Mercury Released from Southwestern Greenland Ice Sheet

Nature Geoscience, May 24

The Greenland Ice Sheet releases relatively high concentrations of mercury in its runoff, sending large amounts of this heavy metal downstream into neighboring fjords. Dissolved mercury from the southwestern region of Greenland accounts for an observed 10% increase in mercury in Arctic waterways. The mercury is believed to come from the bedrock on which the ice moves, so a “natural” source that is increasing as glacier melt and runoff increases. Greenland’s glacial catchments contain among the highest mercury levels recorded in natural waters; two orders of magnitude higher than from Arctic rivers. However, mercury from the Greenland Ice Sheet is not currently included in Arctic mercury budgets; despite its large and increasing annual runoff to the ocean, and the socio-economic concerns of high mercury levels in Arctic organisms.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-021-00753-w