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Boron as a tracer of aerosol from combustion of coal
Author(s) -
Fogg Thomas R.,
Rahn Kenneth A.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/gl011i009p00854
Subject(s) - boron , combustion , volatilisation , coal , environmental chemistry , coal combustion products , deposition (geology) , environmental science , stack (abstract data type) , mineralogy , chemistry , geology , organic chemistry , paleontology , sediment , computer science , programming language
Atmospheric boron was found to be predominantly gaseous in ambient samples and in stacks of coal‐fired power plants. Typical gas/particulate ratios ranged from 20 to more than 100, with stack ratios above 100 and ambient ratios generally below 100. In the stacks, B/SO 2 ratios were lower than expected from bulk U.S. coals, consistent with volatilization of 20‐80 percent of the boron during combustion. Midwestern ambient B/SO 2 ratios were at or above stack values, with the lowest ratios associated with highest concentrations. SO 2 was always more variable than gaseous boron. These observations are consistent with coal combustion as the major source of atmospheric boron (and SO 2 ) in the Midwest. In northern Vermont, concentrations of gaseous boron and SO 2 were several times lower than in the Midwest, but the B/SO 2 ratio was several times higher. Both species passed through quasiweekly in‐phase cycles of concentration with the relative amplitudes being greater for SO 2 than for gaseous boron. All major pulses of boron and SO 2 came from the direction of the Midwest, on the backsides of high‐pressure areas. Since the ocean is also a source of gaseous boron, its anthropogenic tracer potential for acid deposition studies will be most useful in the interior of continents.