A dynamic model for the global cycling of anthropogenic vanadium

• Published in: Global biogeochemical cycles Vol. 22; no. 4; pp. GB4021 - n/a
• Main Author: Hope, Bruce K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Geophysical Union 01-12-2008; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Atmospheric Composition and Structure; Biogeochemical kinetics and reaction modeling; biogeochemistry; Biogeosciences; Geochemical cycles; Geochemistry; human impacts; vanadium; human impacts; vanadium; biogeochemistry
• ISSN: 0886-6236; 1944-9224
• DOI: 10.1029/2008GB003283

Vanadium is a major trace metal in fossil fuels. Combustion of residual fuel oils and coal in industrialized economies is recognized as the major source of anthropogenic vanadium. A dynamic mass balance model assessed the influence of anthropogenic inputs on the global distribution and cycling of vanadium between 1700 and 2400 assuming different fossil fuel consumption and V production (mining) scenarios. Anthropogenic V sources were divided into fossil fuel combustion, industrial, and domestic (nonindustrial human activity). By 2050, inputs of anthropogenic V could comprise ≈75–85% of those to the atmosphere, ≈21–33% to ocean dissolved, ≈9–13% to ocean particulate, and ≈28–43% of inputs to land; with between ≈61–64% of all anthropogenic inputs attributable to fossil fuel combustion. Contributions from combustion and industrial sources, although dominant relative to contributions from domestic sources between 1900 and 2100, were estimated to peak between 2000 and 2050. Accumulation of anthropogenic V on land and in the ocean apparently occurs because natural removal processes are unable to cope with increasing amounts and rates of anthropogenic contributions. Impacts or hazards associated with anthropogenic inputs are unlikely to be discernible or significant on a global scale, but may be measurable and meaningful at smaller scales (coastal waters, continental shelves, and bays), in the locality of specific sources, or given an unfavorable exposure scenario.