Water-soluble ions and trace elements in surface snow and their potential source regions across northeastern China

Abstract

h i g h l i g h t sWe collected 92 snow samples from 13 sites across northeastern China. The snow in the remote northeast on the border near Siberia was extremely clean. Al, and Fe were primarily derived from natural sources. Cu, Zn, As, V, and Cd in snow samples were likely derived from anthropogenic sources. a b s t r a c tWe collected 92 snow samples from 13 sites across northeastern China from January 7 to February 15, 2014. The surface snow samples were analyzed for the major water-soluble ions (SO 2À 4 , NO À 3 , F e , Cl e , Na þ , K þ , Ca 2þ , Mg 2þ , and NH þ 4 ) and trace element (Al, As, Mn, V, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, Fe, Cr, and Ni). The results indicated that the higher concentrations of NO À 3 and SO 2À 4 and the trace elements Zn, Pb, Cd, Ni, and Cu were likely attributable to enhanced local industrial emissions in East Asia especially in China. In addition, snow samples characterized by higher enrichment factors of trace elements (Cu, Cd, As, Zn, Pb) were indicative of an anthropogenic source. Emissions from fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning were likely important contributors to the chemical elements in seasonal snow with long-range transport. On the other hand, the large attribution of K þ appeared in the higher latitude demonstrated that biomass burning was a dominated factor of the chemical species in seasonal snow in the higher latitude of China than that in the lower latitude. Finally, an interannual comparison with the 2010 China snow survey also confirmed the source attributions of chemical speciation in seasonal snow in these regions.

Observations and model simulations of snow albedo reduction in seasonal snow due to insoluble light-absorbing particles during 2014 Chinese survey

“…Major water-soluble ions and trace elements in surface snow samples during this snow survey have already been investigated by Wang et al (2015). However, the importance of ILAPs in seasonal snow during this survey has not been discussed yet, which will be addressed below.…”

“…The fraction of sea salt was found to range from 6.3 to 20.9 %. Wang et al (2015) showed that higher Cl − / Na + ratios in seasonal snow found in the 2014 Chinese survey were 1-2 times greater than those of seawater, implying that they constituted a significant source of anthropogenic Cl − .…”

“…Recently, several seasonal snow collection campaigns were performed across northern China, the Himalayas, North America, Greenland and the Arctic (Cong et al, 2015;Dang and Hegg, 2014;Doherty et al, 2010Doherty et al, , 2014Huang et al, 2011;Xu et al, 2009Xu et al, , 2012Zhao et al, 2014). However, determining the effects of ILAPs on snow albedo reduction continues to be challenging (Huang et al, 2011;Wang et al, 2013aWang et al, , 2015Ye et al, 2012;Zhang et al, 2013a).…”

Optical and microphysical properties of natural mineral dust and anthropogenic soil dust near dust source regions over Northwestern China

“…Ginoux et al (2010) estimated that anthropogenic dust accounts for 25% of all dust aerosols using 10 observational data from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) Deep Blue satellite products combined with a land-use fraction dataset. Anthropogenic dust primarily originates from urban and regional sources, especially during the winter; this dust is commonly enriched in heavy metals and other toxic elements (Kamani et al, 2015;Li et al, 2013;Wang et al, 2015;. Northeastern China 15 and its surrounding regions are generally regarded as industrial areas that are most strongly affected by human activities.…”

“…Recently, the potential impacts of anthropogenic soil dust have also received an increasing amount of attention (Prospero et al, 2002;Huang et al, 2015a;Tegen and Fung, 1995;Tegen et al, 2002;Shi et al, 2015;Pu et al, 2015;Wang et al, 2015). 5…”