Input of terrestrial organic matter linked to deglaciation increased mercury transport to the Svalbard fjords

Deglaciation has accelerated the transport of minerals as well as modern and ancient organic matter from land to fjord sediments in Spitsbergen, Svalbard, in the European Arctic Ocean. Consequently, such sediments may contain significant levels of total mercury (THg) bound to terrestrial organic matter. The present study compared THg contents in surface sediments from three fjord settings in Spitsbergen: Hornsund in the southern Spitsbergen, which has high annual volume of loss glacier and receives sediment from multiple tidewater glaciers, Dicksonfjorden in the central Spitsbergen, which receives sediment from glacifluvial rivers, and Wijdefjorden in the northern Spitsbergen, which receive sediments from a mixture of tidewater glaciers and glacifluvial rivers. Our results showed that the THg (52 +/- 15 ng g(-1)) bound to organic matter (OM) was the highest in the Hornsund surface sediments, where the glacier loss (0.44 km(3) yr(-1)) and organic carbon accumulation rates (9.3 similar to 49.4 g m(-2) yr(-1)) were elevated compared to other fjords. Furthermore, the delta C-13 (-27 similar to -24 parts per thousand) and delta S-34 values (-10 similar to 15 parts per thousand) of OM indicated that most of OM were originated from terrestrial sources. Thus, the temperature-driven glacial melting could release more OM originating from the meltwater or terrestrial materials, which are available for THg binding in the European Arctic fjord ecosystems.11Ysciescopu

Transient finite element analysis of electric double layer using Nernst-Planck-Poisson equations with a modified stern layer

Finite element analysis of electric double layer capacitors using a transient nonlinear Nernst-Planck-Poisson (NPP) model and Nernst-Planck-Poisson-modified Stern layer (NPPMS) model are presented in 1D and 2D. The NPP model provided unrealistic ion concentrations for high electrode surface potential. The NPPMS model uses a modified Stern layer to account for finite ion size, resulting in realistic ion concentrations even at high surface potential. The finite element solution algorithm uses the Newton-Raphson method to solve the nonlinear problem and the alpha family approximation for time integration to solve the NPP and NPPMS models for transient cases. Cubic Hermite elements are used for interfacing the modified Stern and diffuse layers in 1D while serendipity elements are used for the same in 2D. Effects of the surface potential and bulk molarity on the electric potential and ion concentrations are studied. The ability of the models to predict energy storage capacity is investigated and the predicted solutions from the 1D NPP and NPPMS models are compared for various cases. It is observed that NPPMS model provided realistic and correct results for low and high values of surface potential. Furthermore, the 1D NPPMS model is extended into 2D. The pore structure on the electrode surface, the electrode surface area and its geometry are important factors in determining the performance of the electric double layer capacitor. Thus 2D models containing a porous electrode are modeled and analyzed for understanding of the behavior of the electric double layer capacitor. The effect of pore radius and pore depth on the predicted electric potential, ion concentrations, surface charge density, surface energy density, and charging time are discussed using the 2D Nernst-Planck-Poissonmodified Stern layer (NPPMS) model