wAbstract
@Precipitation was collected from May 15, 2001 to November 18,
2002, at the mountain top (620 m a.s.l.) and mountain foot (47
m a.s.l.) of the Yahiko-Kakuda Mountains area, which is located
in the western part of the Niigata Plain in central Japan. Major
ion constituents and nitrogen isotopic ratios of ammonium (ย15N-NH4+) and nitrate (ย15N-NO3-) were measured in order to investigate
the sources and behavior of NH4+
and NO3- in precipitations. The
concentrations of sea salt constituents considerably increased
in the cold season from November to March, and for the majority
of the ion species, the concentrations at the mountain foot were
higher than those at the mountain top. The precipitation weighed
monthly and seasonal means of ย15N-NH4+
values in the warm season were lower than those in the cold season
at both the mountain top and mountain foot. The ย15N-NH4+ values at the mountain foot were
lower than those of mountain top in both seasons. This seasonal
variation of ย15N-NH4+
could be caused by the incorporation of ammonia gas (NH3)
with lower ย15N values, emitted from agricultural activities.
On the other hand, the monthly and seasonal means of ย15N-NO3- values showed noticeable seasonal
difference with higher in the cold season at both the mountain
top and mountain foot; however, the elevation difference was not
observed either in the warm or cold season. The obtained ย15N-NH4+ and ย15N-NO3-
values were regarded as intermediate in comparison with the reported
values. No significant correlations were observed either between
NH4+ concentrations and ย15N-NH4+ values or between NO3-)
concentrations and ย15N-NO3-
values. These results suggest that different factors may affect
the nitrogen isotopic variations and concentration variations
of NH4+ and NO3-
in precipitations collected at the two sites.
Keywords: Nitrogen isotope ratio; Ammonium; Nitrate; Precipitation;
Seasonal variationx
1. Introduction
2. Methods
3. Results and discussion
@3.1. Seasonal and altitude differences in major ion concentrations
and ย15N values
@3.2. Monthly variations in ย15N-NH4+
and ย15N-NO3-
@3.3. Correlations between concentration variations and nitrogen
isotopic ratios
4. Conclusions
References