Provenance fingerprints of atmospheric dust collected at Granada city (Southern Iberian Peninsula). Evidence from quartz grains
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Molinero García, Alberto; Martín García, Juan Manuel; Fernández González, María Virginia; Delgado Calvo-Flores, RafaelEditorial
Elsevier
Materia
Quartz Shape parameters Atmospheric dust Provenance fingerprint Dust mineralogy Dust geochemistry
Date
2021-10-01Referencia bibliográfica
A. Molinero-García... [et al.]. Provenance fingerprints of atmospheric dust collected at Granada city (Southern Iberian Peninsula). Evidence from quartz grains, CATENA, Volume 208, 2022, 105738, ISSN 0341-8162, [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2021.105738]
Sponsorship
Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad de Espana; Universidad de Granada/CBUAAbstract
Dust in the Earth́s atmosphere is increasing, particularly in southern Spain. The study of dust properties allows
for a hypothesis on the origin and provenance of dust. This study characterised atmospheric dust deposited in the
city of Granada (south of Spain) during three spring periods (samples 4PA, 16PA, and 28PA, collected in 2012,
2013, and 2014, respectively). The aim was to ascertain dust characteristics and genesis using a set of methodological
techniques. The backward trajectories study separated the samples into two groups: scarce Saharan
influence (sample 16PA, 6% of backward trajectories are from, or have passed through, Africa) and greater
influence (samples 4PA and 28PA, 26% and 33%, respectively). This grouping was verified by the rest of the
properties analysed, namely, PM10 concentration, deposition rates, grain size, mineralogy, and elemental
composition (minor, including rare earth elements). In addition, mineral quartz showed differences in particle
morphology and surface microtextures. The mineralogical and geochemical studies of our samples have proved
similarities with other dust collected in Granada and soils from the Iberian Peninsula. The principal component
analysis of the quartz shape parameters insists on the differentiation of these groups. We propose the morphoscopy
of quartz grains (a significant component of atmospheric dust) as a fingerprint of provenance.