Margaret A. Nasta

Wet and dry deposition of trace elements onto the Greenland ice sheet

Abstract Trace element concentrations have been measured in the air and in fresh and older surface snow during the summers of 1978 and 1979 at Dye 3, south-central Greenland. These data have been used with other information in the literature to calculate a total (wet plus dry) deposition velocity on the order of 0.5 cms −1 for trace element transport to the ice sheet on an annual basis. The data suggest that dry deposition contributes less than 25 % of the total transport for elements with large enrichment factors. Crustal elements may be more significantly influenced by dry deposition.

Airborne Lead and Other Elements Derived from Local Fires in the Himalayas

The combustion of wood and yak dung for heating and cooking in a populated Nepal Himalayan valley contributes significantly to the ambient airborne concentrations of lead, copper, aluminum, magnesium, and elemental and organic carbon. A comparison of the concentrations of these elements in fresh snow with corresponding values in air suggests that the pollution aerosol is confined to the valley, with pristine air aloft.