The distribution of natural and non-crustal ferrimagnetic minerals in soil-sized particulates from the Mediterranean atmosphere
✍ Scribed by R. Chester; E. J. Sharples; G. Sanders; F. Oldfield
- Publisher
- Springer Netherlands
- Year
- 1984
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 586 KB
- Volume
- 23
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0049-6979
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✦ Synopsis
Magnetic susceptibility (Z) values have been measured in 38 soil-sized atmospheric particulates from the Mediterranean Sea and surrounding regions, and have been used to assess the factors which control the distribution of ferrimagnetic minerals in the Mediterranean aerosol. Soil-sized components generated from the North African desert belt have Z values in the range ~25 to ~65 1 0 -6 G Oe -l c m -3 g -I , whereas those originating in deserts lying to the east of the Mediterranean have higher values which can range up to ~ 200 10-6 G O e -1 c m -3 g -1. In addition to natural ferrimagnetic components there is a supply of K-contributing material to the Mediterranean atmosphere from non-soil sources, which are probably dominated by industrial and domestic combustion processes; values in samples in which the non-soil material is an important source of ferrimagnetic material range up to ~700 10-6 G Oe-1 cm-3 g-1. The Z values in samples from an east-west Mediterranean transect vary between 25 to 734 10-6 G O e -1 c m -3 g -1. The ferrimagnetic mineral content of the aerosol is controlled by the extent to which the non-soil material is mixed with, and diluted by, crustal components, and there is a general inverse linear trend between the Z values and the concentrations of crustal material in the Mediterranean atmosphere. Over the Mediterranean the large-scale mixing of populations derived from different catchments can mask the relationship between the concentration of a specific component and its distance from a source, and Z values provide a useful indicator for tracking the extent of material transport and for estimating the degree of inter-population mixing in the Mediterranean atmosphere.