Atmospheric Mercury Emissions and Speciation at the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine Superfund Site, Northern California

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• 作者：David M. Nacht ; Mae Sexauer Gustin ; Mark A. Engle ; Richard E. Zehner ; and Anthony D. Giglini
• 刊名：Environmental Science & Technology
• 出版年：2004
• 出版时间：April 1, 2004
• 年：2004
• 卷：38
• 期：7
• 页码：1977 - 1983
• 全文大小：182K
• 年卷期：v.38,no.7(April 1, 2004)
• ISSN：1520-5851

文摘

One pathway for release of mercury (Hg) from naturallyenriched sites is emission to the atmosphere. Elemental Hg,when emitted, will enter the global atmospheric pool. Incontrast, if reactive gaseous Hg or Hg²⁺ (as HgCl₂, HgBr₂,or HgOH₂) is formed, it will most likely be depositedlocally. This study focused on the measurement of elementalHg flux and reactive gaseous Hg concentrations at theSulphur Bank Superfund Site, an area of natural Hg enrichmentwith anthropogenic disturbance and ongoing geothermalactivity. Mean Hg emissions ranged from 14 to 11000 ng m^-2h^-1, with the highest emissions from anthropogenicallydisturbed materials. Reactive gaseous Hg concentrationswere the highest ever reported for a natural setting (0.3-76 ng m^-3). Measured Hg fluxes were used within aGeographic Information System to estimate mercury releasesto the atmosphere from the site. Results indicated ~17kg of Hg y^-1 of is emitted to the atmosphere from the 3.8km² area, with half from mine waste, ore, and tailingpiles and half from relatively undisturbed naturally enrichedsubstrate.