Analysis of Mercury in Desert Varnish Samples in Areas Impacted by Coal-fired Power Plants
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2013
Publication Title
Environmental Pollution
Volume
179
First page number:
132
Last page number:
137
Abstract
Rock varnish is a manganese–iron rich coating that forms on rocks, most often in arid climates. To assess its utility as an environmental monitor of mercury contamination, cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS) was used for analysis. Samples were collected in the fallout patterns of two coal-fired power plants in southern Nevada: the defunct Mohave Power Plant (MPP) and the operating Reid Gardner Power Plant (RGPP). The resultant Hg concentrations in rock varnishes were plotted as a function of the distance from each power plant. The highest concentrations of Hg occurred at locations that suggest the power plants are the main source of pollutants. In addition, past tracer plume studies carried out at MPP show that the highest tracer concentrations coincide with the highest rock varnish Hg concentrations. However, additional samples are required to further demonstrate that power plants are indeed the sources of mercury in varnishes.
Keywords
Coal-fired power plants – Pollution; Mercury; Rocks – Surfaces
Disciplines
Environmental Health and Protection | Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment | Geomorphology | Oil, Gas, and Energy
Language
English
Permissions
Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the item. Publisher policy does not allow archiving the final published version. If a post-print (author's peer-reviewed manuscript) is allowed and available, or publisher policy changes, the item will be deposited.
Repository Citation
Nowinski, P.,
Hodge, V. F.,
Gerstenberger, S.,
Cizdziel, J.
(2013).
Analysis of Mercury in Desert Varnish Samples in Areas Impacted by Coal-fired Power Plants.
Environmental Pollution, 179
132-137.