RESEARCH ARTICLE · Earth system science data · 2026

A consolidated database of mercury observations for permafrost regions

Christine L. Olson, Christine L. Olson, Kevin Schaefer, Alyssa Azaroff, Hélène Angot, Sasiri Bandara, Thomas Alexander Douglas, Bo Elberling, M. F. Fahnestock, Xinbin Feng, Charlotte Haugk, Gustaf Hugelius, Erfan Jahangir, Sofi Jonsson, Shichang Kang, Adam Kirkwood, Jennifer B. Korosi, Igor Lehnherr, Artem Lim, Манасыпов Ринат Мратович, Dmitriy Moskovchenko, Mina Nasr, Daniel Obrist, David Olefeldt, Connor Olson, Connor Olson, Покровский Олег Сергеевич, Laura Sereni, Sarah Shakil, M. Isabel Smith, Jens Søndergaard, Jeroen E. Sonke, Kasia J. Staniszewska, Jens Strauß, Kyra A. St. Pierre, Lauren Thompson, Andrey Yurtaev, Yanxu Zhang, Scott Zolkos

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Abstract

Abstract. Permafrost soils are one of the largest terrestrial pools of mercury (Hg) in the world, storing an estimated 500–1500 Gg of Hg in the top three meters of soil. Ongoing climate-driven thaw threatens to release this legacy Hg into the environment. Efforts to quantify and model this pool have been hindered by a lack of harmonized, spatially resolved observations. To address this, we compiled a database of 117,802 Hg observations collected between 1988 and 2022 from 59 studies across Arctic, sub-Arctic, and alpine permafrost regions of the Northern Hemisphere, including North America, northern Europe, Eurasian and the Tibetan Plateau. The database includes Hg concentration measurements in solid materials—such as soil, leaves, roots, wood, and litter—as well as in water samples from soil porewater, lakes, and rivers across the northern hemisphere permafrost domain. The database enables cross-site synthesis, model calibration and evaluation, and environmental assessments by standardizing and harmonizing data from diverse sources. Data harmonization steps included unit conversion, categorization of observations by type, and quality control measures to ensure consistency across studies. Analytical uncertainty was preserved where reported in source studies, and qualitative uncertainty indicators and flags were applied where uncertainty information was incomplete or heterogeneous. Mercury concentrations vary widely across observations, with lake sediment showing the highest median values (70 ng g⁻¹, IQR: 45–116), followed by soil (50 ng g⁻¹, IQR: 32–90), and vegetation (15 ng g⁻¹, IQR: 9–33). Water observations had a median of 2 ng L⁻¹ (IQR: 2–6). Statistically significant differences in Hg concentrations among observation types were observed at both global and regional scales, consistently following the pattern: lake sediment > soil > vegetation. These patterns, along with spatial and observation-type biases, highlight the need for improved coverage in underrepresented regions such as Eurasia. The database is freely accessible through Zenodo under the concept DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18300989 (all versions), to support ongoing research and model development in Arctic and sub-Arctic Hg cycle studies.

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