First mercury determination in snow from high-mountain sites in the Siberian Altai and Swiss Alps as reflection of present atmospheric concentrations of Hg

摘要

High-altitude mountain glaciers are well suited as paleoarchives which allow to estimate the historical and present-day atmospheric emission of air pollutants both on a global and local scale. The Altai mountain region (Russia) is especially interesting for Hg, since it's located close the large Hg mine in Aktash (one of largest Hg producers in the USSR) and to the sources of air pollution in East Kazakhstan and South Siberia during Soviet Union times. Thus, local, regional and long-range transport is supposed to contribute to Hg contamination in this area. The preliminary data is the first data on Hg levels in snow ever obtained for the Altai region. The Hg concentrations in the snow pit (0.8-1.4 ng/1) and in the firn core (most values are around 1.2-1.8 ng/1) from Belukha glacier (3896 m asl) are comparable with those (1.5-2 ng/1) determined in snow from the Jungfraujoch (3500 m asl, Swiss Alps) and Hg levels reported for the snow from French Alps. The similar Hg levels found in high-alpine snow in Central Asia and in Europe indicate that present-day Hg level in the Altai region is determined mostly by long-range transport and global emissions of Hg.