Bulk Deposition and Main Ionic Composition in a Remote Tropical Region: Nevado de Toluca, Mexico
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Bulk Deposition and Main Ionic Composition in a Remote Tropical Region: Nevado de Toluca, Mexico Diana Ibarra-Morales & Javier Alcocer & Luis A. Oseguera & Rodolfo Sosa-Echeverría
Received: 6 April 2020 / Accepted: 15 July 2020 # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract The Nevado de Toluca Natural Protected Area (Zona de Protección de Flora y Fauna Nevado de Toluca, ZPFFNT), Central Mexico, encompasses one of the four highest (> 4000 m a.s.l.) volcanoes in Mexico, Nevado de Toluca; an extended area of woodland surrounds this volcano. Although identified as a remote area based on its high altitude, the ZPFFNT is not far from the urban and industrial zones of Toluca (~20 km) and Mexico (~72 km) cities, which potentially threatens the environmental health of the ZPFFNT by emitting SO2 and NOX. Acid precipitation falling on areas with low alkaline reserve leads to environmental acidification and land degradation. To provide reliable data on the air pollution reaching the ZPFFNT and the related potential risks, our study analyzed the bulk atmospheric deposition chemistry and its temporal dynamics throughout an
D. Ibarra-Morales Posgrado en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. Ciudad Universitaria 3000, Coyoacán, C.P. 04510 Ciudad de México, Mexico J. Alcocer (*) : L. A. Oseguera Grupo de Investigación en Limnología Tropical. Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. de los Barrios No.1, Los Reyes Iztacala, 54090 Tlalnepantla, Estado de México, Mexico e-mail: [email protected] R. Sosa-Echeverría Sección de Contaminación Ambiental, Centro de Ciencias de la Atmósfera, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Científica s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510 Ciudad de México, Mexico
annual cycle. There are two well-defined seasons: (a) cold/dry with SW–NE wind direction and (b) warm/ rainy with NE–SW wind direction. The pH, electric conductivity (K25), cations, Cl−, and HCO3− were statistically higher in the cold/dry period. Differently, NO3− and SO42− showed steadier behavior. Bulk deposition pH remained acidic at all times but reached extreme low values from July to September during the warm/rainy season. In the cold/dry season, alkaline cations were important in partially neutralizing the acidic compounds from the urban and industrial zones of Toluca and Mexico cities. Previously assumed to be safe based on its remoteness, the ZPFFNT is threatened by acid precipitation, which demand the implementation of preventative and mitigating actions as part of a management plan to avoid environmental deterioration. Keywords Acid precipitation . High mountain . Alpine . Bulk deposition . Estado de Mexico . Mexico City
1 Introduction Atmospheric deposition is the dominant source of ions and nutrients in pristine, anthropogenically unpolluted areas such as the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada (Pssener, 1999; Gilliam et al. 2019). In remote sites, such as alpine zones, dust deposition also represents a
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