Clouds in Southern Chile: An Important Source of Nitrogen to Nitrogen-Limited Ecosystems?

详细信息    查看全文

• 作者：Kathleen C. Weathers and Gene E. Likens
• 刊名：Environmental Science & Technology
• 出版年：1997
• 出版时间：January 1997
• 年：1997
• 卷：31
• 期：1
• 页码：210 - 213
• 全文大小：111K
• 年卷期：v.31,no.1(January 1997)
• ISSN：1520-5851

文摘

Rainwater collected from remote, southern Chile is reportedto be some of the most dilute in the world and isestimated to result in the deposition of <1 kgha^-1 yr^-1ofnitrogen to ecosystems. Rainwater, however, is onlyoneform of atmospheric deposition. Cloudwater depositionandthe deposition of particles and gases can result insignificantatmospheric inputs to ecosystems. Here we report thefirst data on cloudwater chemistry from remote, southernChile. Cloud samples were collected from 1987 to 1994using active cloudwater collectors. Averagecloudwaterchemistry from remote, southern Chile was dominatedby ions commonly associated with seawater [e.g.,Ca²⁺,Mg²⁺, Na⁺, Cl^-), but hadsurprisingly high concentrations ofinorganic nitrogen (NH₄⁺ (48.3) andNO₃^- (19.6 µequiv/L)] as well. Relative to volume-weighted meanconcentrationsof rainwater from a nearby location, cloudwater rangedfrom 2 (H⁺) to 80 (NH₄⁺) timesmore concentrated. Estimatednitrogen deposition via cloudwater suggests that cloudsmay be a very important source of nitrogen, especially fornitrogen-limited ecosystems in thisregion.