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GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES, VOL. 21, GB1002, doi:10.1029/2006GB002696, 2007

Release of mercury from Rocky Mountain forest fires

Abir Biswas

Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA


Joel D. Blum

Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA


Bjoern Klaue

Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA


Gerald J. Keeler

Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA


Abstract

Concentrations of mercury (Hg) in soil profiles and vegetation were examined in unburned areas and in areas recently burned by wildfires of low, medium, and high fire severities in western Wyoming. Paired unburned and burned sampling sites with similar tree species composition, forest stand age, climate, and geological substrate were studied. Results indicate that Hg release from forest fires is dependent on the tree species composition of the forest, which affects prefire Hg accumulation, as well as the forest fire severity. On the basis of an average of 2.7 × 106 ha of forest and shrubland burned annually in the United States we estimate that wildfires and prescribed burns in the United States release 19 to 64 × 106g of Hg annually. This represents between 13 and 42% of the estimated United States anthropogenic Hg flux of 150 × 106g.

Received 16 January 2006; accepted 1 September 2006; published 9 January 2007.

Keywords: fire; forest; mercury.

Index Terms: 6235 Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects: Mercury.

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Citation: Biswas, A., J. D. Blum, B. Klaue, and G. J. Keeler (2007), Release of mercury from Rocky Mountain forest fires, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 21, GB1002, doi:10.1029/2006GB002696.