The Mediterranean Sea plays an important role as a source and sink of several pollutants, via re-emission and deposition pathways. Natural emissions (volcanoes and geothermal activities) are important sources of atmospheric pollutants including mercury and, superimposed on this natural variability, twenty-one countries within Europe, northern Africa and western Asia impact on Mediterranean air quality through industrial and urban emissions. Within the MED-OCEANOR program of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) and during the Global Mercury Observation System (GMOS) EU-project (2010-2015), an oceanographic campaign called Fenice-2013 was carried out between 26 July and 12 August 2013 along the Eastern sector of the Mediterranean Sea basin. The ship route of Fenice-2013 was characterized by 11 scheduled stops and 12 route legs. The purpose of the research cruise campaign was to collect information on the levels of different pollutants in the air (trace gases and particulate matter-PM) and in surface and deep seawater. For our atmospheric investigation, continuous measurements of speciated mercury (Particle Bound Mercury-PBM, Gaseous Elemental Mercury-GEM and Gaseous Oxidized Mercury-GOM), ancillary trace gases and meteorological parameters were carried out on-board the Research Vessel R/V Urania. In this work, PBM levels (where PM <2.5) will be presented and discussed in terms of trends and diurnal variations. PBM ranged between 0.2 pg m-3 and 26.5 pg m-3 with a mean concentration of 3.2±3.5 pg m-3 and a median value of 2.5 pg m-3 (dataset of n = 123). In addition to previous Hg measurements, spatial coverage and temporal pattern of PBM during the summer of 2013 can contribute to study chemical and physical processes with the aim to understand Hg cycling in the Marine Boundary Layer (MBL) at the remote ocean locations. Due to distance of main anthropogenic sources, PBM concentrations obtained during the Fenice-2013 shipboard campaign provide additional information about oxidized Hg bounded or adsorbed to particulate matter measured in remote areas of the Mediterranean Sea basin
Particle bound mercury measurements (PBM) during the Fenice 2013 cruise campaign in the Eastern Mediterranean region
Becherini F;Cofone F
2020
Abstract
The Mediterranean Sea plays an important role as a source and sink of several pollutants, via re-emission and deposition pathways. Natural emissions (volcanoes and geothermal activities) are important sources of atmospheric pollutants including mercury and, superimposed on this natural variability, twenty-one countries within Europe, northern Africa and western Asia impact on Mediterranean air quality through industrial and urban emissions. Within the MED-OCEANOR program of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) and during the Global Mercury Observation System (GMOS) EU-project (2010-2015), an oceanographic campaign called Fenice-2013 was carried out between 26 July and 12 August 2013 along the Eastern sector of the Mediterranean Sea basin. The ship route of Fenice-2013 was characterized by 11 scheduled stops and 12 route legs. The purpose of the research cruise campaign was to collect information on the levels of different pollutants in the air (trace gases and particulate matter-PM) and in surface and deep seawater. For our atmospheric investigation, continuous measurements of speciated mercury (Particle Bound Mercury-PBM, Gaseous Elemental Mercury-GEM and Gaseous Oxidized Mercury-GOM), ancillary trace gases and meteorological parameters were carried out on-board the Research Vessel R/V Urania. In this work, PBM levels (where PM <2.5) will be presented and discussed in terms of trends and diurnal variations. PBM ranged between 0.2 pg m-3 and 26.5 pg m-3 with a mean concentration of 3.2±3.5 pg m-3 and a median value of 2.5 pg m-3 (dataset of n = 123). In addition to previous Hg measurements, spatial coverage and temporal pattern of PBM during the summer of 2013 can contribute to study chemical and physical processes with the aim to understand Hg cycling in the Marine Boundary Layer (MBL) at the remote ocean locations. Due to distance of main anthropogenic sources, PBM concentrations obtained during the Fenice-2013 shipboard campaign provide additional information about oxidized Hg bounded or adsorbed to particulate matter measured in remote areas of the Mediterranean Sea basinI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
