High-precision measurement of mercury isotope ratios of atmospheric deposition over the past 150 years recorded in a peat core taken from Hongyuan, Sichuan Province, China

High-precision 210Pb dating technology was applied to a peat core with a time span of about 150 years that was taken from Hongyuan, Sichuan Province, China. The concentrations of total mercury (Hg) and stable isotope compositions of mercury in the peat core were measured using a LUMEX 915 instrument and multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer, respectively. Total mercury (Hg) concentrations in the peat core had a clearly increasing trend from the bottom to top of the core while δ 202Hg values (relative to NIST 3133) of peat had a decreasing trend. The total mercury (Hg) concentration varied from 16.7 to 101.3 ng/g and the δ 202Hg values ranged from 0.44‰ ± 0.14‰ to 1.45‰ ± 0.22‰. We clearly show that the study area experienced mercury pollution after the industrial revolution, and the mercury emitted from natural sources and anthropogenic sources had different Hg isotope signatures.