Advances in Earth Science ›› 2017, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (6): 589-598. doi: 10.11867/j.issn.1001-8166.2017.06.0589

Special Issue: 青藏高原研究——青藏科考

• Orginal Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Behavior and Environmental Effects of Mercury Relevant to the Melt of Alpine Glacier:A Review

Xuejun Sun 1, 4( ), Shichang Kang 2, 3, Qianggong Zhang 1, 3, *( ), Zhiyuan Cong 1, 3   

  1. 1.Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
    2. State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
    3.Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
    4.University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2017-01-13 Revised:2017-04-28 Online:2017-06-20 Published:2017-06-10
  • Contact: Qianggong Zhang E-mail:sunxuejun@itpcas.ac.cn;qianggong.zhang@itpcas.ac.cn
  • About author:

    First author:Sun Xuejun(1990-), male, Binzhou City, Shandong Province, Master student. Research areas include environmental geochemistry inland Tibetan Plateau.E-mail:sunxuejun@itpcas.ac.cn

  • Supported by:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China “Transportation of mercury in glacier meltwater runoff and its environmental effects in typical glacierized basins in the Tibetan Plateau” (No.41671074);The National Natural Science Foundation of China “Trans-boundary atmospheric pollutants from South Asia and their impacts on the cryospheric environments in the Tibetan Plateau”(No.41630754)

Xuejun Sun, Shichang Kang, Qianggong Zhang, Zhiyuan Cong. Behavior and Environmental Effects of Mercury Relevant to the Melt of Alpine Glacier:A Review[J]. Advances in Earth Science, 2017, 32(6): 589-598.

Mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant. As one of the significant cryospheric environmental matrix, snow-ice plays a unique role in Hg biogeochemical cycling, which has drawn a wide attention of scientists. Besides polar regions, a large aggregate of glaciers are distributed in the high elevation of mid-high latitude areas. These alpine glaciers are proximate to human residence and are sensitive to the climate change, which would readily impact the human society, water resource security and water quality. Consequently, investigating the behavior and environmental effects of Hg relevant to the melt of alpine glaciers represents significant scientific and social importance. The deposition and storage of Hg in alpine glacier areas were outlined and the removal characteristics and transformation of Hg during glacier melt process and transport of Hg in glacier-fed river were summarized. Based on this study, we suggested that glacier be one of the potential sources of Hg to the downstream areas. Moreover, it was worth concerning the fate and environmental effects of Hg in the ecosystem fed by the glacier runoff. Eventually, we proposed prospects of the process of Hg release during glacier melt and the hot issues of Hg transport in glacier runoff.

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