Long-range transport of giant mineral aerosol particles

Authors

P. R. Betzer, University of South Florida St. Petersburg
K. L. Carder, University of South Florida St. Petersburg
R. A. Duce, University of Rhode Island
J. T. Merrill, University of Rhode Island
N. W. Tindale, University of Rhode Island
M. Uematsu, University of Rhode Island
D. K. Costello, University of South Florida St. Petersburg
R. W. Young, University of South Florida St. Petersburg
R. A. Feely, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
J. A. Breland, University of South Florida St. Petersburg
R. E. Bernstein, University of South Florida St. Petersburg
A. M. Greco, University of South Florida St. Petersburg

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

1-1-1988

Abstract

Several recent studies have shown that large quantities of mineral dust from eastern Asia are transported through the atmosphere to the North Pacific each spring1-5. The paucity of information on mineral fluxes during individual dust events prompted a coordinated effort, Asian Dust Input to the Oceanic System (ADIOS), which simultaneously measured mineral fluxes in the atmosphere and upper water column during such an event. In March 1986 a major dust outbreak in China moved over the North Pacific Ocean and was detected downstream using changes in particle number, size and composition. Most striking was the presence of 'giant' (>75-μm) silica minerals found in atmospheric as well as water-column samples at the ADIOS sampling site (26° N, 155° W). Their appearance more than 10,000 km from their source cannot be explained using currently acknowledged atmospheric transport mechanisms. Furthermore, the large wind-blown minerals that dominated our samples are extremely rare in the long-term sedimentary record in the North Pacific. © 1988 Nature Publishing Group.

Publication Title, e.g., Journal

Nature

Volume

336

Issue

6199

Citation/Publisher Attribution

Betzer, P. R., K. L. Carder, R. A. Duce, J. T. Merrill, N. W. Tindale, M. Uematsu, D. K. Costello, R. W. Young, R. A. Feely, J. A. Breland, R. E. Bernstein, and A. M. Greco. "Long-range transport of giant mineral aerosol particles." Nature 336, 6199 (1988). doi: 10.1038/336568a0.