title: Levels and distribution of heavy metals in atmospheric particular matters over the northern South China Sea.
abstract: Oceans play a significant role in the cycling of trace metals and persistent organic pollutants. In this study, aerosol samples covering the whole northern South China Sea (SCS) were collected in 2005 and 2007, respectively, for analysis of trace metals and major elements. The levels of trace metals detected ranged from 0.514 to 119 ng/m(3) in 2005 and from 0.130 to 24.2 ng/m(3) in 2007, respectively. Cu, Zn, and Pb were the three predominant metals with high enrichment factors (>10), indicating the strong anthropogenic inputs. The trace metals over SCS were comparable to the values in suburban and background sites of South China, but generally higher than those over other seas and oceans. Considering the fact that they were influenced by their proximity to source regions and air mass origins, the elevated metals in 2005 were probably attributed to the strong wind and long-range atmospheric transport driven by Asian monsoon.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 510301, Guangzhou, China, whxu@scsio.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Weihai
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Gan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Miao
authors.forename: Weixia
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D008670:Metals / Q000032:analysis; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis*; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000737:chemistry*; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D008670:Metals; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D052638:Particulate Matter; D014131:Trace Elements