Science, Space and Technology News 2023
Instead, the researchers needed to use another chemical emitted in tandem with mercury as a proxy. In this case, the team used sulfur dioxide, a major component of volcanic emissions.“The nice thing about sulfur dioxide is that it’s really easy to see using satellites,” said Benjamin Geyman, a PhD student in Environmental Science & Engineering at SEAS and first author of the paper.
Using a compilation of mercury to sulfur dioxide ratios measured in volcanic gas plumes, the researchers reverse-engineered how much mercury could be attributed to volcanic eruptions. Then, using the GEOS-Chem atmospheric model, they modeled how mercury from volcanic eruptions moved across the globe.
“In Boston, we can do our local monitoring and we don’t have to think about whether it was a big volcano year or a small volcano year,” said Geyman. “But in a place like Hawaii, you’ve got a big source of natural mercury that is highly variable over time. This map helps us understand where volcanos are important and where they aren’t, which is really useful for understanding the impact of humans on long-term mercury trends in fish, in the air, and in the ocean.
Reference: “Impacts of Volcanic Emissions on the Global Biogeochemical Mercury Cycle: Insights From Satellite Observations and Chemical Transport Modeling” by Benjamin M. Geyman, Colin P. Thackray, Daniel J. Jacob and Elsie M. Sunderland, 01 November 2023,The research was co-authored by Colin Thackray and, Daniel J. Jacob, the Vasco McCoy Family Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Environmental Engineering.SciTechDaily: Home of the best science and technology news since 1998.
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