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Bulk Atmospheric Mercury Fluxes for the Northern Great Plains, USA

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Abstract

Total atmospheric bulk mercury (Hg) concentration and deposition were measured from August 2008 to November 2010 at nine locations in the Northern Great Plains, USA using passive bulk mercury samplers. Monthly mercury concentrations ranged from 1.3 to 51.0 ng L−1 with an overall volume weighted mean of 12.9 ng L−1. Normalized daily Hg fluxes ranged from 0.43 to 110 ng m−2 day−1 with higher rates occurring during high precipitation months as rainfall during spring and summer. Annual deposition rates ranged from 5.82 to 9.21 μg m−2 year−1 and were comparable to studies performed at similar latitudes and to estimates from the Mercury Deposition Network (MDN). There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) between measured atmospheric mercury for one colocated bulk Hg sampler and an existing MDN wet-only sampler at Eagle Butte, South Dakota, demonstrating measurement unity between the two sampling techniques in this geographic area.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this study was provided by a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network and the Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network (Task Agreement No. J6067080024/002), the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and U.S. EPA Region 8. This research was initiated by the late Gene Stueven and completed on his behalf. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies. The authors wish to thank former SDSM&T students Lance Larson, Cindie McCutcheon, and Haile Betemariam for constructing GIS isopleths, sampler deployment, and data collection. We also thank Kara Paintner, Pat Sampson (BADNP), Larry Cooper (HUR), Robert Berg (SEF), Doug Young (ANT), Marc Ohms (WCNP), Angela Wetz and Mark Biel (DTNM), Emily Vesey (TRNP), Robert Manasek (SBNM,) and Carlyle Ducheneaux (EB) for maintaining the samplers.

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  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD, 57701, USA

    Christopher D. Lupo & James J. Stone

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  1. Christopher D. Lupo
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  2. James J. Stone
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Correspondence to James J. Stone.

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Lupo, C.D., Stone, J.J. Bulk Atmospheric Mercury Fluxes for the Northern Great Plains, USA. Water Air Soil Pollut 224, 1437 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-013-1437-0

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