Wet deposition in Germany: long-term trends and the contribution of heavy metals.

As part of the program of the German Environmental Specimen Bank (ESB), precipitation is sampled on a weekly basis from eight sites in different ecosystems throughout Germany. The samples are analyzed for Na+, NH4+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Cl-, NO3-, and SO4(2-) using ion chromatography with conductometrie detection Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, and Tl are determined by ICP-MS. In addition, pH and conductivity of the samples are measured. In this paper, the weekly and annual deposition in 1994 is compared for the different sampling sites and with literature data.