Anthropogenic and natural drivers of seesaw-like spatial patterns in precipitation mercury over western China

Jie Huang; Shichang Kang; Long Wang; Kaiyun Liu; Kirpa Ram; Mika Sillanpää; Wenjun Tang; Junming Guo; Qianggong Zhang; Ming Ma; Lekhendra Tripathee; Feiyue Wang

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119525

Anthropogenic and natural drivers of seesaw-like spatial patterns in precipitation mercury over western China

Environ Pollut. 2022 Aug 15:307:119525. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119525. Epub 2022 May 23.

Authors

Jie Huang¹, Shichang Kang², Long Wang³, Kaiyun Liu⁴, Kirpa Ram⁵, Mika Sillanpää⁶, Wenjun Tang⁷, Junming Guo⁸, Qianggong Zhang⁷, Ming Ma⁹, Lekhendra Tripathee⁸, Feiyue Wang¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China. Electronic address: huangjie@itpcas.ac.cn.
² State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Northeast Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
³ Institute of Atmospheric Environment, Guangdong Provincial Academy of Environmental Science, Guangzhou, 510045, China.
⁴ State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.
⁵ Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221005, India.
⁶ Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Mining, Metallurgy and Chemical Engineering, University of Johannesburg, Doornfontein, 17011, South Africa; Chemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
⁸ State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Northeast Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China.
⁹ College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China.
¹⁰ Center for Earth Observation Science, And Department of Environment and Geography, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada.

PMID: 35618142
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119525

Abstract

Investigation of mercury (Hg) from atmospheric precipitation is important for evaluating its ecological impacts and developing mitigation strategies. Western China, which includes the Tibetan Plateau and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, is one of the most remote region in the world and is understudied in regards to Hg precipitation. Here we report seesaw-like patterns in spatial variations of precipitation Hg in Western China, based on Hg speciation measurements at nine stations over this remote region. The Hg fraction analyzed included total Hg (Hg_T), particulate-bound Hg (Hg_P) and methylmercury (MeHg). Spatially, Hg_T concentrations and percentage of Hg_P in precipitation were markedly greater in the westerlies domain than those in the monsoon domain, but the higher wet Hg_T flux, MeHg concentration and percentage of MeHg in precipitation mainly occurred in the monsoon domain. Similar spatial patterns of wet Hg deposition were also obtained from GEOS-Chem modeling. We show that the disparity of anthropogenic and natural drivers between the two domains are mainly responsible for this seesaw-like spatial patterns of precipitation Hg in Western China. Our study may provide a baseline for assessment of environmental Hg pollution in Western China, and subsequently assist in protecting this remote alpine ecosystem.

Keywords: Anthropogenic and natural drivers; Precipitation mercury; Seesaw-like patterns; Western China.

MeSH terms

China
Ecosystem
Environmental Monitoring
Mercury* / analysis
Methylmercury Compounds*

Substances

Methylmercury Compounds
Mercury