export flux (g/a)	Reference
LHG	Northeastern TP	Supraglacial streamwater	July, 2013	-	1.1	0.9-1.2	-	-	Huang et al., 2014
LHG	Northeastern TP	Proglacial streamwater	July, 2013	-	22.8	20.3-25.3	-	-	Huang et al., 2014
XDKMD	Central TP	Glacial-fed riverwater (daily)	July-August, 2015	5,058-5,263	18.6±17.8	6.6-92.5	-	-	Paudyal et al., 2017
XDKMD	Central TP	Glacial-fed riverwater (hourly)	August, 2015	5,220	18.9±6.7	7.7-37.3	-	747.43	Paudyal et al., 2017
ZD	Southern TP	Supraglacial streamwater	August-September, 2011	5,580	2.4±1.0	-	87.7%	-	Sun et al., 2017b
		Proglacial riverwater	August-September, 2011	5,545	1.1±0.8	-	79%	8.76
		Glacial-fed riverwater (hourly, UPMP)	August, 2011	5,400	0.8±0.4	-	86.2%	7.3
		Glacial-fed riverwater (hourly, DMP)	August, 2011	4,740	1.2±0.3	-	83.6%	157.85
QY	Southern TP	Proglacial lakewater	August, 2012	4,770	0.9±0.4	0.4-1.8	-	-	Sun et al., 2016
QY	Southern TP	Glacial-fed riverwater	August, 2012	4,869-4,891	1.1-2.5	-	-	-	Sun et al., 2016
ER	Southern edge of the TP	Supraglacial lakewater	April, 2016	6,278	6.8±1.0	5.8-7.9	83%	-	Sun et al., 2018a
		Supraglacial streamwater	April, 2016	5,750	4.6±0.4	4.2-5.0	79%	-
		Proglacial lakewater	April, 2016	5,214	2.2±0.2	1.9-2.4	58%	-
		Glacial-fed riverwater	April, 2016	5,151	1.9±0.4	1.5-2.3	41%	-
YL	Southeastern TP	Snow meltwater beneath the snowpit	May, 2015	-	21.2±7.8	10-36	-	-	Paudyal et al., 2019

Site	Study region	Mountain range	Sample type	Depth (cm)	Date	Altitude (m a.s.l.)	THg (ng/L)		PHg	Reference
Site	Study region	Mountain range	Sample type	Depth (cm)	Date	Altitude (m a.s.l.)	mean±SD	range	PHg	Reference
the Laohugou No.12 Glacier	Northeastern TP	Qilian	snowpit	0-130	October, 2008	5,026	10.8±4	4.9-19.9	-	Zhang et al., 2012a
the Laohugou No.12 Glacier	Northeastern TP	Qilian	2 snowpits	0-40	July, 2013	5,040	8.8, 10.6	<1-50	-	Huang et al., 2014
Muztag Glacier	Northwestern TP	Kunlun	snowpit	0-150	July, 2010	5,725	3.2±0.9	1.2-4.3	-	Zhang et al., 2012a
Guoqu Glacier	Central TP	Tanggula	2 snowpits	0-90	October, November, 2005	5,750; 5,820	3.7±2.4	1.2-8.3	-	Loewen et al., 2007
Guoqu Glacier	Central TP	Tanggula	snowpit	0-70	April, 2009	5,765	0.9±0.8	<0.3-2	-	Zhang et al., 2012a
Xiao Dongkemadi Glacier	Central TP	Tanggula	2 snowpits	0-45	June, July, 2015	5,678	1.9, 4.3	0.47-10.05	64.3%, 81.0%	Paudyal et al., 2017
Zhadang Glacier	Southern TP	Nyainqêntanglha	snowpit	0-110, 0-40	June, October, 2006	5,800	7.0±8.8,7.1±6.9	2.3-43.2	-	Loewen et al., 2007
			snowpit	0-200	September, 2008	5,758	8.1±9.2	0.8-38.2	-	Zhang et al., 2012a
			snowpit	0-210	May, 2009	5,797	5.5±6.2	0.3-22.2	-	Zhang et al., 2012a
			9 snowpits	0-45	August, September, 2011	5,800	2-6.9	<1-20.8	76.6%	Huang et al., 2012a
Demula Glacier	Southern TP	Kangri Garpo in Eastern Himalaya	snowpit	0-180	September, 2008	5,404	4.9±3.5	0.4-11	-	Zhang et al., 2012a
East Rongbuk Glacier	Southern edge of the TP	Middle Himalayas	snowpit	0-150	April, 2005	6,536	1.7±0.8	0.5-3	-	Loewen et al., 2007
			snowpit	0-115	May, 2009	6,525	1.1±1.3	0.3-6.5	-	Zhang et al., 2012a
			snowpit	0-140	April, 2016	6,460	2.8±5.0	1.5-21.1	78.3%±10.3%	Sun et al., 2018
Baishui No.1 Glacier	Southeastern TP	Hengduan	snowpit	0-295	May, 2009	4,747	3.5±2.2	1-7.5	-	Zhang et al., 2012a
Baishui No.1 Glacier	Southeastern TP	Hengduan	3 snowpits	90, 110, 160	May, 2015	4,700	1.25-1.65	0.01-3.8	55%	Paudyal et al., 2019

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