Articles | Volume 18, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-4509-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-4509-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Data description article
| 
02 Jul 2026
Data description article |
| 02 Jul 2026
| 02 Jul 2026
A consolidated database of mercury observations for permafrost regions
Christine L. Olson
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
National Snow and Ice Data Center, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, USA
Kevin Schaefer
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
National Snow and Ice Data Center, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, USA
Alyssa Azaroff
Department of Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Hélène Angot
Institute of Environmental Geosciences, University of Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, Grenoble INP, IGE, Grenoble, France
Sasiri Bandara
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Thomas A. Douglas
Alaska Projects Office, U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Fort Wainwright, Fairbanks, USA
Bo Elberling
Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Maria Florencia Fahnestock
Department of Earth Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, USA
Xinbin Feng
Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, China
Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, China
Charlotte Haugk
Department of Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Gustaf Hugelius
Department of Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Erfan Jahangir
Institute of Environmental Geosciences, University of Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, Grenoble INP, IGE, Grenoble, France
Sofi Jonsson
Department of Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Shichang Kang
Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, China
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Adam Kirkwood
Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
Wildlife Conservation Society, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Jennifer Korosi
Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York University, Toronto, Canada
Igor Lehnherr
Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Canada
Artem Lim
Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russia
Rinat Manasypov
Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russia
Dmitriy Moskovchenko
Tyumen Scientific Centre SB RAS, Tyumen, Russia
Mina Nasr
Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, Environment and Protected Areas, Government of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Faculty of Arts, Department of Geography, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
Daniel Obrist
Division of Agricultural and Natural Resources, University of California, Davis, USA
David Olefeldt
Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Connor Olson
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, USA
Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
Oleg Pokrovsky
Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, CNRS/IRD/Université de Toulouse, 31400, France
Laura Sereni
Institute of Environmental Geosciences, University of Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, Grenoble INP, IGE, Grenoble, France
Sarah Shakil
Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
M. Isabel Smith
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
Jens Søndergaard
Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Jeroen Sonke
Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, CNRS/IRD/Université de Toulouse, 31400, France
Kasia Staniszewska
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Jens Strauss
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Postdam, Germany
Kyra St. Pierre
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
Lauren Thompson
Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Andrey Yurtaev
University of Tyumen, Tyumen, Russia
Yanxu Zhang
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Tulane University, New Orleans, USA
Scott Zolkos
Woodwell Climate Research Center, Falmouth, USA
Data sets
A Consolidated Database of Mercury Observations for Permafrost Regions C. Olson et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18300989
Arctic permafrost soil mercury-carbon synthesis dataset, 2004-2025 A. Azaroff et al. https://doi.org/10.17043/azaroff-2026-permafrost-mercury-1
A Consolidated Database of Mercury Observations for Permafrost Regions (V1.0) C. Olson et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18483492
Short summary
Permafrost regions store large amounts of mercury, a toxic pollutant that can be released as the ground warms. We combined thousands of measurements from soils, plants, water, and lake sediments into one open database to better understand where mercury is stored and how it moves. The results show clear differences among environments and reveal major data gaps, helping improve future research, monitoring, and decision-making.
Permafrost regions store large amounts of mercury, a toxic pollutant that can be released as the...
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