Annual atmospheric deposition of 16 elements in eight catchments of the central Barents region

Snowpack and rainwater samples were used to calculate total yearly deposition rates for Al, As, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mo, Ni, Pb, S, Sb, Sr and V in eight catchments located within the Barents region, in Finland, Norway and Russia. Water-soluble (<0.45 μm) deposition and particulate (>0.45 μm) deposition were determined separately on snowpack samples representative of winter 1993/1994. Filtered rainwater sampled during the summer months of 1994 was used to obtain monthly water-soluble deposition data. The snow data were used to calculate the characteristic parameters of dispersion of the pollutants, which are constant for any given industrial source. To obtain these parameters, the element ratio of water-soluble to particulate deposition was expressed as a function of distance from pollution source. This function can then be used to calculate total (water-soluble+particulate) summer deposition data from the water-soluble deposition data collected. Yearly deposition estimates (in kg/km2) obtained for the area range from 0.05 to 0.4 for Cd, 0.02–60 for Co, 0.14–5.2 for Cr, 0.5–494 for Cu, 0.2–845 for Ni and 125–1500 for S, depending on location (remote vs. industrial).