Case study of a Chinese dust plume reaching the French Alps

Geophysical Research Letters - Tập 30 Số 6 - 2003
F. Grousset1,2, Paul Ginoux3, Aloys Bory4,5, Pierre E. Biscaye2
1CNRS, EPOC Université Bordeaux I France
2Lamont‐Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University Palisades New York USA
3GEST University of Maryland Baltimore County USA
4British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK
5Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York, USA

Tóm tắt

By combining reconstruction of airmass back‐trajectories from dust deposition sites in Europe and measurements of the (Nd) isotopic composition of deposited dust particles, potential sources of different Saharan dust events can be identified. The study of “red dust” events collected in France allowed us to identify distinct North African source areas (e.g. Lybia vs. Mauritania). Surprisingly, the airmass trajectory of one dust event (March 6, 1990) was distinct from the others, and revealed a Chinese origin. The Nd isotopic composition of this dust was consistent with the range of isotopic compositions of Chinese loess. Moreover, an atmospheric global model simulation reveals that a dust plume left China before February 25, 1990, flew over North America around the February/March transition and reached the French Alps by March 6, 1990, revealing that intercontinental dust and pollutant transport may occur across the Pacific Ocean and the North Atlantic at the Westerlies latitudes.

Từ khóa


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Geophysical Research Letters

Tập 30 Số 6

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