Emission and long-range transport of gaseous mercury from a large-scale Canadian boreal forest fire.

Abstract

Field observations made at Harvard Forest [Petersham, MA, U.S.A. (42 degrees 54' N, 72 degrees 18' W)] during early July 2002 show clear evidence of long-range transport of gaseous mercury (Hg) in a smoke plume from a series of boreal forest fires in northern Quebec. These measurements indicated significant and highly correlated increases in Hg and CO during the plume event. The Hg:CO emissions ratio determined from the data (8.61 x 10(-8) mol mol(-1)) was combined with previously published information on CO emissions and biomass burned to determine a mean area-based Hg emission flux density for boreal forest fires (1.5 g Hg ha(-1)), annual Hg emissions from Canadian forest fires (3.5 tonnes), and annual global Hg emissions from boreal forest fires (22.5 tonnes). Annual Hg emissions from boreal fires in Canada may equal 30% of annual Canadian anthropogenic emissions in an average fire year and could be as high as 100% during years of intense burning. The Hg:CO emissions ratio of this study was much lower than those reported for a temperate forest in Ontario and a pine/shrub vegetation in South Africa, suggesting that fire emission is dependent on biome/species and that any extrapolation from a single fire event to determine the global fire emission is speculative.