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cje ›› 2010, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (04): 798-804.

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Source-receptor models for atmospheric mercury: A review.

LIU Na1,2, QIU Guang-le1, FENG Xin-bin1   

  1. 1State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550002, China|2Graduated University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Online:2010-04-09 Published:2010-04-09

Abstract: The behaviors of mercury in atmosphere play a significant role in global mercury biogeochemical cycling, while anthropogenic activities, such as fossi
l fuel combustion, cement production, chlorine-alkali cell manufacturing, and iron-steel processing have been the main sources of atmospheric mercury. Under definite conditions, the atmospheric mercury can be dry- or wet-deposited, giving greater effects on certain local environments (receptors). For example, significant spatial mercury deposition gradients are observed in urban and industrial areas, and larger amount of mercury deposition appears nearby the anthropogenic sources. Therefore, using a multi-element tracer approach to analyze the sources of atmospheric mercury becomes a main field in atmospheric mercury study. This paper described the development of receptor models for the source analysis of pollutants, and summarized the achievements of the application of source-receptor models in atmospheric mercury study. The establishment and application of source-receptor models in analyzing the atmospheric mercury in China were proposed.

Key words: Horqin desert land, Land use, Temporal and spatial change