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

• Published in: Frontiers in Earth Science
• Main Authors: Đorđević, Dragana, Tosic, Ivana, Sakan, Sanja, Petrović, Srđan, Đuričić-Milanković, Jelena, Finger, David C., Dagsson-Waldhauserova, Pavla
• Other Authors: Auðlinda- og umhverfisdeild (LBHÍ), Faculty of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences (AUI), Tækni- og verkfræðideild (HR), School of Science and Engineering (RU), Landbúnaðarháskóli Íslands, Agricultural University of Iceland, Háskólinn í Reykjavík, Reykjavik University
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media SA 2019
• Subjects: Volcanic dust; Surface soil; Rykmengun; Aska; Jarðefni; Rangárvellir; Iceland
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/1279; https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2019.00142

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. This study was funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Serbia (Projects: ON172001, ON176013, and III43007). The preparation of this manuscript was in part funded by the Icelandic Research Fund (Rannis) Grant No. 152248-051 and COST STSM Reference Number: COST-STSM-ES1306-34336 (Grant holder DĐ). Peer Reviewed