Atmospheric dry deposition fluxes of trace metals over the Eastern China Marginal Seas: Impact of emission controls

Jie Zhang; Xiaohuan Liu; Jiao Wang; Huize He; Xiaohong Yao; Huiwang Gao

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162117

Atmospheric dry deposition fluxes of trace metals over the Eastern China Marginal Seas: Impact of emission controls

Sci Total Environ. 2023 May 15:873:162117. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162117. Epub 2023 Feb 10.

Authors

Jie Zhang¹, Xiaohuan Liu², Jiao Wang¹, Huize He¹, Xiaohong Yao³, Huiwang Gao³

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China.
² Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China; Laboratory for Marine Ecology and Environment Science, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266071, China; Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China. Electronic address: liuxh1983@ouc.edu.cn.
³ Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China; Laboratory for Marine Ecology and Environment Science, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266071, China; Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China.

PMID: 36773910
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162117

Abstract

Atmospheric deposition is an important exogenous input of trace metals to Eastern China Marginal Seas (ECMS), which is strongly affected by human activities. With emission control practices implemented in China, it still remains unknown what changes have taken place in the atmospheric dry depositions of the trace metals over ECMS. This study aimed to estimate the atmospheric dry depositions of Zn, Pb, Cu, and Cd over ECMS via Weather Research and Forecasting Model-Community Multiscale Air Quality Modeling System (WRF-CMAQ) in the two winter periods of January 2012 and January 2019 as well as to explore the impacts of emission control on the depositions. The anthropogenic metal emissions from China, the Korean Peninsula, Japan, and marine ships were investigated in this study. In 2012, the dry deposition fluxes of Zn, Pb, Cu, and Cd over ECMS were in the ranges of 0.50-3.4 μg m^-2 d^-1, 0.22-1.9 μg m^-2 d^-1, 0.14-0.90 μg m^-2 d^-1, and 12-88 ng m^-2 d^-1, respectively. The deposition fluxes of the four metals over Bohai Sea (BS) and Yellow Sea (YS) were 2-3 times those over East China Sea (ECS). Outflow of polluted air masses from East Asia increased the metal depositions by 3- 5-fold relative to clear days. Compared with 2012, a 5-85 % reduction in the metal depositions over ECMS were estimated in 2019, largest reductions were found over YS and BS. Meteorological variation was able to decrease or increase the metal depositions. However, the emission control only caused a reduction in the entire study region. The metal inputs to the sea were significantly lower from the ship emissions than from the continental anthropogenic emissions, although the proportion of the ship emissions in the total metal depositions rose slightly from 2012 to 2019.

Keywords: Dry deposition fluxes; Eastern China Marginal Seas; Emission reduction; Trace metals; WRF-CMAQ.