Variations in heavy metal concentrations in fresh Greenland snow from January to August 1989

Concentrations of lead, cadmium, copper and zinc have been measured in a variety of samples of fresh or slightly aged snow collected at Dye 3, south Greenland, on a precipitation event basis from January to August 1989. Measured concentrations are found to be very variable from one snowfall to another, with high concentration peaks occurring in April and June. The four metals are shown to be mainly derived from anthropogenic sources, with the exception of Cu and Zn for some of the samples. The data obtained for several snow events are further discussed using 5 days backward air mass trajectories together with data for various other chemical species.