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Wet deposition of mercury at a remote site in the Tibetan Plateau: Concentrations, speciation, and fluxes TEXT SIZE: A A A

Precipitation samples collected at a remote high elevation site (i.e., Nam Co Station, 4730 m a.s.l.) in the southern Tibetan Plateau were analyzed for total mercury (Hg-T) between July 2009 and 2011, particulate-bound mercury (Hg-p) between July 2010 and 2011 and methylmercury (MeHg) from July through August of 2009. The volume-weighted mean (VWM) concentrations and wet deposition fluxes of Hg-T and MeHg in precipitation were 4.8 ng L-1 and 1.75 mu g m(-2) yr(-1), 0.031 ng L-1 and 0.01 mu g m(-2) yr(-1), respectively. VWM Hg-T concentration was approximately two times higher during the non-monsoon season than during the monsoon season, while 83% of the Hg-T wet deposition fluxes occurred during the monsoon season. The Hg-T and MeHg concentrations are comparable to the reported data for some of the most remote alpine and polar regions worldwide (e.g.. Churchill), but the wet deposition fluxes of Hg-T and MeHg were among the lowest in the world. Analysis of Hg speciation has presented that Hg-p and MeHg concentrations are high, making up 712% and 1.82% of the Hg-T on average (VWM), respectively. The high Hg-p%, as well as a significantly positive between Hg-T and Hg-p (R-2 = 0.91; n = 44; p < 0.001), confirmed that atmospheric deposition of Hg in the Tibetan Plateau was occurring in the form of Hg-p. A decreasing trend in Hg-T concentrations with increasing amount of precipitation (R-2 = 0.08; N = 101; p < 0.005) was found at Nam Co Station, indicative that scavenging of Hg-p from the atmosphere was an important mechanism contributing Hg to precipitation. The precipitation amount, rather than Hg-T concentration, was found to be the governing factor affecting Hg-T wet deposition flux. Moreover, a comparison between measured wet deposition flux of Hg at Nam Co Station and the estimates from environmental records indicated that both snowpits and lake sediments appear to be reliable archives for estimating historical Hg accumulation rates over the Tibetan Plateau. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

 Publication name ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT Volume: 62  Pages: 540-550  Published: DEC 2012
 Author(s)

Huang, Jie; Kang, Shichang; Zhang, Qianggong; Yan, Haiyu; Guo, Junming; Jenkins, Matt G.; Zhang, Guoshuai; Wang, Kang

 Corresponding author  

KANG Shichang
shichang.kang@itpcas.ac.cn
Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Tibetan Plateau Res, Key Lab Tibetan Environm Changes & Land Surface P, Jia 4 Datun Rd, Beijing 100101, Peoples R China.

 Author(s) from IGCAS YAN Haiyu 

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