Tracing the Transboundary Transport of Mercury to the Tibetan Plateau Using Atmospheric Mercury Isotopes

Deposition of atmospheric mercury (Hg) is the most important Hg source on the high-altitude Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau. Herein, total gaseous Hg (TGM) at an urban and a forest site on the Tibetan Plateau was collected respectively from May 2017 to October 2018, and isotopic compositions were meas...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science & technology 2022-02, Vol.56 (3), p.1568-1577
Main Authors: Yu, Ben, Yang, Lin, Liu, Hongwei, Xiao, Cailing, Bu, Duo, Zhang, Qiangying, Fu, Jianjie, Zhang, Qianggong, Cong, Zhiyuan, Liang, Yong, Hu, Ligang, Yin, Yongguang, Shi, Jianbo, Jiang, Guibin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Altitude
Anthropogenic factors
Anthropogenic Impacts on the Atmosphere
Atmospheric composition
Canyons
Climate
Coniferous forests
Emissions
Environmental Monitoring - methods
High altitude
High-altitude environments
Human influences
Isotopes
Landforms
Low altitude
Mercury
Mercury - analysis
Mercury isotopes
Mercury Isotopes - analysis
Storms
Tibet
Urban areas
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Summary:Deposition of atmospheric mercury (Hg) is the most important Hg source on the high-altitude Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau. Herein, total gaseous Hg (TGM) at an urban and a forest site on the Tibetan Plateau was collected respectively from May 2017 to October 2018, and isotopic compositions were measured to clarify the influences of landforms and monsoons on the transboundary transport of atmospheric Hg to the Tibetan Plateau. The transboundary transported anthropogenic emissions mainly originated over Indo-Gangetic Plain and carried over the Himalayas by convective storms and mid-tropospheric circulation, contributing over 50% to the TGM at the Lhasa urban site, based on the binary mixing model of isotopes. In contrast, during the transport of TGM from South Asia with low altitude, the uptake by evergreen forest in Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon largely decreased the TGM level and shifted isotopic compositions in TGM at the Nyingchi forest site, which are located at the high-altitude end of the canyon. Our results provided direct evidence from Hg isotopes to reveal the distinct patterns of transboundary transport to the Tibetan Plateau shaped by landforms and climates, which is critical to fully understand the biogeochemical cycling of Hg in the high-altitude regions.
ISSN:0013-936X
1520-5851
DOI:10.1021/acs.est.1c05816