Atmospheric Deposition of 7Be in the Southeast of China: A Case Study in Xiamen

Lihao Zhang; Weifeng Yang; Min Chen; Zhou Wang; Peng Lin; Ziming Fang; Yusheng Qiu; Minfang Zheng

doi:10.4209/aaqr.2015.03.0182

Atmospheric Deposition of 7Be in the Southeast of China: A Case Study in Xiamen

Lihao Zhang¹^,2, Weifeng Yang ¹^,2, Min Chen¹^,2, Zhou Wang², Peng Lin³, Ziming Fang², Yusheng Qiu¹^,2, Minfang Zheng²

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¹State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen 361005, China
²College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China
³School of Freshwater Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53204, USA

Received: March 23, 2015
Revised: June 21, 2015
Accepted: September 28, 2015
Download Citation: ||https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2015.03.0182

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Cite this article:
Zhang, L., Yang, W., Chen, M., Wang, Z., Lin, P., Fang, Z., Qiu, Y. and Zheng, M. (2016). Atmospheric Deposition of 7Be in the Southeast of China: A Case Study in Xiamen. Aerosol Air Qual. Res. 16: 105-113. https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2015.03.0182

HIGHLIGHTS

Inter- to intra-annual deposition of ⁷Be was examined.
Monsoon control over seasonal ⁷Be deposition in southeastern China.
Dominant removal of ⁷Be via precipitation.
⁷Be could be used to clarify pollutants diffusion in southeastern China.

ABSTRACT

Atmospheric deposition of ⁷Be was measured at a time-series station in the southeast of China (Xiamen) from 2011 to 2013. The deposition fluxes of ⁷Be ranged from 0.05 Bq m^–2 d^–1 to 7.42 Bq m^–2 d^–1, averaging 1.87 ± 0.10 Bq m^–2 d^–1. High fluxes occurred in months with northeast monsoon, and low values were observed in the southwest monsoon prevailing months. The significant correlations between ⁷Be deposition and precipitation, existing in both northeast and southwest monsoon seasons, suggested the dominant removal of atmospheric ⁷Be via precipitation. However, the correlations showed a large slope for the northeast monsoon season, indicating higher ⁷Be contents in the atmosphere during the northeast monsoon prevailing months, supported by the precipitation-normalized ⁷Be and the temporal variability of ⁷Be/²¹⁰Pb ratios. Such a scenario revealed more intensive exchange of air mass between the stratosphere and troposphere during the northeast monsoon prevailing months. Together with the high pollutant concentrations in ambient air observed in these seasons, the results indicated that the pollutants in Xiamen might enter into the upper troposphere via vertical air mass exchange.