biostudies-literatureXie ZNational Natural Science Foundation of ChinaNational Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China)1100https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12852816biostudies-literatureUnknown17(1)Atmospheric mercury depletion events (AMDEs) are a unique phenomenon in polar mercury cycling, involving intense atmospheric mercury oxidation and deposition that amplify marine mercury sinks. The Southern Ocean, a critical hotspot for environmental mercury exposure, exhibits AMDEs whose characteristics and distribution patterns remain unclear. This study presents the observational dataset of atmospheric gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) across the circum-Antarctic Southern Ocean. We observed pronounced summertime AMDEs that drove high spatial heterogeneity in circumpolar GEM distribution. By combining Generalized Additive Models (GAM) simulations with multi-platform observational evidence, we demonstrate that the Antarctic continental outflow largely shapes the circumpolar distribution of sNature communicationsContinental outflow shapes the circum-Antarctic pattern of summertime atmospheric mercury depletion zones.PMC128528164230624842430410Liu HYue FXie ZMagand OZhan HTian BDommergue AAngot HfalseContinental outflow shapes the circum-Antarctic pattern of summertime atmospheric mercury depletion zones.Atmospheric mercury depletion events (AMDEs) are a unique phenomenon in polar mercury cycling, involving intense atmospheric mercury oxidation and deposition that amplify marine mercury sinks. The Southern Ocean, a critical hotspot for environmental mercury exposure, exhibits AMDEs whose characteristics and distribution patterns remain unclear. This study presents the observational dataset of atmospheric gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) across the circum-Antarctic Southern Ocean. We observed pronounced summertime AMDEs that drove high spatial heterogeneity in circumpolar GEM distribution. By combining Generalized Additive Models (GAM) simulations with multi-platform observational evidence, we demonstrate that the Antarctic continental outflow largely shapes the circumpolar distribution of s2025-01-01T00:00:00Z2025 Dec2026-06-15T08:51:39.341Z2026-06-15T03:11:29.168ZS-EPMC128528164145390110.1038/s41467-025-67864-5