Abstract:
To evaluate the nitrogen species and nitrate isotopic composition in wet deposition in Jiaozuo City, and quantitatively identify the sources of nitrate and its formation processes, a total of 41 wet deposition samples were collected in Jiaozuo City from January 2020 to December 2021. These samples were analyzed for various parameters, including total nitrogen (TN), ammonia nitrogen (NH
4+-N), nitrate nitrogen (NO
3−-N), δ
15N-NO
3− and δ
18O-NO
3−. The results show that: (1) TN, NH
4+-N and NO
3−-N ranged from 2.52 mg/L to 13.27 mg/L, 0.11 mg/L to 1.70 mg/L,1.64 mg/L to 8.31 mg/L, respectively. Notably, NO
3−-N accounted for a significant portion of TN, ranging from 52.11% to 83.92% of TN, highlighting that nitrate nitrogen was the predominant form of nitrogen. (2) δ
18O-NO
3− and δ
15N-NO
3− values ranged from 54.9‰ to 93.9‰ and −9.8‰ to 3.0‰, respectively. The δ
18O-NO
3− values in the non-rainy season samples (ranging from 62.5‰ to 93.3‰) closely matched calculated δ
18O-HNO
3 values derived from the N
2O
5 pathway (ranging from 100.9‰ to 103.1‰). Conversely, the δ
18O-NO
3− values in the rainy season samples (ranging from 53.2‰ to 73.0‰) closely aligned with the calculated δ
18O-HNO
3 values from the OH pathway (ranging from 50.9‰ to 60.9‰). This difference suggests that nitrate in wet deposition primarily originates from N
2O
5 pathway during the non-rainy season and shifts toward the OH pathway during the rainy season. (3) The fractional contributions of the N
2O
5 pathway averaged 65.37% during the non-rainy season and increased to 80.32% during the rainy season, while contribution of the OH pathway averaged 34.62% during the non-rainy season and decreased to 19.67% during the rainy season. Furthermore, a Bayesian mixing model was employed to calculate the contribution of four potential nitrate sources, which were identified soil emission, biomass combustion, vehicle emission, and coal combustion. The results indicated that these sources contributed approximately 31.70%±4.90%, 28.30%±14.00%, 22.80%±12.10%, 17.20%±0.08%, respectively, to the total nitrate in wet deposition. These findings provide valuable insights into the formation and sources of nitrate in wet deposition.