Identifying Sources of Sulfate Aerosols Reaching Whiteface Mountain, NY

1985 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 98-101
Author(s):  
James S. Webber
Keyword(s):  
Trace Metals ◽  
Acid Deposition ◽  
Surface Waters ◽  
Dry Deposition ◽  
Coal Combustion ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Sulfate Aerosols ◽  
Wet And Dry Deposition ◽  
Whiteface Mountain ◽  
Toxic Trace Metals

INTRODUCTION“Acid rain” and “acid deposition” are terms no longer confined to the lexicon of atmospheric scientists and 1imnologists. Public awareness of and concern over this phenomenon, particularly as it affects acid-sensitive regions of North America, have increased dramatically in the last five years. Temperate ecosystems are suffering from decreased pH caused by acid deposition. Human health may be directly affected by respirable sulfates and by the increased solubility of toxic trace metals in acidified waters. Even man's monuments are deteriorating as airborne acids etch metal and stone features.Sulfates account for about two thirds of airborne acids with wet and dry deposition contributing equally to acids reaching surface waters or ground. The industrial Midwest is widely assumed to be the source of most sulfates reaching the acid-sensitive Northeast since S02 emitted as a byproduct of coal combustion in the Midwest dwarfs S02 emitted from all sources in the Northeast.

scholarly journals Distributions of dissolved trace metals (Cd, Cu, Mn, Pb, Ag) in the southeastern Atlantic and the Southern Ocean

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 3231-3246 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Boye ◽  
B. D. Wake ◽  
P. Lopez Garcia ◽  
J. Bown ◽  
A. R. Baker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Trace Metals ◽  
Surface Waters ◽  
Dry Deposition ◽  
Antarctic Circumpolar Current ◽  
Weddell Gyre ◽  
Deep Waters ◽  
Circumpolar Current ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Southeastern Atlantic

Abstract. Comprehensive synoptic datasets (surface water down to 4000 m) of dissolved cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), lead (Pb) and silver (Ag) are presented along a section between 34° S and 57° S in the southeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Southern Ocean to the south off South Africa. The vertical distributions of Cu and Ag display nutrient-like profiles similar to silicic acid, and of Cd similar to phosphate. The distribution of Mn shows a subsurface maximum in the oxygen minimum zone, whereas Pb concentrations are rather invariable with depth. Dry deposition of aerosols is thought to be an important source of Pb to surface waters close to South Africa, and dry deposition and snowfall may have been significant sources of Cu and Mn at the higher latitudes. Furthermore, the advection of water masses enriched in trace metals following contact with continental margins appeared to be an important source of trace elements to the surface, intermediate and deep waters in the southeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Hydrothermal inputs may have formed a source of trace metals to the deep waters over the Bouvet Triple Junction ridge crest, as suggested by relatively enhanced dissolved Mn concentrations. The biological utilization of Cu and Ag was proportional to that of silicic acid across the section, suggesting that diatoms formed an important control over the removal of Cu and Ag from surface waters. However, uptake by dino- and nano-flagellates may have influenced the distribution of Cu and Ag in the surface waters of the subtropical Atlantic domain. Cadmium correlated strongly with phosphate (P), yielding lower Cd / P ratios in the subtropical surface waters where phosphate concentrations were below 0.95 μM. The greater depletion of Cd relative to P observed in the Weddell Gyre compared to the Antarctic Circumpolar Current could be due to increase Cd uptake induced by iron-limiting conditions in these high-nutrient–low-chlorophyll waters. Similarly, an increase of Mn uptake under Fe-depleted conditions may have caused the highest depletion of Mn relative to P in the surface waters of the Weddell Gyre. In addition, a cellular Mn-transport channel of Cd was possibly activated in the Weddell Gyre, which in turn may have yielded depletion of both Mn and Cd in these surface waters.

scholarly journals Distributions of dissolved trace metals (Cd, Cu, Mn, Pb, Ag) in the southeastern Atlantic and the Southern Ocean

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 3579-3613 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Boye ◽  
B. D. Wake ◽  
P. Lopez Garcia ◽  
J. Bown ◽  
A. R. Baker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Trace Metals ◽  
Surface Waters ◽  
Dry Deposition ◽  
Antarctic Circumpolar Current ◽  
Weddell Gyre ◽  
Deep Waters ◽  
Circumpolar Current ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Southeastern Atlantic

Abstract. Comprehensive synoptic datasets (surface water down to 4000 m) of dissolved cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), lead (Pb) and silver (Ag) are presented along a section between 34° S and 57° S in the southeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Southern Ocean to the south off South Africa. The vertical distributions of Cu, Ag, and of Cd display nutrient-like profiles similar to silicic acid, and phosphate, respectively. The distribution of Mn shows a subsurface maximum in the oxygen minimum zone, whereas Pb concentrations are rather invariable with depth. Dry deposition of aerosols is thought to be an important source of Pb to surface waters close to South Africa, and dry deposition and snowfall may have been significant sources of Cu and Mn at the higher latitudes. Furthermore, the advection of water-masses enriched in trace metals following contact with continental margins appeared to be an important source of trace elements to the surface, intermediate and deep waters in the southeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Hydrothermal inputs appeared to have formed a source of trace metals to the deep waters over the Bouvet Triple Junction ridge crest, as suggested by relatively enhanced dissolved Mn concentrations. The biological utilization of Cu and Ag was proportional to that of silicic acid across the section, suggesting that diatoms formed an important control over the removal of Cu and Ag from surface waters. However uptake by dino- and nano-flagelattes may have influenced the distribution of Cu and Ag in the surface waters of the subtropical Atlantic domain. Cadmium correlated strongly with phosphate (P), yielding lower Cd/P ratios in the subtropical surface waters where phosphate concentrations were below 0.95 μM. The greater depletion of Cd relative to P observed in the Weddell Gyre compared to the Antarctic Circumpolar Current could be due to increase Cd-uptake induced by iron-limiting conditions in these High-Nutrient Low-Chlorophyll waters. Similarly, an increase of Mn uptake under Fe-depleted conditions may have caused the highest depletion of Mn relative to P in surface waters of the Weddell Gyre. In addition, a cellular Mn-transport channel of Cd was possibly activated in the Weddell Gyre, which in turn may have yielded depletion of both Mn and Cd in these surface waters.

Chemical recovery and browning of Nova Scotia surface waters in response to declining acid deposition

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Redden ◽  
B. F. Trueman ◽  
D. W. Dunnington ◽  
L. E. Anderson ◽  
G. A. Gagnon
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Acid Deposition ◽  
Surface Waters ◽  
Chemical Recovery ◽  
Size Distributions ◽  
Iron Aluminum

Colour, pH, iron, and aluminum are increasing in NS surface waters; iron/aluminum size distributions include at least two colloidal fractions.

The Incursion of Acid Deposition into Western North America

1983 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-58
Author(s):  
W. Ted Hinds
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Acid Deposition ◽  
Coal Combustion ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Western North America ◽  
Foreseeable Future ◽  
Automobile Emissions ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Site Specific

Acidification processes in western North America will probably increase in scope and visibility over the foreseeable future. Localized acidification seems more probable for the next few decades than does a generalized acidified deposition over the western States. At least part of current acid deposition downwind of urban areas is associated with automobile emissions. However, increases in coal combustion for power generation might be expected to increase sulphur dioxide concentrations, along with several related acidifying agents. Interactions of air pollutants with orographic precipitation and snowmelt may bring some areas to public attention much earlier than others, depending upon site-specific matters of climate, topography, soils, water-bodies, and biota. Lakes and streams on windward slopes facing large urban or industrial sources of sulphur and nitrogen oxides may be most seriously at risk.

scholarly journals Triple oxygen isotopes indicate urbanization affects sources of nitrate in wet and dry atmospheric deposition

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Nelson ◽  
Urumu Tsunogai ◽  
Ding Dong ◽  
Takuya Ohyama ◽  
Daisuke D. Komatsu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dry Deposition ◽  
Wet Deposition ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Rural Site ◽  
Urban Site ◽  
Peroxy Radicals ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Wet And Dry Deposition ◽  
Atmospheric Nitrate ◽  
Nitrate Deposition

Abstract. Atmospheric nitrate deposition resulting from anthropogenic activities negatively affects human and environmental health. Identifying deposited nitrate that is produced locally vs. that originating from long-distance transport would help inform efforts to mitigate such impacts. However, distinguishing the relative transport distances of atmospheric nitrate in urban areas remains a major challenge since it may be produced locally and/or come from upwind regions. To address this uncertainty we assessed spatiotemporal variation in monthly weighted-average Δ17O and δ15N values of wet and dry nitrate deposition during one year at urban and rural sites along the western coast of the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, downwind of the East Asian continent. Δ17O values of nitrate in wet deposition at the urban site mirrored those of wet and dry deposition at the rural site, ranging between ~ +22 and +30 ‰ with higher values during winter and lower values in summer, which suggests greater relative importance of oxidation of NO2 by O3 during winter and OH during summer. In contrast, Δ17O values of nitrate in dry deposition at the urban site were lower (+19–+25 ‰) and displayed less distinct seasonal variation. Furthermore, the difference between δ15N values of nitrate in wet and dry nitrate deposition was, on average, 3 ‰ greater at the urban than rural site, and Δ17O and δ15N values were correlated for both forms of deposition at both sites with the exception of dry deposition at the urban site. These results suggest that, relative to nitrate in wet deposition in urban environments and wet and dry deposition in rural environments, nitrate in dry deposition in urban environments forms from relatively greater oxidation of NO by peroxy radicals and/or oxidation of NO2 by OH. Given greater concentrations of peroxy radicals and OH in cities, these results imply that dry nitrate deposition results from local NOx emissions more so than wet deposition, which is transported longer distances. These results illustrate the value of stable isotope data for distinguishing the transport distances and reaction pathways of atmospheric nitrate pollution.

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