Speciated atmospheric mercury at the Waliguan Global Atmosphere Watch station in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau: implication of dust-related sources for particulate bound mercury

Abstract

To understand the ambient levels and sources of atmospheric mercury (Hg) in the Tibetan Plateau, a full-year continuous measurement of speciated atmospheric mercury was conducted at the Waliguan (WLG) Baseline Observatory (3816 m a.s.l.) from May 2012 to April 2013. Mean concentrations (± 1 SD) of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), gaseous oxidized mercury (GOM) and particulate bound mercury (PBM) during the whole study period were 1.90±0.80 ng m−3, 12.0±10.6 and 65.4±63.2 pg m−3, respectively. Seasonal variations of GEM were very small, while those of PBM were quite large with mean values being 4 times higher in the cold (102.3±66.7 pg m−3) than warm (22.8±14.6 pg m−3) season. Anthropogenic emissions to the east of the Tibetan Plateau contributed significantly to GEM pollution at WLG, while dust particles originating from desert and Gobi regions in Xinjiang province and the Tibetan Plateau to the west of WLG were responsible for PBM pollution at WLG. This finding is also supported by the significant positive correlation between daily PBM concentration and daily cumulative absorbing aerosol index (AAI) in air masses transported during the preceding 2 d.