ACP Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ACP 1680-7324 Copernicus GmbH Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/acp-10-4867-2010 Atmospheric wet deposition of mercury and other trace elements in Pensacola, Florida Landing W. M. 1 Caffrey J. M. 2 Nolek S. D. 3 Gosnell K. J. 4 Parker W. C. 5 Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4320, USA Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation, University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL 32514, USA Dynamac Corporation, Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899, USA Marine Sciences Program, University of Connecticut, Groton, CT 06340, USA Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4100, USA 26 05 2010 10 10 4867 4877 This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article is available from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/10/4867/2010/acp-10-4867-2010.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/10/4867/2010/acp-10-4867-2010.pdf

In an effort to understand and quantify the impact of local, regional, and far-distant atmospheric mercury sources to rainfall mercury deposition in the Pensacola, Florida watershed, a program of event-based rainfall sampling was started in late 2004. Modified Aerochem-Metrics wet/dry rainfall samplers were deployed at three sites in the region around the Crist coal-fired power plant and event-based samples were collected continuously for three years. Samples were analyzed for total Hg and a suite of trace elements including Al, As, Ba, Bi, Cd, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Fe, Ga, La, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Nb, Ni, P, Pb, Sb, Se, Si, Sn, Sr, Th, U, V, and Zn. Nutrients (ammonia and nitrate) and major anions (chloride and sulfate) were also measured on each sample. Multivariate statistical methods were used to sort these tracers into factors that represent potential source categories contributing to the rainfall chemistry. As, Hg, Sb, Se, Sn, and non sea-salt sulfate were all significantly correlated (<i>R</i>&gt;0.6) with one factor which we interpret as an anthropogenic source term reflecting input from coal combustion throughout the southeastern US. Using ratios of total Hg to volatile elements, we estimate that 22–33% of the rainfall Hg results from coal combustion in the southeastern US with the majority coming from the global background.

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