title: Size and elemental composition of dry-deposited particles during a severe dust storm at a coastal site of Eastern China.
abstract: Dry-deposited particles were collected during the passage of an extremely strong dust storm in March, 2010 at a coastal site in Qingdao (36.15 °N, 120.49 °E), a city located in Eastern China. The size, morphology, and elemental composition of the particles were quantified with a scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray instrument (SEM-EDX). The particles appeared in various shapes, and their size mainly varied from 0.4 to 10 μm, with the mean diameters of 0.5, 1.5, and 1.0 μm before, during, and after the dust storm, respectively. The critical size of the mineral particles settling on the surface in the current case was about 0.3-0.4 μm before the dust storm and about 0.5-0.7 μm during the dust storm. Particles that appeared in high concentration but were smaller than the critical size deposited onto the surface at a small number flux. The elements Al, Si and Mg were frequently detected in all samples, indicating the dominance of mineral particles. The frequency of Al in particles collected before the dust storm was significantly lower than for those collected during and after the dust storm. The frequencies of Cl and Fe did not show obvious changes, while those of S, K and Ca decreased after the dust arrival. These results indicate that the dust particles deposited onto the surface were less influenced by anthropogenic pollutants in terms of particle number.
authors.affiliation: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Hebei Collaborative Innovation Center of Coal Exploitation, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056038, Hebei, China.
authors.forename: Hongya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Kumamoto 862-8502, Japan.
authors.forename: Daizhou
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Kumamoto 862-8502, Japan.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science and Ecology, Ocean University of China, Ministry of Education, Qingdao 266100, China.
authors.forename: Jinhui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science and Ecology, Ocean University of China, Ministry of Education, Qingdao 266100, China.
authors.forename: Ruipeng
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science and Ecology, Ocean University of China, Ministry of Education, Qingdao 266100, China.
authors.forename: Huiwang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Hebei Collaborative Innovation Center of Coal Exploitation, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056038, Hebei, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Pian
authors.affiliation: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. Electronic address: minhu@pku.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D002681:China; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning / Q000379:methods; D008903:Minerals / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D010316:Particle Size; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D013052:Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission / Q000295:instrumentation
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D004391:Dust; D008903:Minerals; D052638:Particulate Matter
keywords: Asian dust; Dry deposition; Elemental composition; Morphology; Size distribution