Litterfall mercury dry deposition in the eastern USA

Environmental Pollution
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Abstract

Mercury (Hg) in autumn litterfall from predominately deciduous forests was measured in 3 years of samples from 23 Mercury Deposition Network sites in 15 states across the eastern USA. Annual litterfall Hg dry deposition was significantly higher (median 12.3 micrograms per square meter (μg/m2), range 3.5–23.4 μg/m2) than annual Hg wet deposition (median 9.6 μg/m2, range 4.4–19.7 μg/m2). The mean ratio of dry to wet Hg deposition was 1.3–1. The sum of dry and wet Hg deposition averaged 21 μg/m2 per year and 55% was litterfall dry deposition. Methylmercury was a median 0.8% of Hg in litterfall and ranged from 0.6 to 1.5%. Annual litterfall Hg and wet Hg deposition rates differed significantly and were weakly correlated. Litterfall Hg dry deposition differed among forest-cover types. This study demonstrated how annual litterfall Hg dry deposition rates approximate the lower bound of annual Hg dry fluxes.
Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Litterfall mercury dry deposition in the eastern USA
Series title Environmental Pollution
DOI 10.1016/j.envpol.2011.06.005
Volume 161
Year Published 2012
Language English
Publisher Elsevier
Publisher location Amsterdam, Netherlands
Contributing office(s) Indiana Water Science Center
Description 7 p.
Larger Work Type Article
Larger Work Subtype Journal Article
Larger Work Title Environmental Pollution
First page 284
Last page 290
Country United States
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