Sulfur Isotopic Ratios in Precipitation around Chonju-city, Korea and Its Availability as a Tracer of the Source of Atmospheric Pollutants

전주지역 강수의 황동위원소비와 대기오염원의 추적자로서 그 유용성

In order to investigate the origin of sulfate in rain waters and to evaluate the feasibility of using sulfur isotope method as a tracer of atmospheric pollutants, the sulfur isotopic ratio of sulfate in rain waters collected in Chonju city from October 1994 to March 1995 was monitored and was compared with those of possible sources proposed by previous works. The pH of rain waters shows an intermediate acidic range from 4.45 to 6.88 and their daily variation appears to be well correlated with to the amount of precipitation. The sulfur isotopic ratios of sulfate in rain waters show a highly restricted range from 0.0 to + 1.8‰. The ${\delta}^{34}S$ values are similar to those of soil and pine tree surrounding Chonju city, but largely deviate from those of China. D-parameter($d={\delta}D-8{\delta}^{18}O$) of rain waters varies from 9.4 to 28.8. The values indicate that the rain waters in Chonju city are originated from the rainy front of China continent. All data obtained from this study suggested that sulfate in the rain waters collected in Chonju city was mainly derived from the sulfur dioxide gas emitted by the petroleum combustion. Therefore, sulfur isotopic study for the precipitation provided an excellent tool for environmental assessment in this region and for tracing the source of atmospheric pollutants.