Abstract:

Comparing the variation of the Hg concentrations in 14 subsamples from Antarctic Dome C ice core (Vandal et al., 1993) with the precipitation proxies such as δ 18 O values and 10 Be concentrations in the Dome C ice more, we found a significant correlation between Hg concentrations and δ 18 O values, 10 Be concentrations. And this clearly indicates that the accumulation rate in Dome C is one of the key factors to the variations of Hg concentrations. Therefore, Hg concentrations in ice core can be used as a proxy of precipitation rate. In this paper, we reassess the variations in mercury deposition flux in Antarctica over the past 34,000 years on the base of the high resolution δ 18 O values, which can be used as a good proxy reconstructing the precipitation rates. In our results, the highest mercury deposition flux is about 3.80pg cm -2 a -1 during the Last Glacial Maxium (LGM), as high as 3.5 times of the mercury deposition flux (about 1.08 pg cm -2 a -1 ) in Holocene. And this is because of the fluctuations in natural mercury emissions such as the oceanic biological emission.