Gypsum and other calcium-rich aerosol particles above the North Sea
Hoornaert, S.; Van Malderen, H.; Van Grieken, R. (1996). Gypsum and other calcium-rich aerosol particles above the North Sea. Environ. Sci. Technol. 30(5): 1515-1520
In: Environmental Science and Technology. American Chemical Society: Easton. ISSN 0013-936X; e-ISSN 1520-5851, more
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| Keywords |
Chemical elements > Metals > Alkaline earth metals > Calcium
Colloids > Aerosols
Marine/Coastal |
| Authors | | Top |
- Hoornaert, S.
- Van Malderen, H.
- Van Grieken, R., more
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| Abstract |
Ca-containing particles, especially CaSO4 particles, have been encountered in several atmospheric aerosol studies. An overview is given of the different sources of airborne Ca-containing particles. The North Sea atmosphere is studied to identify the different Ca-containing particle types and to find the correlation between their occurrence and the source regions of the corresponding air masses. About 50,000 individual aerosol samples were collected above the Southern Bight of the North Sea for several wind directions and analyzed for their composition using electron probe X-ray microanalysis. Nonhierarchical cluster analysis is performed on the data to reveal the differentparticle types, their relative abundances and their sources. CaSO4 in most cases constitutes the largest fraction of the Ca-containing particles. Extremely high numbers of CaSO4 particles are found for northeastern winds, coming from the central part of Germany, suggesting that a great fraction is derived from anthropogenic sources located in this region. Among the other Ca-containing particle types are the aluminosilicates, CaCO3, Fe-Ca-rich particles, and CaSO4 or CaCO3 in combination with NaCl. |
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