Abstract
Atmospheric mercury deposition by wet and dry processes contributes to the transformation of mercury from atmosphere to terrestrial and aquatic systems. Factors influencing the amount of mercury deposited to subtropical forests were identified in this study. Throughfall and open field precipitation samples were collected in 2012 and 2013 using precipitation collectors from forest sites located across Mt. Jinyun in southwest China. Samples were collected approximately every 2 weeks and analyzed for total (THg) and methyl mercury (MeHg). Forest canopy was the primary factor on THg and MeHg deposition. Simultaneously, continuous measurements of atmospheric gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) were carried out from March 2012 to February 2013 at the summit of Mt. Jinyun. Atmospheric GEM concentrations averaged 3.8 ± 1.5 ng m−3, which was elevated compared with global background values. Sources identification indicated that both regional industrial emissions and long-range transport of Hg from central, northeast, and southwest China were corresponded to the elevated GEM levels. Precipitation deposition fluxes of THg and MeHg in Mt. Jinyun were slightly higher than those reported in Europe and North America, whereas total fluxes of MeHg and THg under forest canopy on Mt. Jiuyun were 3 and 2.9 times of the fluxes of THg in wet deposition in the open. Highly elevated litterfall deposition fluxes suggest that even in remote forest areas of China, deposition of atmospheric Hg0 via uptake by vegetation leaf may be a major pathway for the deposition of atmospheric Hg. The result illustrates that areas with greater atmospheric pollution can be expected to have greater fluxes of Hg to soils via throughfall and litterfall.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bishop KH, Lee YH, Munthe J, Dambrine E (1998) Xylem sap as a pathway for total mercury and methylmercury transport from soils to tree canopy in the boreal forest. Biogeochemistry 40:101–113
Ci ZJ, Zhang XS, Wang ZW, Niu ZC (2011) Atmospheric gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) over a coastal/rural site downwind of East China: temporal variation and long-range transport. Atmos Environ 45:2480–2487
Demers JD, Driscoll CT, Fahey TJ, Yavitti JB (2007) Mercury cycling in litter and soil in different forest types in the Adirondack region, New York, USA. Ecol Appl 17(5):1341–1351
Feng XB, Qiu GL (2008) Mercury pollution in Guizhou, Southwestern China—an overview. Sci Total Environ 400:227–237
Feng X.B., Shang L.H., Wang S.F., Tang S., Zheng W (2004) Temporal variation of total gaseous mercury in the air of Guiyang, China. J Geophys Res: Atmospheres (1984–2012),109(D3).
Feng XB, Jiang HM, Qiu GL, Yan HY, Li GH, Li ZG (2009a) Mercury mass balance study in Wujiangdu and Dongfeng reservoirs, Guizhou, China. Environ Pollut 157:2594–2603
Feng XB, Jiang HM, Qiu GL, Yan HY, Li GH, Li ZG (2009b) Geochemical processes of mercury in Wujiangdu and Dongfeng reservoirs, Guizhou, China. Environ Pollut 157:2970–2984
Fitzgerald WF (1995) Is mercury increasing in the atmosphere? The need for an atmospheric mercury network (AMNET). Water Air Soil Pollut 80:24–254
Fu XW, Feng XB, Wang SF, Rothenberg S, Shang LH, Li ZG, Qiu GL (2009) Temporal and spatial distributions of total gaseous mercury concentrations in ambient air in a mountainous area in southwestern China: implications for industrial and domestic mercury emissions in remote areas in China. Sci Total Environ 407:2306–2314
Fu XW, Feng XB, Dong ZQ, Yin RS, Wang JX, Yang ZR, Zhang H (2010a) Atmospheric gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) concentrations and mercury depositions at a high-altitude mountain peak in south China. Atmos Chem Phys 10:2425–2437
Fu XW, Feng XB, Zhu WZ, Rothenberg S, Yao H, Zhang H (2010b) Elevated atmospheric deposition and dynamics of mercury in a remote upland forest of Southwestern China. Environ Pollut 158:2324–2333
Grigal JA, Kolka RK, Fleck JA, Nater EA (2000) Mercury budget of an upland-peatland watershed. Biogeochemistry 50:95–109
Guo YN, Feng XB, Li ZG, He TR, Yan HY (2008) Distribution and wet deposition fluxes of total and methyl mercury in Wujiang reservoir Basin, Guizhou, China. Atmos Environ 42:7096–7103
Gustin MS, Lindberg SE, Austin K, Coolbaugh M, Vette A, Zhang H (2000) Assessing the contribution of natural sources to regional atmospheric mercury budgets. Sci Total Environ 259:61–71
Gustin MS, Amos HA, Huang J, Miller MB, Heidecorn (2015) Measuring and modeling mercury in the atmosphere: a critical review, invited paper- special issue of atmospheric chemistry and physics. Atmos Chem Phys 15:5697–2015
Hylander L (2001) Global mercury pollution and its expected decrease after a mercury trade ban. Water Air Soil Pollut 125:331–344
Keeler GJ, Gratz LE, Al-Wali K (2005) Long-term atmospheric mercury at deposition at Underhill, Vermont. Ecotoxicology 14:71–83
Kim KH, Ebinghaus R, Schroeder R, Blanchard P, Kock HH, Steffen A, Froude FA, Kim MY, Hong SM, Kim JH (2005) Atmospheric mercury concentrations from several observatory sites in the Northern Hemisphere. J Atmos Chem 50:1–24
Larssen T, de Wit HA, Wiker M, Halse K (2008) Mercury budget of a small forested boreal catchment in southeast Norway. Sci Total Environ 404:290–296
Lee DS, Dollard GJ, Pepler S (1998) Gas-phase mercury in the atmosphere of the United Kingdom. Atmos Environ 32:855–864
Lee YH, Bishop KH, Munthe J (2000) Do concepts about catchment cycling of methylmercury and mercury in boreal catchments stand the test of time? Six years of atmospheric inputs and runoff export at Svartberget, northern Sweden. Sci Total Environ 260:11–20
Lindberg SE, Weijin D, Meyers T (2002a) Transpiration of gaseous elemental mercury through vegetation in a subtropical wetland in Florida. Atmos Environ 36:5207–5219
Lindberg SE, Zhang H, Vette AF, Gustin MS, Barnett MO, Kuiken T (2002b) Dynamic flux chamber measurement of gaseous mercury emission fluxes over soils, part 2: effect of flushing flow rate and verification of a two-resistance exchange interface simulation model. Atmos Environ 36:847–859
Liu S, Nadim F, Perkins C, Carley RJ, Hoag GE, Lin Y (2002) Atmospheric mercury monitoring survey in Beijing, China. Chemosphere 48:97–107
Ma M, Wang DY, Sun RG, Shen YY, Huang LX (2013) Gaseous mercury emissions from subtropical forested and open field soils in a national nature reserve, southwest China. Atmos Environ 64:116–123
Meng B, Feng XB, Chen CX, Qiu GL, Guo YN, Liu K, Yao H, Zhang JF (2011) Distribution of total mercury and methylmercury in two hydroelectric reservoirs of Guizhou Province, China. Chin J Ecol 30(5):951–960 (in Chinese)
Munthe J, Hultberg H, Iverfeldt A (1995) Mechanisms of deposition of methylmercury and mercury to conifer forests. Water Air Soil Pollut 80:363–371
Nguyen HT, Kim KH, Kim MY, Hong SM, Youn YH, Shon ZH, Lee JS (2007) Monitoring of atmospheric mercury at a Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW) site on An-Myun, Island, Korea. Water Air Soil Pollut 185:149–164
Porvari P, Verta M (2003) Total and methyl mercury concentrations and fluxes from small boreal forest catchments in Finland. Environ Pollut 123:181–191
Qiu GL, Feng XB, Wang SF, Shang LH (2006) Environmental contamination of mercury from Hg-mining areas in Wuchuan, northeastern Guizhou. Chin Environ Pollut 142(3):549–558
Rea AW, Lindberg SE, Keeler GJ (2001) Dry deposition and foliar leaching of mercury and selected trace elements in deciduous forest throughfall. Atmos Environ 35:3453–3462
Scherbatakoy T, Shanley JB, Keeler GJ (1998) Factors controlling mercury transport in an upland forest catchment. Water Air Soil Pollut 105:427–438
Schroeder WH, Munthe J (1998) Atmospheric mercury e an overview. Atmos Environ 32:809–822
Sigler JM, Mao H, Talbot R (2009) Gaseous elemental and reactive mercury in Southern New Hampshire. Atmos Chem Phys 9:1929–1942
St. Louis VL, Rudd WM, Kelly CA, Hall BD, Rolfhus KR, Scott KJ, Lindberg SE, Dong WJ (2001) Importance of the forest canopy to flux of methylmercury and total mercury to boreal ecosystems. Environ Sci Technol 35:3089–3098
Stamenkovic J, Gustin MS (2009) Nonstomatal versus stomatal uptake of atmospheric mercury. Environ Sci Technol 43:1367–1372
Street DG, Hao JM, Wu Y, Jiang JK, Chan M, Tian HZ (2005) Anthropogenic mercury emission in China. Atmos Environ 39:7789–7806
Travnikov O (2005) Contribution of the intercontinental atmospheric transport to mercury pollution in the Northern Hemisphere. Atmos Environ 39:7541–7548
US National atmospheric depostion program (2007) National atmospheric deposition program 2006 annual summary. http://nadp.sws.uiuc.edu/lib/data/2006as. pdf
Valente RJ, Shea C, Humes KL, Tanner RL (2007) Atmospheric mercury in the Great Smoky Mountains compared to regional and global levels. Atmos Environ 41:1861–1873
Wan Q, Feng X, Lu J, Zheng W, Song X, Han S, Xu H (2009) Atmospheric mercury in Changbai Mountain area, northeastern China I. The seasonal distribution pattern of total gaseous mercury and its potential sources. Environ Res 109:201–206
Wang D, He L, Wei S, Feng X (2006) Release flux of mercury from different environmental surfaces in Chongqing, China. Chemosphere 64:1845–1854
Wang ZW, Chen ZH, Duan N, Zhang XS (2007) Gaseous elemental mercury concentration in atmosphere at urban and remote sites in China. J Environ Sci 19(2):176–180
Wang ZW, Zhang XS, Xiao JS, Ci ZJ, Yu PZ (2008) Mercury fluxes and pools in three subtropical forested catchments, southwest China. Environ Pollut 157:801–808
Wang YQ, Zhang XY, Draxler RR (2009) TrajStat: GIS-based software that uses various trajectory statistical analysis methods to identify potential sources from long-term air pollution measurement data. Environ Model Softw 24:938–939
Wang YM, Peng YL, Wang DY, Zhang C (2014) Wet deposition fluxes of total mercury and methylmercury in core urban areas, Chongqing. Chin Atmos Environ 92:87–96
Wu Y, Wang SX, Streets DG, Hao FM, Chan M, Jiang JK (2006) Trends in anthropogenic mercury emissions in China from 1995 to 2003. Environ Sci Technol 40(17):5312–5318
Zhang HH, Poissant L, Xu XH, Pilote M (2005) Explorative and innovative dynamic flux bag method development and testing for mercury air -vegetation gas exchange fluxes. Atmos Environ 39:7481–7493
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (41103040), the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, 2013CB430003), the Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing city (No. cstc2011jjA20007), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (XDJK2013B044).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues
Highlights
Higher GEM concentrations and deposition flux in southwest forest due to emission of atmospheric Hg in fast development areas of China.
Litterfall is the dominant input pathway.
Coal consumption is dominated by domestic use, and it often rises in summer causing the elevated atmospheric Hg.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ma, M., Wang, D., Du, H. et al. Atmospheric mercury deposition and its contribution of the regional atmospheric transport to mercury pollution at a national forest nature reserve, southwest China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 20007–20018 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5152-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5152-9