Technical Note: Mineralogical, chemical, morphological, and optical interrelationships of mineral dust re-suspensions
Abstract. This paper promotes an understanding of the mineralogical, chemical, and physical interrelationships of re-suspended mineral dusts collected as grab samples from global dust sources. Surface soils were collected from arid regions, including the southwestern USA, Mali, Chad, Morocco, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Serbia, China, Namibia, Botswana, Australia, and Chile. The < 38 µm sieved fraction of each sample was re-suspended in a chamber, from which the airborne mineral dust could be extracted, sampled, and analyzed. Instruments integrated into the entrainment facility included two PM10 and two PM2.5 filter samplers, a beta attenuation gauge for the continuous measurement of PM10 and PM2.5 particulate mass fractions, an aerodynamic particle size (APS) analyzer, and a three wavelength (405, 532, 781 nm) photoacoustic instrument with integrating reciprocal nephelometer for monitoring absorption and scattering coefficients during the dust re-suspension process. Filter sampling media included Teflon® membrane and quartz fiber filters for chemical analysis, and Nuclepore® filters for individual particle analysis by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The < 38 µm sieved fractions were also analyzed by X-ray diffraction for their mineral content while the > 75 µm, < 125 µm soil fractions were mineralogically assessed by optical microscopy. Presented here are results of the optical measurements, showing the interdependencies of single scattering albedos (SSA) at three different wavelengths and chemical as well as mineralogical content of the entrained dust samples. Relationships between the SSA of airborne dusts, and iron (Fe) in hematite, goethite, and clay minerals (montmorillonite, illite, palygorskite) are demonstrated. Differences in clay mineralogy between samples from Mali and those from other localities are highlighted. Results from this study can be integrated into a database of mineral dust properties, for applications in climate modeling, remote sensing, visibility, health (medical geology), ocean fertilization, and impact on equipment.