干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

Mineral dust is the second major source of PM10 in Madrid, reaching up to 80% of the PM10 mass during certain long-range dust transport events. Three different types of scenarios have been found to be associated with the high particle concentration episodes in the city: local anthropogenic, regional recirculation, and African dust transport processes. The present study focuses on the characterization of the individual mineral dust particles related to some chemical and morphological features during these three types of episodes, with special attention to local and regional episodes. To achieve this purpose, four different samples were selectively collected during the 2004-2005 period campaigns, one corresponding to each type of scenario and other sample from an Atlantic ventilated one. Meteorological situation, dust source identification, impact on ambient concentrations, size range distribution, and particle individual analysis have been characterized for each of them. Elemental composition and morphology of more than 30,000 mineral particles were analyzed by computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy. Particles were grouped into clusters based on their elemental composition, and the aspect ratio (AR) of each cluster or category was compared for each type of episode. The AR was related to the mineralogical crystal structure of each chemical cluster. The dates chosen for microscopy analysis were in good agreement in size distribution and chemical composition with the average of the dates in the entire campaign and with those from previous campaigns. Major differences between local/regional and long-range transported mineral dust were found in the relative abundance between carbonates and silicates, with much higher abundance of calcium carbonates in the first ones. These differences between silicate and carbonate contents were consistent with the results found in previous campaigns and were directly related to the composition of the parent topsoil by studying the Ca/Si ratios of similar episodes recorded all over the Iberian Peninsula. Differences in morphology were also found for these scenarios. The predominance of calcium carbonate under regional and local influence is scientifically relevant since this mineral is known to react with both SO2 and HNO3 in the atmosphere. Larger average AR values were found for dust particles from long-range transport, and smaller average AR values were found for particles from local and regional resuspended dust. The increasing average AR value has been linked to the silicate cluster presence, whereas a reduction has been observed within the carbonate cluster.