Water-soluble ions and trace elements in surface snow and their potential source regions across northeastern China

•We collected 92 snow samples from 13 sites across northeastern China.•The snow in the remote northeast on the border near Siberia was extremely clean.•Al, and Fe were primarily derived from natural sources.•Cu, Zn, As, V, and Cd in snow samples were likely derived from anthropogenic sources.

We collected 92 snow samples from 13 sites across northeastern China from January 7 to February 15, 2014. The surface snow samples were analyzed for the major water-soluble ions (SO42−, NO3−, F-, Cl-, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, and NH4+) and trace element (Al, As, Mn, V, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, Fe, Cr, and Ni). The results indicated that the higher concentrations of NO3− and SO42− and the trace elements Zn, Pb, Cd, Ni, and Cu were likely attributable to enhanced local industrial emissions in East Asia especially in China. In addition, snow samples characterized by higher enrichment factors of trace elements (Cu, Cd, As, Zn, Pb) were indicative of an anthropogenic source. Emissions from fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning were likely important contributors to the chemical elements in seasonal snow with long-range transport. On the other hand, the large attribution of K+ appeared in the higher latitude demonstrated that biomass burning was a dominated factor of the chemical species in seasonal snow in the higher latitude of China than that in the lower latitude. Finally, an interannual comparison with the 2010 China snow survey also confirmed the source attributions of chemical speciation in seasonal snow in these regions.