title: Using Mercury Isotopes To Understand Mercury Accumulation in the Montane Forest Floor of the Eastern Tibetan Plateau.
abstract: Mercury accumulation in montane forested areas plays an important role in global Hg cycling. In this study, we measured stable Hg isotopes in soil and litter samples to understand Hg accumulation on the forest floor along the eastern fringe of the Tibetan Plateau (TP). The low atmospheric Hg inputs lead to the small Hg pool size (23 ± 9 mg m-2in 0-60 cm soil horizon), up to 1 order of magnitude lower than those found at sites in Southwest China, North America, and Europe. The slightly negative Δ199Hg (-0.12 to -0.05‰) in the litter at low elevations (3100 to 3600 m) suggests an influence of local anthropogenic emissions, whereas the more significant negative Δ199Hg (-0.38 to -0.15‰) at high elevations (3700 to 4300 m) indicates impact from long-range transport. Hg input from litter is more important than wet deposition to Hg accumulation on the forest floor, as evidenced by the negative Δ199Hg found in the surface soil samples. Correlation analyses of Δ199Hg versus total carbon and leaf area index suggest that litter biomass production is a predominant factor in atmospheric Hg inputs to the forest floor. Precipitation and temperature show indirect effects on Hg accumulation by influencing litter biomass production in the eastern TP.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Guiyang 550081, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Xun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Mountain Surface Processes and Ecological Regulation, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Ministry of Water Conservancy , Chengdu 610041, China.
authors.forename: Ji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Guiyang 550081, China.|Environmental Chemistry and Technology Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison , Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States.
authors.forename: Runsheng
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Guiyang 550081, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Guiyang 550081, China.|Center for Advances in Water and Air Quality, Lamar University , Beaumont, Texas 77710, United States.
authors.forename: Che-Jen
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Guiyang 550081, China.
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sommar
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Guiyang 550081, China.
authors.forename: Xinbin
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7462-8998
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Mountain Surface Processes and Ecological Regulation, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Ministry of Water Conservancy , Chengdu 610041, China.
authors.forename: Haiming
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: The McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin , Austin, Texas 78712, United States.
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D065928:Forests; D008628:Mercury; D008629:Mercury Isotopes; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D018609:Tibet
chemical_list: D008629:Mercury Isotopes; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D008628:Mercury