Environmental contamination by mercury is and will continue to be a serious risk for human health. Pollution of the terrestrial environment is particularly important as it is a place of human life and food production. This publication presents a review of the literature on issues related to mercury pollution of the terrestrial environment: soil and plants and their transformations. Different forms of atmospheric Hg may be deposited on surfaces by way of wet and dry processes. These forms may be sequestered within terrestrial compartments or emitted back into the atmosphere, and the relative importance of these processes is dependent on the form of Hg, the surface chemistry, and the environmental conditions. On the land surface, Hg deposition mainly occurs in the oxidized form (Hg2+), and its transformations are associated primarily with the oxidation–reduction potential of the environment and the biological and chemical processes of methylation. The deposition of Hg pollutants on the ground with low vegetation is as 3–5 times lower than that in forests. The estimation of Hg emissions from soil and plants, which occur mainly in the Hg0 form, is very difficult. Generally, the largest amounts of Hg are emitted from tropical regions, followed by the temperate zone, and the lowest levels are from the polar regions. Areas with vegetation can be ranked according to the size of the emissions as follows: forests > other areas (tundra, savannas, and chaparral) > agricultural areas > grassland ecosystems; areas of land devoid of vegetation emit more Hg than those with plants. In areas with high pollution, such as areas near Hg mines, the Hg content in soil and plants is much higher than in other areas. Mercury is recognized as a toxic, persistent, and mobile contaminant; it does not degrade in the environment and becomes mobile because of the volatility of the element and several of its compounds. Atmospheric contamination by mercury continues to be one of the most important environmental problems in the modern world. The general conclusions were drawn from a review of the literature and presented in this paper.

/pdf/mercury-in-the-terrestrial-environment-a-review-n1ri67ig1b.pdf

Mercury in the terrestrial environment: a review

Results from a systematic investigation of mer- cury (Hg) concentrations across 14 forest sites in the United States show highest concentrations in litter layers, strongly enriched in Hg compared to aboveground tissues and indicative of substantial postdepositional sorption of Hg Soil Hg con- centrations were lower than in litter, with highest concentra- tions in surface soils Aboveground tissues showed no detectable spatial patterns, likely due to 17 different tree species present across sites Litter and soil Hg concentrations positively correlated with carbon (C), latitude, precipitation, and clay (in soil), which together explained up to 94% of concentration variability We observed strong latitudinal increases in Hg in soils and litter, in contrast to inverse latitudinal gradients of atmospheric deposition measures Soil and litter Hg concentrations were closely linked to C contents, consistent with well-known associations between organic matter and Hg, and we propose that C also shapes distribution of Hg in forests at continental scales TheconsistentlinkbetweenCandHgdistributionmayreflectalong-termlegacywherebyold,C-richsoilandlitterlayerssequester atmospheric Hg depositions over long time periods Based on a multiregression model, we present a distribution map of Hg concentrations in surface soils of the United States

https://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/nitrogen-gradient/Publications/Obrist%20et%20al%202011%20Hg%20Pools%20US%20Forests.pdf

Mercury Distribution Across 14 U.S. Forests. Part I: Spatial Patterns of Concentrations in Biomass, Litter, and Soils

We develop a mechanistic global model of soil mercury storage and emissions that tiesthe lifetime of mercury in soils to the lifetime of the organic carbon pools it is associatedwith We explore the implications of considering terrestrial mercury cycling in theframeworkofsoilcarboncyclingandsuggestpossibleavenuesoffutureresearchtotestourassumptions and constrain this type of model In our simulation, input of mercury to soil isby atmospheric deposition, in part through leaf uptake and subsequent litter fall, and ismoderated by surface photoreduction and revolatilization Once bound to organic carbon,mercury is transferred along a succession of short‐lived to long‐lived carbon pools and isultimately reemitted by respiration of these pools We examine the legacy of anthropogenicinfluence on global mercury storage and emissions and estimate that storage of mercury inorganic soils has increased by ∼20% since preindustrial times, while soil emissions haveincreased by a factor of 3 (2900 Mg yr

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1029/2009JG001124

Anthropogenic impacts on global storage and emissions of mercury from terrestrial soils: Insights from a new global model

Forest biomass and soils represent some of the largest reservoirs of actively cycling mercury (Hg) on Earth, but many uncertainties exist regarding the source and fate of Hg in forest ecosystems. We systematically characterized stable isotope compositions of Hg in foliage, litter, and mineral soil horizons across 10 forest sites in the contiguous United States. The mass independent isotope signatures in all forest depth profiles are more consistent with those of atmospheric Hg(0) than those of atmospheric Hg(II), indicating that atmospheric Hg(0) is the larger source of Hg to forest ecosystems. Within litter horizons, we observed significant enrichment in Hg concentration and heavier isotopes along the depth, which we hypothesize to result from additional deposition of atmospheric Hg(0) during litter decomposition. Furthermore, Hg isotope signatures in mineral soils closely resemble those of the overlying litter horizons suggesting incorporation of Hg from litter as a key source of soil Hg.

The spatial distribution of Hg isotope compositions in mineral soils across all sites is modeled by isotopic mixing assuming atmospheric Hg(II), atmospheric Hg(0) and geogenic Hg as major sources. This model shows that northern sites with higher precipitation tend to have higher atmospheric Hg(0) deposition than other sites, whereas drier sites in the western U.S. tend to have higher atmospheric Hg(II) deposition than the rest. We attribute these differences primarily to the higher litterfall Hg input at northern wetter sites due to increased plant productivity by precipitation. These results allow for a better understanding of Hg cycling across the atmosphere-forest-soil interface.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/2015GB005323

Mercury isotope compositions across North American forests

There is a large uncertainty in the estimate of global dry deposition of atmospheric mercury (Hg). Hg deposition through litterfall represents an important input to terrestrial forest ecosystems via cumulative uptake of atmospheric Hg (most Hg0) to foliage. In this study, we estimate the quantity of global Hg deposition through litterfall using statistical modeling (Monte Carlo simulation) of published data sets of litterfall biomass production, tree density, and Hg concentration in litter samples. On the basis of the model results, the global annual Hg deposition through litterfall is estimated to be 1180 ± 710 Mg yr–1, more than two times greater than the estimate by GEOS-Chem. Spatial distribution of Hg deposition through litterfall suggests that deposition flux decreases spatially from tropical to temperate and boreal regions. Approximately 70% of global Hg0 dry deposition occurs in the tropical and subtropical regions. A major source of uncertainty in this study is the heterogeneous geospatial distri...

Assessment of Global Mercury Deposition through Litterfall

. This study presents data on mercury (Hg) concentrations, stochiometric relations to carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), and Hg pool sizes in four Sierra Nevada forest sites of similar exposure and precipitation regimes, and hence similar atmospheric deposition, to evaluate how ecosystem parameters control Hg retention in ecosystems. In all four sites, the largest amounts of Hg reside in soils which account for 94–98% of ecosystem pools. Hg concentrations and Hg/C ratios increase in the following order: Green Needles/Leaves Mineral soil layers show strong positive correlations of Hg to C across all sites and soil horizons (r2=0.83), but Hg concentrations are even more closely related to N with a similar slope to that observed in litter (r2=0.92). Soil N levels alone explain over 90% of Hg pool sizes across the four Sierra Nevada forest sites. This suggests that soil organic N and C groups provide sorption sites for Hg to retain atmospheric deposition. However, the patterns could be due to indirect relationships where high soil N and C levels reflect high ecosystem productivity which leads to corresponding high atmospheric Hg deposition inputs via leaf litterfall and plant senescence. Our results also show that two of the sites previously affected by prescribed burning and wildfires show significant depletion of above-ground Hg pools but that belowground Hg pools remain unaffected. We conclude that sequestration of Hg in remote Sierra Nevada forest sites is strongly co-determined by ecosystem parameters with C and N pools being excellent determinants for the pool sizes of Hg.

/pdf/mercury-concentrations-and-pools-in-four-sierra-nevada-x9wesxfqbp.pdf

Mercury concentrations and pools in four Sierra Nevada forest sites, and relationships to organic carbon and nitrogen

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Mercury concentrations and pools in four Sierra Nevada forest sites, and relationships to organic carbon and nitrogen