Recent alterations of aerosol concentration, mercury distribution and organic matter deposition in the Arctic

Material fluxes in the Arctic and Antarctic have been, in several respects, strongly affected recently. For example, atmospheric turbidity conditions are frequently subject to strong changes due to haze and dust transport episodes, which can cause considerable perturbations in the radiation balance of the atmosphere beyond regional scale. This, directly or indirectly, contributes to the increased mercury deposition and organic matter fluxes to sediments. The results show that local emissions are not always the most important factors influencing the composition of aerosol in the atmosphere of the west Spitsbergen region. The direct radiative impact of polar aerosols on the surface and at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) need to be studied more closely through both theoretical studies on the aerosol radiative properties and measurements of the surface reflectance characteristics. Mercury dissolved/solid partitioning, both in the unconsolidated, fluffy layer of suspended matter covering the sediments, and the uppermost sediment layer, indicate that the influence of the athmospheric mercury deposition event (AMDE) can prolong well into summer (July/August), and can provide a pathway to the food chain for mercury contained in sediments. Since terrigenous supplies of organic carbon to the Barents Sea are minor (∼5%) compared to the marine supply, modern sediment deposits in this region sequester on average 6.0 g/m2year organic carbon, or 5.8% of the annual integrated pelagic primary production. This burial fraction exceeds, by a factor of 3, the burial fraction derived for the Holocene.