title: Origin and distribution of trace elements in high-elevation precipitation in southern China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  During a 2009 investigation of the transport and deposition of trace elements in southern China, 37 event-based precipitation samples were collected at an observatory on Mount Heng, China (1,269 m asl).
  
  
  METHODS
  Concentrations of trace elements were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and the wet deposition fluxes were established. A combination of techniques including enrichment factor analysis, principal component analysis, and back trajectory models were used to identify pollutant sources.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Trace element concentrations at Mount Heng were among the highest with respect to measured values reported elsewhere. All elements were of non-marine origin. The elements Pb, As, Cu, Se, and Cd were anthropogenic, while Fe, Cr, V, Ba, Mn, and Ni were of mixed crustal/anthropogenic origin. The crustal and anthropogenic contributions of trace elements were 12.8 % (0.9 ~ 17.4 %) and 87.2 % (82.6 ~ 99.1 %), with the maximum crustal fraction being 17.4 % for Fe. Coal combustion, soil and road dust, metallurgical processes, and industrial activities contributed to the element composition.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Summit precipitation events were primarily distant in origin. Medium- to long-range transport of trace elements from the Yangtze River Delta and northern China played an important role in wet deposition at Mount Heng, while air masses from south or southeast of the station were generally low in trace element concentrations.
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Taixing
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.forename: Yuhua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ka-Ming
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Wai
authors.forename: Wenxing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D000531:Altitude; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D011891:Rain / Q000737:chemistry*; D012914:Snow / Q000737:chemistry*; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic / Q000379:methods; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D014131:Trace Elements