Industrial nitrogen (N) emissions in the Athabasca oil sands region (AOSR), Alberta, Canada, affect nitrate (NO₃) and ammonium (NH₄) deposition rates in close vicinity of industrial emitters. NO₃–N and NH₄–N open field and throughfall deposition rates were determined at various sites between 3 km and 113 km distance to the main oil sand operations between May 2008 and May 2009. NO₃ and NH₄ were analyzed for δ¹⁵N–NO₃, δ¹⁸O–NO₃, Δ¹⁷O–NO₃ and δ¹⁵N–NH₄. Marked differences in the δ¹⁸O and Δ¹⁷O values between industrial emissions and background deposition allowed for the estimation of minimum industrial contributions to atmospheric NO₃ deposition. δ¹⁵N–NH₄ values also allowed for estimates of industrial contributions to atmospheric NH₄ deposition. Results revealed that particularly sites within ∼30 km radius from the main oil sands developments are significantly affected by industrial contributions to atmospheric NO₃ and NH₄ deposition.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	atmospheric nitrogen, isotope tracer, Athabasca, deposition
Research Division:	Earth Sciences
Research Group:	Geochemistry
Research Field:	Isotope geochemistry
Objective Division:	Environmental Management
Objective Group:	Air quality, atmosphere and weather
Objective Field:	Air quality
UTAS Author:	Proemse, BC (Dr Bernadette Proemse)
ID Code:	98035
Year Published:	2013
Web of Science® Times Cited:	36
Deposited By:	Zoology
Deposited On:	2015-01-29
Last Modified:	2017-11-06
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