Abstract
To examine various aspects of Hg exchange processes, we measured Hg$^{\circ}$concentration gradients over soil surfaces in a residential area of Seoul during Sept. 1997. From these measurements, we found that Hg$^{\circ}$concentrations in lower(20 cm) and upper(200 cm) levels varied in the range of 3.15~14.38 (5.30$\pm$1.88: N=236) and 2.07~15.10ng/m$^3$(4.06$\pm$1.69: N=236), respectively. When our data were divided into emission and dry deposition, emission of Hg$^{\circ}$was overwhelmingly dominant (up to 98% in frequency) over dry deposition. The concentration gradients for emission and deposition events were 1.29$\pm$0.86(N=231) and -1.0$\pm$1.27ng/m$^3$(N=5), respectively. The observation of excessively high concentrations in both levels and development of strong gradients suggest that our study site be greatly affected by certain pollution sources of mercury. In face, those data were quite comparable to that had previously been observed from highly contaminated soil environs of Tennessee, USA. To provide some insights into the processes governing the Hg$^{\circ}$exchange processes, we have conducted correlation analyses between Hg$^{\circ}$data and other concurrently determined meteorological plus chemical data. In general, Hg$^{\circ}$concentrations of both levels exhibited similarly the existence of strong correlations with parameters like windspeed, temperature, and relative humidity. Although its concentration gradient data showed similarly strong correlations with meteorological parameters, they showed somewhat unique patterns in that their correlations with Hg$^{\circ}$concentration were noticeably stronger for the lower level than the upper level. To provide rough estimates of Hg$^{\circ}$fluxes in this study, we computed its flux using our gradient data and the predicted K values from previous studies. According to this approach, Hg$^{\circ}$emissions were generally in the range of 103$\pm$80(N=231), while its depositions, being scarcely found, were on the similar magnitude of -92$\pm$128ng/m$^2$/hr(N=5). The findings of excessive emission of Hg$^{\circ}$in residential area of Korea suggests that contamination of mercury be a significant process and hence be dealt more seriously.
