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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