Pérez-Rodríguez, Marta; Biester, Harald (2026): Dissolved total mercury and methylmercury concentrations in the Southern Ocean during the PS133/1 expedition (22 October – 9 November 2022) [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.987320
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Published: 2026-01-07 • DOI registered: 2026-01-07
Abstract:
Water samples for total mercury (Hg) and methylmercury (MeHg) were collected in the Southern Ocean between 22 October and 9 November 2022 during the PS133/1 expedition, covering depths from 20 to 7000 m. Sampling was conducted using an ultraclean Titan rosette system (SBE-911Plus, Seabird) equipped with 24 × 12 L Ocean Test Equipment (OTE) bottles and a metal-free winch with a synthetic reinforced Vectran cable. After recovery, the clean CTD rosette was covered with clean plastic caps and transferred by trolley to an ISO Class 5 clean laboratory container. Each bottle was introduced through a clean airlock, rinsed externally with Milli-Q water from the container's integrated water treatment system, and subsampled following GEOTRACES ultraclean protocols. Samples for total Hg were collected unfiltered into pre-cleaned 60 mL glass vials to minimize contamination. Samples for MeHg were collected unfiltered into 250 mL HDPE Nalgene bottles and acidified to 0.4 % v/v with ultrapure trace-metal-grade HCl. Total Hg concentrations were determined using a custom single gold-trap purge and trap system following US EPA Method 1631. Dissolved MeHg concentrations were quantified by gas chromatography coupled to sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (GC–SF–ICP–MS) with isotopic dilution calibration.
Supplement to:
Biester, Harald Uwe; Pérez-Rodríguez, Marta; Calean, Adelina; Sindlev, Marco B; Pakhomov, Evgeny A; Lüskow, Florian; Stimac, Ingrid; Trimborn, Scarlett; Dufour, Aurélie; Torres-Rodriguez, Natalia; Heimbürger-Boavida, Lars-Eric; Wenzhöfer, Frank; Glud, Ronnie N (2026): Dissolved and Particulate Methylated Mercury in a Highly Productive Area of the Southern Ocean. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 40(1), e2025GB008767, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GB008767
References:
Project(s):
Funding:
Danish National Research Foundation (DG), grant/award no. DNRF145: Danish Center for Hadal Research, HADAL
German Research Foundation (DFG), grant/award no. 528941462: Controls of Primary Production on Southern Ocean Mercury Cycling (COPPSOM)
German Research Foundation (DFG), grant/award no. GPF 20-1_053: Island Impact: Understanding the Regional Impact of South Georgia on Southern ACC Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Function
German Research Foundation (DFG), grant/award no. GPF 20-2_024: South Polar Carbon: Benthic Carbon Mineralization and Preservation in Southern Ocean Bathyal, Abyssal and Hadal Sediments
Coverage:
Median Latitude: -52.933683 * Median Longitude: -33.612897 * South-bound Latitude: -56.289450 * West-bound Longitude: -40.001890 * North-bound Latitude: -51.288110 * East-bound Longitude: -24.946160
Date/Time Start: 2022-10-22T02:01:02 * Date/Time End: 2022-11-09T19:36:26
Minimum DEPTH, water: 20 m * Maximum DEPTH, water: 7000 m
Event(s):
PS133/1_6-3 * Latitude Start: -52.330470 * Longitude Start: -24.991190 * Latitude End: -52.330362 * Longitude End: -24.995204 * Date/Time Start: 2022-10-22T02:01:02 * Date/Time End: 2022-10-22T02:50:18 * Elevation Start: -4325.9 m * Elevation End: -4325.9 m * O2A Registry URI: https://registry.o2a-data.de/items/7911 * Campaign: PS133/1 (Island Impact) * Basis: Polarstern * Method/Device: CTD/Rosette, trace metal clean (CTD-TM) * Comment: Deployment depth: 1000 m
PS133/1_9-6 * Latitude Start: -51.288110 * Longitude Start: -40.001890 * Latitude End: -51.288853 * Longitude End: -40.000586 * Date/Time Start: 2022-11-02T20:37:44 * Date/Time End: 2022-11-02T22:20:45 * Elevation Start: -3784.9 m * Elevation End: -3781.2 m * O2A Registry URI: https://registry.o2a-data.de/items/7911 * Campaign: PS133/1 (Island Impact) * Basis: Polarstern * Method/Device: CTD/Rosette, trace metal clean (CTD-TM) * Comment: Deployment depth: 3726 m
PS133/1_10-5 * Latitude Start: -51.635980 * Longitude Start: -39.244280 * Latitude End: -51.635704 * Longitude End: -39.244545 * Date/Time Start: 2022-11-04T05:01:45 * Date/Time End: 2022-11-04T05:32:45 * Elevation Start: -3720.1 m * Elevation End: -3719.6 m * O2A Registry URI: https://registry.o2a-data.de/items/7911 * Campaign: PS133/1 (Island Impact) * Basis: Polarstern * Method/Device: CTD/Rosette, trace metal clean (CTD-TM) * Comment: Deployment depth: 300 m
Parameter(s):
| # | Name | Short Name | Unit | Principal Investigator | Method/Device | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Event label | Event | Tippenhauer, Sandra | |||
| 2 | DATE/TIME | Date/Time | Tippenhauer, Sandra | Geocode | ||
| 3 | LATITUDE | Latitude | Tippenhauer, Sandra | Geocode | ||
| 4 | LONGITUDE | Longitude | Tippenhauer, Sandra | Geocode | ||
| 5 | DEPTH, water | Depth water | m | Trimborn, Scarlett | Geocode | |
| 6 | Mercury | Hg | pmol/l | Pérez-Rodríguez, Marta | Cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometer (CV-AFS), Brooks Rand | total, unfiltered |
| 7 | Methylmercury | MeHg | pmol/l | Pérez-Rodríguez, Marta | Sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (SF-ICP-MS), Thermo Fisher Scientific, Element XR | total (monomethylmercury + dimethylmercury), unfiltered |
License:
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0)
Status:
Curation Level: Enhanced curation (CurationLevelC)
Size:
100 data points