Abstract

The climate warming–related degradation of permafrost can lead to the entry of climatically and biologically active substances, including mercury, into the biosphere; this work focuses on the analysis of the total content of mercury and organic carbon in 15 cores drilled in frozen Quaternary deposits of the Arctic Archipelago of Spitsbergen. The mercury content was additionally analyzed in bedrock samples, because the studied Quaternary deposits are formed by the weathering of the bedrock of the area. The results show that mercury concentrations in 157 studied samples of frozen Quaternary deposits range from 21 to 94 ng/g, with an average value of 40 ng/g. The expected correlation of mercury content with organic carbon content is not revealed. There are no trends in the accumulation of mercury depending on the lithological facies, geomorphological position, the time of sedimentation, or the freezing conditions. The average content of mercury in bedrock is relatively low, with a mean value of 8 ng/g. This means that the main source of mercury in frozen Quaternary deposits is not bedrock, but the formation of organic matter complexes or sorption on clay particles. In terms of the ongoing discussion about mercury input from permafrost to ecosystems, the results obtained from boreholes can be considered preindustrial background values.

中文翻译：

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斯匹次卑尔根群岛冰冻第四纪沉积物中的汞

摘要

与气候变暖相关的永久冻土退化可能导致气候和生物活性物质（包括汞）进入生物圈；这项工作的重点是分析在北极斯匹次卑尔根群岛冰冻第四纪矿床中钻探的 15 个岩心中汞和有机碳的总含量。由于所研究的第四纪沉积物是由该地区基岩的风化形成的，因此还对基岩样品中的汞含量进行了分析。结果显示，157 个研究的第四纪冷冻沉积物样品中汞浓度范围为 21 至 94 ng/g，平均值为 40 ng/g。汞含量与有机碳含量的预期相关性并未揭示。汞的富集不随岩相、地貌位置、沉积时间或冻结条件的变化而变化。基岩中汞的平均含量较低，平均值为8纳克/克。这意味着冻结的第四纪沉积物中汞的主要来源不是基岩，而是有机质复合物的形成或粘土颗粒上的吸附。就目前关于永久冻土向生态系统的汞输入的讨论而言，从钻孔获得的结果可以被视为工业化前的背景值。