WIGS laboratory, Department of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology, 430 Physical Sciences Building, 1156 High Street, University of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA.
Environ Sci Technol. 2010 Mar 1;44(5):1587-93. doi: 10.1021/es902523m.
Energy production from fossil fuels, and in particular the burning of coal in China, creates atmospheric contamination that is transported across the remote North Pacific with prevailing westerly winds. In recent years this pollution from within Asia has increased dramatically, as a consequence of vigorous economic growth and corresponding energy consumption. During the fourth Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission baseline contaminant survey in the western Pacific Ocean from May to June, 2002, surface waters and aerosol samples were measured to investigate whether atmospheric deposition of trace elements to the surface North Pacific was altering trace element biogeochemical cycling. Results show a presumably anthropogenic enrichment of Ag and of Se, which is a known tracer of coal combustion, in the North Pacific atmosphere and surface waters. Additionally, a strong correlation was seen between dissolved Ag and Se concentrations in surface waters. This suggests that Ag should now also be considered a geochemical tracer for coal combustion, and provides further evidence that Ag exhibits a disturbed biogeochemical cycle as the result of atmospheric deposition to the North Pacific.
化石燃料的能源生产，特别是中国的煤炭燃烧，造成大气污染，这些污染物质在盛行的西风作用下被输送到遥远的北太平洋。近年来，由于亚洲经济的快速增长和相应的能源消耗，来自亚洲内部的这种污染急剧增加。在 2002 年 5 月至 6 月期间进行的第四次政府间海洋学委员会西太平洋基线污染物调查中，测量了地表水和气溶胶样本，以研究大气中痕量元素向北太平洋表面的沉积是否改变了痕量元素的生物地球化学循环。结果表明，在北太平洋大气和海水中，Ag 和 Se 的含量可能人为增加了，Se 是煤燃烧的已知示踪剂。此外，在地表水中还发现了 Ag 和 Se 浓度之间的强烈相关性。这表明 Ag 现在也应该被视为煤燃烧的地球化学示踪剂，并且进一步证明 Ag 由于大气向北太平洋的沉积而表现出生物地球化学循环的紊乱。
