Can Volcanic Dust Suspended From Surface Soil and Deserts of Iceland Be Transferred to Central Balkan Similarly to African Dust (Sahara)?

In this work we use chemical fingerprints as characteristics ratios of specific crustal elements Ca/Al, Fe/Al, K/Al, Mg/Al, Mn/Al, Ca/Fe, and Mg/Fe to investigate the long-range transport of volcanic aerosols from Iceland. Volcanic dust enters the atmosphere during suspension processes from Icelandi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in Earth Science
Main Authors: Dragana Đorđević, Ivana Tošić, Sanja Sakan, Srđan Petrović, Jelena Đuričić-Milanković, David C. Finger, Pavla Dagsson-Waldhauserová
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2019
Subjects:
High Latitude Dust sources
backward trajectories
chemical fingerprints
atmospheric aerosol
long-range transport
Science
Q
Rangárvellir
Iceland
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2019.00142
https://doaj.org/article/5887d25025214c61a8645fe8de559a9d
Description
Summary:In this work we use chemical fingerprints as characteristics ratios of specific crustal elements Ca/Al, Fe/Al, K/Al, Mg/Al, Mn/Al, Ca/Fe, and Mg/Fe to investigate the long-range transport of volcanic aerosols from Iceland. Volcanic dust enters the atmosphere during suspension processes from Icelandic deserts, but mainly from the dust hot spots in remote areas in Iceland, and it is transmitted to the central Balkan area (Belgrade). For this purpose, backward trajectories from Belgrade (φ = 44°48′; λ = 20°28′) in 2012 and 2013, simultaneous with atmospheric aerosols measurements, were calculated by using the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model. We found that about 17% of air masses passed over Icelandic territory and arrived to Balkan area. In almost all of these episodes ratios of some investigated elements in suburban aerosols of Balkan area corresponded to the ratios of elements investigated in surface soil of the Rangárvellir area – South Iceland in the vicinity of volcanoes. We identified several episodes, such as August 6–8, 2012; June 2–6, 2013; June 26–28, 2013; and September 18–20, 2013; with the characteristic ratios of the highest number of investigated elements in atmospheric aerosol of central Balkan corresponding to ratios from Icelandic soil material. This study provides evidence that Icelandic dust can travel long distances showing the importance of High Latitude Dust sources.

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