Technical Note: Mineralogical, chemical, morphological, and optical interrelationships of mineral dust re-suspensions
Abstract
Abstract. This paper promotes an understanding of the mineralogical, chemical, and physical interrelationships of re-suspended mineral dusts collected as grab samples from global dust sources. Surface soils were collected from arid regions, including the southwestern USA, Mali, Chad, Morocco, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Serbia, China, Namibia, Botswana, Australia, and Chile. The 75 µm, < 125 µm soil fractions were mineralogically assessed by optical microscopy. Presented here are results of the optical measurements, showing the interdependencies of single scattering albedos (SSA) at three different wavelengths and chemical as well as mineralogical content of the entrained dust samples. Relationships between the SSA of airborne dusts, and iron (Fe) in hematite, goethite, and clay minerals (montmorillonite, illite, palygorskite) are demonstrated. Differences in clay mineralogy between samples from Mali and those from other localities are highlighted. Results from this study can be integrated into a database of mineral dust properties, for applications in climate modeling, remote sensing, visibility, health (medical geology), ocean fertilization, and impact on equipment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Apr 22, 2016
- Source ID
- 10.5194/acp-2016-286
Entities
People
- Gary Casuccio
- Hans Moosmüller
- Johann P. Engelbrecht
- Radhakrishna M. Jayanty
- Samuel Pincock
- Traci Lersch
Organizations
- United States Army Medical Research and Development Command