Increased atmospheric deposition of mercury in reference lakes near major urban areas
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Abstract
Atmospheric deposition of Hg is the predominant pathway for Hg to reach sensitive ecosystems, but the importance of emissions on near-field deposition remains unclear. To better understand spatial variability in Hg deposition, mercury concentrations were analyzed in sediment cores from 12 lakes with undeveloped watersheds near to (<50 km) and remote from (>150 km) several major urban areas in the United States. Background and focusing corrected Hg fluxes and flux ratios (modern to background) in the near-urban lakes (68 ± 6.9 μg m−2 yr−1 and 9.8 ± 4.8, respectively) greatly exceed those in the remote lakes (14 ± 9.3 μg m−2 yr−1 and 3.5 ± 1.0) and the fluxes are strongly related to distance from the nearest major urban area (r2 = 0.87) and to population and Hg emissions within 50–100 km of the lakes. Comparison to monitored wet deposition suggests that dry deposition is a major contributor of Hg to lakes near major urban areas.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Increased atmospheric deposition of mercury in reference lakes near major urban areas |
| Series title | Environmental Pollution |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.envpol.2011.11.003 |
| Volume | 162 |
| Year Published | 2012 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Elsevier |
| Description | 7 p. |
| First page | 209 |
| Last page | 215 |
| Country | United States |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |