Physicochemistry and Mineralogy of Storm Dust and Dust Sediment in Northern China

Dust sediments collected from 1995 to 1998 in Beijing, Dunhuang, Inner Mongolia, Kashi, the Kunlun Mountains, Lanzhou, Ningxia, the Taklimakan Desert, and Xi'an, China, were characterized in terms of their physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties. Most aerosols and dust analysed ranged...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Advances in atmospheric sciences 2004-10, Vol.21 (5), p.775-783
Main Authors: Wei, Liu, Qi, Feng, Tao, Wang, Yanwu, Zhang, Jianhua, Shi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerosols
and
Calcite
Chemistry
China
Clay loam
Dolomite
Dust
Dust storms
Eolian soils
Illite
Loess
Mineralogy
Mountains
northern
physical
Physicochemical properties
sediment
Sediments
Semiarid lands
storm
Storms
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Dust sediments collected from 1995 to 1998 in Beijing, Dunhuang, Inner Mongolia, Kashi, the Kunlun Mountains, Lanzhou, Ningxia, the Taklimakan Desert, and Xi'an, China, were characterized in terms of their physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties. Most aerosols and dust analysed ranged in texture from silty clay to clay loam. Their median particle diameters (Mds) generally ranged between 5 to 63μm,coinciding with those of loess from central China and the finest sand from northwestern China. The dust sediments were characterized by a predominance of SiO2 and Al2O3, followed by K2O. Their SiO2/Al2O3and K2O/SiO2 molar ratios ranged from 5.17 to 8.43 and from 0.009 to 0.0368, respectively. The mass concentration spectrum during a dust storm showed a single peak, rather than the triple peak generally observed under clear sky conditions. The dominant minerals were chlorite, illite, calcite, and dolomite.These physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties were consistent with those of aeolian soils and loess in western and central China. The results suggest that aerosols and fine-gained fractions of dust sediments collected in northern China are mainly composed of soil material transported from the arid and semiarid regions of China and Mongolia by prevailing winds. The rate of deposition and properties of dust falling on eastern China were strongly influenced by meteorological conditions, season, latitude, longitude, and altitude of the sampling sites.
ISSN:0256-1530
1861-9533
DOI:10.1007/bf02916374