The atmospheric transport and deposition of smelter emissions: evidence from the multi-element geochemistry of snow, Quebec, Canada1

Abundances of 35 elements and ions were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, and ion chromatography, in samples of snowpack obtained using ultraclean procedures, along three 50-km radial transects emanating from the Horne base metal smelter in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. This was done to constrain: what is emitted; regional background concentrations of elements in snow; the rate of anthropogenic deposition on the surrounding landscape; how far emissions are transported; and what processes control their deposition. The approach used is at least as effective as methods based on isotopic ratios but has the added advantage of providing direct constraint on a large suite of elements, and of being independent of changes in the isotopic composition of emissions. Reproducibility of the method was determined using field duplicates and blanks. This accounts for snow heterogeneity, analytical precision, reagent quality, and sample handling and was determined to be ±20%.