Mercury Isotope Composition in Open Water Corals of South China Sea: Implication for Atmospheric Mercury Deposition Pathways Into Tropical Oceans

doi:10.1029/2023GL105305

IOCAS-IR > 海洋环流与波动重点实验室

	Mercury Isotope Composition in Open Water Corals of South China Sea: Implication for Atmospheric Mercury Deposition Pathways Into Tropical Oceans
	Zhang, Rui1 ; Sun, Ruoyu 1; Liu, Yi 1; Li, Songjing 1; Cao, Fei 1; Yang, Hongqiang 2; Chen, Shun 3; Li, Xiaohua 4; Zheng, Wang 1; Chen, Jiubin 1
	2023-12-28
发表期刊	GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
ISSN	0094-8276
卷号	50 期号:24 页码:10
通讯作者	Liu, Yi([email protected]) ; Yang, Hongqiang([email protected])
摘要	The deposition of different atmospheric mercury (Hg) species into oceans determines the atmospheric Hg lifetime and the production of neurotoxin methylmercury. Yet, the relative contribution of atmospheric Hg(II) and Hg(0) is largely unconstrained. Here, we report the concentrations of total Hg and methylmercury, as well as Hg isotope composition in living corals collected from the tropical South China Sea (SCS). The results show that the Hg in corals is mainly present as inorganic Hg, exhibiting slightly negative delta 202Hg and small yet significant Delta 199Hg and Delta 200Hg. These isotope features closely resemble those of pelagic waters, suggesting that shallow-water corals that are widely distributed in oligotrophic waters could be used to trace atmospheric Hg deposition pathways. A mixture model based on coral Delta 200Hg indicates that approximately 49% of the seawater Hg in the tropical SCS, a region characterized by high rainfall, originates from atmospheric gaseous Hg(0), much larger than previous estimates. Mercury (Hg) is a toxic heavy metal pollutant that has significant impacts on the environment. The ocean plays a crucial role in the global Hg cycle, with atmospheric Hg deposition being a major source of Hg in seawater. By elucidating the sources, transport, and transformations of Hg in the marine environment, we can develop effective strategies for its mitigation and environmental management. However, our current understanding of how atmospheric mercury enters the open sea is limited, due to challenges in directly measuring trace amounts of mercury in seawater. The widely distributed shallow-water coral could be an important supplement. Here we present the first-ever examination of mercury isotope compositions in coral polyps and their symbiotic zooxanthellae from the tropical South China Sea to investigate atmospheric Hg sources into the open ocean. The result shows that the ratio of atmospheric divalent Hg(II) to elemental Hg(0) deposition derived from coral isotopes is only about one quarter of the estimate based on current observations. Our study presents a novel approach to constrain atmospheric Hg deposition pathways into the ocean and challenges the prevailing viewpoint that Hg in tropical oceans mainly originates from precipitation. First study of Hg isotope compositions in coral polyps and their symbiotic zooxanthellaeShallow-water coral tissue can serve as an archive for Hg isotopic compositions of the surface seawaterCoral Delta 200Hg reveals that similar to 49% of seawater Hg in the tropical South China Sea is derived from atmospheric gaseous elemental Hg
DOI	10.1029/2023GL105305
收录类别	SCI
语种	英语
资助项目	National Natural Science Foundation of China; [41922019]; [42373011]; [42173011]
WOS研究方向	Geology
WOS类目	Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
WOS记录号	WOS:001122422300001
出版者	AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
WOS关键词	MASS-INDEPENDENT FRACTIONATION ; LIGHT ; AIR ; HG ; PRECIPITATION ; ZOOXANTHELLAE ; EXCHANGE ; SKELETON ; EARTH ; ACID
引用统计
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://ir.qdio.ac.cn/handle/337002/184092
专题	海洋环流与波动重点实验室
通讯作者	Liu, Yi; Yang, Hongqiang
作者单位	1.Tianjin Univ, Inst Surface Earth Syst Sci, Sch Earth Syst Sci, Tianjin, Peoples R China 2.Chinese Acad Sci, South China Sea Inst Oceanol, Key Lab Ocean & Marginal Sea Geol, Guangzhou, Peoples R China 3.Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Deep Sea Sci & Engn, Deep Sea Sci Div, Sanya, Peoples R China 4.Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Oceanol, Key Lab Ocean Circulat & Waves, Qingdao, Peoples R China
通讯作者单位	中国科学院海洋研究所
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Zhang, Rui,Sun, Ruoyu,Liu, Yi,et al. Mercury Isotope Composition in Open Water Corals of South China Sea: Implication for Atmospheric Mercury Deposition Pathways Into Tropical Oceans[J]. GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,2023,50(24):10.
APA	Zhang, Rui.,Sun, Ruoyu.,Liu, Yi.,Li, Songjing.,Cao, Fei.,...&Chen, Jiubin.(2023).Mercury Isotope Composition in Open Water Corals of South China Sea: Implication for Atmospheric Mercury Deposition Pathways Into Tropical Oceans.GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,50(24),10.
MLA	Zhang, Rui,et al."Mercury Isotope Composition in Open Water Corals of South China Sea: Implication for Atmospheric Mercury Deposition Pathways Into Tropical Oceans".GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS 50.24(2023):10.

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