ALBERT

Description: Benthic fluxes of dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) were measured in situ in the Eastern Gotland Basin (EGB), Central Baltic Sea, using benthic landers. A total of 40 flux measurements on 13 stations at water depths ranging from 30–210 m and under different oxygen regimes were carried out on three cruises during three consecutive years (2008–2010) in August–September. Our study is the first to report in situ DIP fluxes in the Baltic Proper, and it provides the most comprehensive data set of benthic DIP fluxes in the Baltic Proper existing to date. DIP fluxes increased with increasing water depth and with decreasing bottom water oxygen concentration. Average fluxes were calculated for oxic bottom water conditions (−0.003 ± 0.040 mmol m−2 d−1), hypoxic conditions (0.027 ± 0.067 mmol m−2 d−1) and anoxic conditions (0.376 ± 0.214 mmol m−2 d−1). The mean flux on anoxic bottoms was ca. 5–10 times higher than previous estimates based on ex situ measurements, but agreed well with previous flux estimations from changes in the basin water DIP pool. The DIP flux was positively correlated with the organic carbon inventory of sediment and the benthic flux of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) on anoxic stations, but these variables were uncorrelated on oxic stations. The positive correlation between DIP and DIC fluxes suggests that the benthic DIP flux on anoxic bottoms in the Baltic Proper is mainly controlled by rates of deposition and degradation of organic matter. The flux from anoxic sediment was very P rich in relation to both C and N, and the average C:P ratio in fluxes on anoxic accumulation bottoms was 69 ± 15, which is well below the Redfield C:P ratio of 106:1. On oxic stations, however, the C:P flux ratio was much higher than the Redfield ratio, consistent with well-known P retention mechanisms associated with iron and bacteria in oxidized sediment. Using a benthic mass balance approach, a burial efficiency of 4% was calculated for the anoxic part of the EGB, which suggests that anoxic Baltic sediments are very efficient in recycling deposited P. Based on the measured fluxes and recent estimates of the areal extent of anoxic and hypoxic bottoms, an internal load of 146 kton yr−1 was calculated. This is 7–12 times higher than recent estimates of the external load and clearly highlights the dominance of anoxic sediments as a P source in the Baltic Sea.

Description: Benthic fluxes of phosphorus (P) were measured in situ in the Eastern Gotland Basin (EGB), central Baltic Sea, using benthic landers. A total of 40 flux measurements of dissolved inorganic P (DIP) on 13 stations at water depths ranging 30–210 m and under different oxygen regimes were carried out on three cruises during three consecutive years (2008–2010) in August–September. Our study is the first to report in situ DIP fluxes in the Baltic proper, and it provides the most comprehensive dataset of benthic fluxes of DIP and dissolved organic P (DOP) in the Baltic proper existing to date. DIP fluxes increased with increasing water depth and with decreasing bottom water oxygen concentration. Average DIP fluxes were calculated for oxic bottom water conditions (− 0.003 ± 0.040 mmol m−2 d−1), hypoxic conditions (0.027± 0.067 mmol m−2 d−1) and anoxic conditions (0.376 ± 0.214 mmol m−2 d−1). The mean DIP flux at anoxic bottoms was higher than previous estimates based on ex situ measurements of pore water gradients. The DIP flux was positively correlated with the organic carbon inventory of sediment, and the benthic flux of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) at anoxic stations, but these variables were uncorrelated at oxic stations. The positive correlation between DIP and DIC fluxes suggests that the benthic DIP efflux from anoxic bottoms in the Baltic Proper is mainly controlled by rates of deposition and degradation of organic matter. The flux from anoxic sediment was very P rich in relation to both C and nitrogen (N). The average C : P ratio in fluxes at anoxic accumulation bottoms was 69 ± 15, which is well below the Redfield C : P ratio of 106 : 1. At oxic stations, however, the C : P flux ratio was much higher than the Redfield ratio, consistent with well-known P retention mechanisms associated with iron and bacteria in oxidised sediment. Using a benthic mass balance approach, a burial efficiency estimate of 0.2–12% was calculated for the anoxic part of the EGB, which suggests that anoxic Baltic sediments are very efficient in recycling deposited P. Based on the measured fluxes and the average areal extent of anoxic bottoms during years 1999–2006, an internal DIP load of 152 kton yr−1 was calculated. This is almost 9 times higher than the average external total phosphorus (TP) supply to the Baltic proper during the same period. This comparison clearly highlights the dominance of internally regenerated P as a DIP source in the Baltic Sea.

Description: The fate of anthropogenic emissions of mercury (Hg) to the atmosphere is influenced by the exchange of elemental Hg with the earth surface. This exchange holds the key to a better understanding of Hg cycling from local to global scales, which has been difficult to quantify. To advance research about land–atmosphere Hg interactions, we developed a dual-inlet, single detector relaxed eddy accumulation (REA) system. REA is an established technique for measuring turbulent fluxes of trace gases and aerosol particles in the atmospheric surface layer. Accurate determination of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) fluxes has proven difficult due to technical challenges presented by extremely small concentration differences (typically

Description: The fate of anthropogenic emissions of mercury (Hg) to the atmosphere is influenced by the exchange of elemental Hg with the earth surface. This exchange which holds the key to a better understanding of Hg cycling from local to global scales has been difficult to quantify. To advance and facilitate research about land–atmosphere Hg interactions, we developed a dual-intake, single analyzer Relaxed Eddy Accumulation (REA) system. REA is an established technique for measuring turbulent fluxes of trace gases and aerosol particles in the atmospheric surface layer. Accurate determination of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) fluxes has proven difficult to technical challenges presented by extremely small concentration differences (typically 〈 0.5 ng m−3) between updrafts and downdrafts. To address this we present an advanced REA design that uses two inlets and two pair of gold cartridges for semi-continuous monitoring of GEM fluxes. They are then analyzed sequentially on the same detector while another pair of gold cartridges takes over the sample collection. We also added a reference gas module for repeated quality-control measurements. To demonstrate the system performance, we present results from field campaigns in two contrasting environments: an urban setting with a heterogeneous fetch and a boreal mire during snow-melt. The observed emission rates were 15 and 3 ng m−2 h−1. We claim that this dual-inlet, single detector approach is a significant development of the REA system for ultra-trace gases and can help to advance our understanding of long-term land–atmosphere GEM exchange.