Abstract
Precipitation was collected from May 15, 2001 to November 18, 2002, at the mountain top (620 m a.s.l.) and mountain foot (47 m a.s.l.) of the Yahiko–Kakuda Mountains area, which is located in the western part of the Niigata Plain in central Japan. Major ion constituents and nitrogen isotopic ratios of ammonium (δ15N-NH4 +) and nitrate (δ15N-NO3 −) were measured in order to investigate the sources and behavior of NH4 + and NO3 − in precipitations. The concentrations of sea salt constituents considerably increased in the cold season from November to March, and for the majority of the ion species, the concentrations at the mountain foot were higher than those at the mountain top. The precipitation weighed monthly and seasonal means of δ15N-NH4 + values in the warm season were lower than those in the cold season at both the mountain top and mountain foot. The δ15N-NH4 + values at the mountain foot were lower than those of mountain top in both seasons. This seasonal variation of 15N-NH4 + could be caused by the incorporation of ammonia gas (NH3) with lower δ15N values, emitted from agricultural activities. On the other hand, the monthly and seasonal means of δ15N-NO3 − values showed noticeable seasonal difference with higher in the cold season at both the mountain top and mountain foot; however, the elevation difference was not observed either in the warm or cold season. The obtained δ15N-NH4 + and δ15N-NO3 − values were regarded as intermediate in comparison with the reported values. No significant correlations were observed either between NH4 + concentrations and δ15N-NH4+ values or between NO3 − concentrations and δ15N-NO3 − values. These results suggest that different factors may affect the nitrogen isotopic variations and concentration variations of NH4 + and NO3 − in precipitations collected at the two sites.
References
Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET) (2000). Technical documents for wet deposition monitoring
Bouman, A. F., Boumans, L. J. M., & Batjes, N. H. (2002). Estimation of global NH3 volatilization loss from synthetic fertilizers and animal manure applied to arable lands and grasslands. Global Biogeochem Cycles, 16(2), 8(–1)–8(-15).
Elliott, E., Kendall, C., Wankel, S., Burns, D., Boyer, E., Harlin, K., et al. (2007). Nitrogen isotopes as indicators of NOx source contributions to atmospheric nitrate deposition across the midwestern and northeastern United States. Environmental Science & Technology, 41(22), 7661–7667. doi:10.1021/es070898t.
Freyer, H. (1978). Seasonal trend of NH4 + and NO3 − nitrogen isotope composition in rain collected at Julich, Germany. Tellus, 30(1), 83–92.
Freyer, H. (1991). Seasonal variation of 15N/14N ratios in atmospheric nitrate species. Tellus, 43B(1), 30–44.
Fujita, S. (2002). Acidic precipitation Chemistry in East Asia. Journal of Japan Society for Atmospheric Environment, 37(1), 1–22.
Garten Jr., C. (1992). Nitrogen isotopic composition of ammonium and nitrate in bulk precipitation and forest throughfall. International Journal of Analytical Chemistry, 47, 33–35. doi:10.1080/03067319208027017.
Hayasaka, H., Fukuzaki, N., Kondo, S., Ishizuka, T., & Tostuka, T. (2004). Nitrogen isotopic ratios of gaseous ammonia and ammonium aerosols in the atmosphere. Journal of Japan Society for Atmospheric Environment, 39(6), 272–279.
Heaton, T. H. E. (1986). Isotopic studies of nitrogen pollution in the hydrosphere and atmosphere: A review. Chemical Geology. Isotope Geoscience Section, 59, 87–102. doi:10.1016/0168-9622(86)90059-X.
Heaton, T. H. E. (1987). 15N/14N ratio of nitrate and ammonium in rain at Pretoria, South Africa. Atmospheric Environment, 21(4), 843–852. doi:10.1016/0004-6981(87)90080-1.
Heaton, T. H. E., Spiro, B., & Robertson, S. (1997). Potential canopy influence on the isotopic composition of nitrogen and sulphur in atmospheric deposition. Oecologia, 109(4), 600–607. doi:10.1007/s004420050122.
Moore, H. (1977). The isotopic composition of ammonia, nitrogen dioxide, and nitrate in the atmosphere. Atmospheric Environment, 11, 1239–1243. doi:10.1016/0004-6981(77)90102-0.
Prospero, J. M., Barrett, K., Church, T., Dentener, F., Duce, R. A., Galloway, J. N., et al. (1996). Atmospheric deposition of nutrients to the North Atlantic Basin. Biogeochemistry, 35, 27–73. doi:10.1007/BF02179824.
Russell, K., Galloway, J., Macko, S., Moody, J., & Scudlark, J. (1998). Sources of nitrogen in wet deposition to the Chesapeake Bay region. Atmospheric Environment, 32(14–15), 2453–2465. doi:10.1016/S1352-2310(98)00044-2.
Sakata, M. (2001). A simple and rapid method for δ15N determination of ammonium and nitrate in water samples. Geochemical Journal, 35(4), 271–275.
Sommer, S. G., Schjoerring, J. K., & Denmead, O. T. (2004). Ammonia emission from mineral fertilizers and fertilized crops. Advances in Agronomy, 82, 557–622. doi:10.1016/S0065-2113(03)82008-4.
Xiao, H.-Y., & Liu, C.-Q. (2002). Sources of nitrogen and sulfur in wet deposition at Guiyang, southwest China. Atmospheric Environment, 36(33), 5121–5130. doi:10.1016/S1352-2310(02)00649-0.
Yeatman, S., Spokes, L., Dennis, P., & Jickells, T. (2001). Comparisons of aerosol nitrogen isotopic composition at two polluted coastal sites. Atmospheric Environment, 35(7), 1307–1320. doi:10.1016/S1352-2310(00)00408-8.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fukuzaki, N., Hayasaka, H. Seasonal Variations of Nitrogen Isotopic Ratios of Ammonium and Nitrate in Precipitations Collected in the Yahiko–Kakuda Mountains Area in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. Water Air Soil Pollut 203, 391–397 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-009-0026-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-009-0026-8