GEM in the marine atmosphere and air-sea exchange of Hg during late autumn and winter cruise campaigns over the marginal seas of China

East Asia is one of the primary sources of atmospheric gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) among the world. In this study, GEM concentrations were measured during two cruises in late autumn and winter of 2012 and 2013 which passed through the marginal seas of China. The results show that the mean GEM concentration was 1.65 ng/m3 from the South China Sea to the Yellow Sea during the 2012 cruise. While the mean GEM concentration was 2.38 ng/m3 in the South Yellow Sea, and 1.75 ng/m3 in the North Yellow and Bohai Seas during the 2013 cruise. High GEM contents were detected when the steering wind was offshore. There is a significant positive relationship between GEM and air temperature for these two cruises. Low GEM content was presented when the cold northerly monsoon prevailed while air masses mainly came from the clean northern oceanic region. Dissolved gaseous mercury (DGM) concentration in the surface water of the south Yellow and Bohai seas were 74.4 ± 28 pg/L. DGM concentrations were correlated with water temperature (r = 0.244, p < 0.05). Sea-air flux of mercury in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea were 11.3 ng/(m2·h), ranging between − 9.4 and 59.3 ng/(m2·h) which was different from other seasons. The deposition of mercury appeared in the Bohai Sea affected by land polluted air and low wind speed. High flux values were caused by the northerly monsoon which carried remote clean air to the sea, with large wind speeds. The northerly monsoon is an important factor affecting the GEM transport offshore to marginal sea and the cycle of mercury in the sea in late autumn and winter.