Exchange pattern of gaseous elemental mercury in landfill: mercury deposition under vegetation coverage and interactive effects of multiple meteorological conditions

Landfill is known as a potential source of atmospheric Hg and an important component of the local or regional atmospheric Hg budget. This study investigated the gaseous elemental Hg surface-air fluxes under differing conditions at a typical municipal solid waste landfill site, highlighting the interactive effects of plant coverage and meteorological conditions. The results indicated that Hg fluxes exhibited a feature represented by diel variation. In particular, Hg deposition was observed under a condition of Kochia sieversiana coverage, whereas emission that occurred after K. sieversiana was removed. Hg emission was the dominant mode under conditions of Setaria viridis coverage and its removal; however, the average Hg emission flux with the S. viridis coverage was nearly four times lower than after its removal. These findings verified that the plant coverage should be a key factor influencing the Hg emission from landfills. In addition, Hg fluxes were correlated positively with solar radiation and air/soil temperature and correlated inversely with relative humidity under all conditions, except K. sieversiana coverage. This suggested that the interactive effects of meteorological conditions and plant coverage played a jointly significant role in the Hg emission from landfills. It was established that K. sieversiana can inhibit Hg emission efficiently, and therefore, it could potentially be suitable for use as a plant-based method to control Hg pollution from landfills.