Volatile Selenium Flux in the Great Salt Lake

Volatilization of selenium has been proven to be the major source of selenium vapor from oceans and estuaries and it may be the major mechanism of permanent selenium removal from the Great Salt Lake (other than brine shrimp harvest). However, the volatilization flux of selenium from the Great Salt Lake has not been previously measured due to challenges of analysis in this hyper-saline environment. This work presents results from recent field studies examining the spatial distribution of volatile selenium (geographical and with depth) in the South Arm (main body) of the Great Salt Lake. The analyses involved collection of volatile selenium in a cryo-focusing trap system via sparging with helium. The cryo-trapped volatile selenium was digested with nitric acid and analyzed by ICP-MS. The results show concentrations of volatile selenium that are much greater than values reported for marine estuaries and oceans. Volatile selenium flux to the atmosphere was determined using mass transport equations corrected to simulate the highly saline environment of the South Arm of the Great Salt Lake.