ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Rainfall Chemistry and Total Wet and Dry
Deposition of Acidity and Nitrogen
in Mianyang, Southwest China
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1
School of Environment and Resource, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang 621010, China
2
National Anti-Drug Laboratory Sichuan Regional Center, Chengdu 610031, China
Submission date: 2023-11-18
Final revision date: 2024-01-30
Acceptance date: 2024-02-25
Online publication date: 2024-06-17
Publication date: 2024-07-25
Corresponding author
Huanbo Wang
Southwest University of Science and Technology, China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2024;33(6):6397-6407
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ABSTRACT
Wet and dry deposition samples were collected from September 2020 to August 2021 at a suburban
site in Mianyang, Southwest China. Major water-soluble inorganic ions (WSIIs) in daily rainfall
samples and integrated dry deposition samples were determined using ion chromatography. In rainfall,
the annual volume-weighted mean (VWM) concentrations of SO42-, NO3-, NH4+, and Ca2+ were 30.1,
28.7, 64.9, and 31.8 μeq L-1, respectively. The annual values of acid-neutralizing capacity and fractional
acidity were 37.8 μeq L-1 a nd 0.0035, r espectively, indicating that SO42- and NO3- in the rainfall were
fully neutralized by NH4+ and Ca2+, which was supported by the annual rainfall pH of 6.7. The annual
wet and dry deposition fluxes were 0.27 and 0.09 keq ha-1 yr-1 for SO42- and 0.26 and 0.11 keq ha-1 yr-1 for NO3-, respectively, resulting in a total acid deposition flux of 0.73 keq ha-1 yr-1, which approximated the
maximum critical load of acidity in Sichuan province. The annual wet and dry deposition fluxes were
8.3 and 2.9 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for NH4+-N and 3.7 and 1.5 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for NO3--N, respectively, leading to
a total nitrogen deposition of 16.4 kg N ha-1 yr-1. Moreover, the annual equivalent ratio of [SO42-]/[NO3-]
in rainfall was 1.1, suggesting that the acid deposition in Mianyang was a mixed type caused by
sulfuric and nitric acids. The annual mass ratio of NH4+-N/NO3--N was 2.3, reflecting the important role
of agricultural activities in nitrogen deposition in Mianyang.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.