全球变暖背景下，冰冻圈显著退缩引发的环境效应成为科学界关注的热点问题。青藏高原冰冻圈正在发生的显著退缩 势必会加速冰冻圈中污染物向环境中释放，从而对生态系统和生物健康产生潜在的风险。汞是一种全球性污染物。目前， 高原冰冻圈区主要介质（冰川、冻土、水体和大气等）中汞的历史记录、浓度水平和时空分布特征等研究均已取得较大进 展。然而，对冰冻圈区关键的汞输出过程及其环境效应的认识较少，如冰川中汞向下游水体的传输过程、多年冻土退化的 汞释放过程，特别是冻土区地表 大气汞动态交换过程等。青藏高原冰冻圈区汞研究的深入持续开展，不但将丰富对冰冻圈 区汞循环的认识，亦可为评价冰冻圈地区的环境汞暴露风险和冰冻圈退缩的环境效应提供基础理论依据。

Under the context of global warming, the environmental effects triggered by cryospheric changes have been a hot topic of global concern. The cryosphere on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are undergoing significant retreat, which can accelerate the release of accumulated pollutants stored in the cryosphere, and therefore impact on ecosystems and biological health adversely. Mercury (Hg) is recognized as a global pollutant. Great progress has been made in the knowledge of historical records, concentrations levels and spatiotemporal distribution of Hg in typical environmental components of the TP cryospheric region (e.g., glacier, permafrost soils, water bodies and atmosphere). However, there is a lack of knowledge on potentially important Hg output pathways in the cryospheric region as well as their environmental effects, including the downstream transport of Hg from glacier, the release of Hg stored in permafrost soils during permafrost thawing and land-air Hg exchange dynamics. Studies on Hg in the TP cryospheric regions not only enrich our understanding of Hg cycles in the cryosphere, but provide basic theoretical basis for assessing the potential environmental risks of Hg to the TP fragile ecosystems as well as the environmental effects caused by cryospheric changes.