Chemist's research published in international magazine

21 Mar 08 -- HANOVER, N.H. -- Imagine Jonas Salk finding the cure for polio and not telling the world about it, or Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau inventing the World Wide Web and placing it on a shelf.  Scientists and engineers conduct research to make our lives better, and an important part of that research is to document their findings so that others can share and use those discoveries.  To have your research published in a premier professional magazine is a noteworthy accomplishment for both the researcher and the profession.

Dr. Thomas Douglas, a chemist at the ERDC-CRREL Alaskan Projects Office, recently learned that the American Chemical Society’s Environmental Science and Technology magazine would feature his team’s research, along with a coveted cover photograph, in its March issue.

Douglas led the research for the article, Influence of Snow and Ice Crystal Formation and Accumulation on Mercury Deposition to the Arctic, along with CRREL co-authors Dr. Matthew Sturm and Dr. Donald Perovich.  Other co-authors included William R. Simpson, Joel D. Blum, Laura Alvarez-Aviles, Gerald J. Keeler, Abir Biswas and Kelsey Johnson from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of Michigan.

The relationship between snow and ice crystal formulation and mercury deposition is not well understood, and the article presents recent research on determining if mercury concentrations are related to the type and formation of snow and ice crystals.  The work helps us to understand how atmospheric contaminants are scavenged by precipitation, a major pathway linking the lower atmosphere with the Earth’s surface. The authors’ findings were based on almost 300 analyses of snow and ice samples collected in the Alaskan Arctic.  The work was funded by the National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs Arctic Science Section.

A seal hunter near Barrow, Alaska, at an open sea ice lead in the Beaufort Sea in early spring.  The ambient air temperature is minus 20 degrees Celsius.  The gray cloud above the seawater in the background is caused by water vapor from the ocean surface condensing to ice above and around the lead.  Surface hoar snow formed from this condensation is evident covering the surfaces of the sea ice blocks where he is standing.  Recent research has shown that these crystals are efficient scavengers of atmospheric mercury.  (Photo by T. Douglas)

“One of the major sources of mercury to the atmosphere is coal combustion,” Douglas said.  “In Asia a new coal-fired power plant is added almost every week, and this will increase the global atmospheric pool of mercury. Mercury from this global pool is deposited to the Arctic in the springtime due to a series of reactions unique to the Earth’s Polar Regions. Unfortunately, we expect even greater mercury deposition to the Polar Regions in the future.”

The concentrations measured in some snow were far greater than would be found right next to a waste incinerator or power plant in an industrialized location.  “Our samples are from a remote location far from industry,” Douglas said.  “Research like this will help us understand how mercury deposition could affect a region that is generally considered pristine – the Alaskan Arctic.  In the next phase of our research, we hope to track the mercury during and following snow melt.”

Working within the fields of geochemistry, hydrogeology and environmental characterization, as a research chemist Douglas focuses on the use of chemical tracers to investigate environmental processes.  Current research ranges from monitoring soil and water quality parameters at numerous Army training sites in Alaska, to linking snow chemistry with atmospheric contaminants, to quantifying the retention of explosive compounds in soils.