Effect of altitude and distance from the sea on fractionation processes of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) associated to atmospheric aerosol from Ross Sea to Dome C, Antarctica

The mechanisms of transfer process from the seawater to the atmosphere and aerosol of three major classes of pollutants (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, PAHs, Polychlorobiphenyls, PCBs, and Organochloride Pesticides, OCPs) were investigated in samples of snow and firn collected during several Italian Expeditions from 1996 to 2014 in a large area of Antarctica. The samples were gathered at different distances from the sea (Rennick Glacier and traverse GV7-Talos Dome-Dome C), at different altitudes (Mt. Melbourne) and at different depths (Evans Neve). The strategic sampling spots allowed the study of the mechanisms involved in the transfer process that occurs from the seawater to the aerosol and the atmosphere and the consequent diffusion of these pollutants in the environment.

This paper deals with both the transport processes of several classes of organic pollutants in a large area of Victoria Land and Ross Sea (Antarctica) and the role played by marine aerosol which involves the exchange process between the sea surface and the atmosphere.