CORRELATION OF NATION-WIDE MERCURY SOIL TRANSECTS & MONITORING DATA IN THE U.S

With the increasing health concern regarding mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, there is a concurrent need to cross-correlate data. There have been a number of efforts to establish a convergence with respect to local and regional emissions and subsequent depositional patterns; and it is logical that an extension of this process should look at the U.S. as a whole.

The USGS has recently (2004) conducted nation-wide East-West and North-South transects in order to establish mercury concentrations in the upper 5cm of the soil column. At the same time, a network of some 100 wet-deposition mercury sampling stations throughout the nation released its 2004 data. Our study design cross-correlated these two new data sets where they geospatially overlap. To provide more insight into the matter of the Hg source-term, the location of coal-fired power plants in operation was incorporated into a GIS.

The cross-correlation of these two independently developed Hg deposition datasets, and geo-referencing those known Hg-emitting power plants on a nation-wide scale is the first known attempt to demonstrate a baseline of depositonal patterns in this country using these datasets. The results of this study will likely provide a stepping-stone on the path to understanding the larger picture of anthropogenic loading of the atmosphere, subsequent surface deposition, and resulting impacts on public health.