WET DEPOSITION CHEMISTRY STUDIES AT SUVA, FIJI, A REMOTE TROPICAL ISLAND SITE IN THE SOUTH-PACIFIC

A field project encompassing wet-only rainwater sampling was initiated as a bilateral Fiji/Australia activity. Normally,biweekly samples wer e collected, using a wet-only rainwater sampler, and analysed for H+, Na+, K+, Mg2+, NH4+, Cl-, NO3-, SO43-, PO43- methane sulphonic acid, o xalic acid, formic acid and acetic acid. The pH of the rainwater range d between 5.730 and 4.480 with an average value of 5.176, slightly low er than the pH of unpolluted rainwater saturated with atmospheric CO2 (pH = 5.650). Na+ and Cl- were the major ions with average concentrati ons of 98.15 mu M and 109.57 mu M respectively. There is an excellent correlation between the cation sum (average 147.71 mu eq L(-1)) and th e anion sum (average 142.12 mu eq L(-1)) attesting to the quality of t he data generated. This paper presents the detailed results of the stu dy for a relatively clean remote island site in Suva, Fiji, latitude 1 8 degrees 09' S, longitude 178 degrees 27' E, height 6 m, and outlines prospects for further work.