First long-term detection of paleo-oceanic signature of dust aerosol at the southern marginal area of the Taklimakan Desert.

ABSTRACT: We firstly conducted a long-term in-situ field measurement at a marginal area (Hotan) of the southern Taklimakan Desert covering all four seasons. Detailed chemical characterization of dust aerosol over Hotan showed several unconventional features, including (1) ubiquity of high Na⁺ and Cl^- abundances in the Taklimakan dust aerosol and its Cl^-/Na⁺ ratio close to seawater; (2) high Ca content in the Taklimakan dust (7.4~8.0%) which was about two times of that in the natural crust; (3) high abundance of soluble sulfate concentrations and strong correlations between sulfate and Na⁺ and Cl^- as well as typical mineral tracers such as Al and Ca. Our results collectively indicated that the dust aerosol from the Taklimakan Desert wa

SUBMITTER: Zhou Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5928038 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature