Long-Range Atmospheric Transport of Soil Dust from Asia to the Tropical North Pacific: Temporal Variability

Duce, Robert A.; Unni, C. K.; Ray, Barbara J.; Prospero, Joseph M.; Merrill, J. T.

doi:10.1126/science.209.4464.1522

Cited by 815 publications

(394 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The mineralogy of sediments collected from the North Pacific Ocean between 30°and 40"N latitude is identical to that of aeolian mineral particles originating on the Asian continent [Blank et al, 1985] [Duce et al, 1980]. This seasonal impact is most evident at higher latitudes, presumably resulting from the westerly wind regime there in the large-scale meteorological features [Merrill et al, 1985].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Chemical characteristics of continental outflow from Asia to the troposphere over the western Pacific Ocean during September–October 1991: Results from PEM‐West A

Talbot¹,

Dibb²,

Klemm³

et al. 1996

J. Geophys. Res.

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109

100

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Abstract.An important objective of the Pacific Exploratory Mission-West A (PEM-West A) was the chemical characterization of the outflow of tropospheric trace gases and aerosol particles from the Asian continent over the western Pacific Ocean. This paper summarizes the chemistry of this outflow during the period September -October 1991. The vertical distributions of CO, C2H6, and NO× showed regions of outflow at altitudes below 2 km and from 8 to 12 km. Mixing ratios of CO were =130 parts per billion by volume (ppbv), =1000 parts per trillion by volume (pptv) for C2H6, and =100 pptv for NOx in both of these regions. Direct outflow of Asian industrial materials was clearly evident at altitudes below 2 kin, where halocarbon tracer compounds such as CH3CCI 3 and C2C14 were enhanced about threefold compared to aged Pacific air. The source attribution of species outflowing from Asia to the Pacific at 8 -12 km altitude was not straightforward.Above l0 km altitude there were substantial enhancements of NOy, 03, CO, CH 4 SO2, C2H6, C3H 8, C2H 2, and aerosol 21°pb but not halocarbon industrial tracers. These air masses were rich in nitrogen relative to sulfur and contained ratios of C2H2/CO and C3Hs/C2H6 (=1.5 and 0.1 respectively) indicative of severalday-old combustion emissions. It is unclear if these emissions were of Asian origin, or if they were rapidly transported to this region from Europe by the high wind speeds in this tropospheric region (60 -70 m s_). The significant cyclonic activity over Asia at this time could have transported to the upper troposphere emissions from biomass burning in Southeast Asia or emissions from the extensive use of various biomass materials for cooking and space heating. Apparently, the emissions in the upper troposphere were brought there by wet convective systems since water-soluble gases and aerosols were depleted in these air masses. Near 9 km altitude there was a distinct regional outflow that appeared to be heavily influenced by biogenic processes on the Asian continent, especially from the southeastern area. These air masses contained CH4 in excess of 1800 ppbv, while CO 2 and OCS were significantly depleted (349 -352 ppmv and 450 -500 pptv, respectively). This signature seemingly reflected CH 4 emissions from wetlands and rice paddies with coincident biospheric uptake of tropospheric CO 2 and OCS.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Chemical characteristics of continental outflow from Asia to the troposphere over the western Pacific Ocean during September–October 1991: Results from PEM‐West A

Talbot¹,

Dibb²,

Klemm³

et al. 1996

J. Geophys. Res.

Self Cite

109

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To make the composite analysis, years 1959,1960,1962,1963,1970,1974,1979,1982,1989,1994,1995, and 2000 (1954, 1965, 1969, 1977, 1983, 1985, 1992, and 2001) are selected as years with positive(negative) AAO(DJF) anomalies. 1962, 1976, 1979, 1982, 1998(1954, 1965, 1966, 1980, 1981, 1986, 1990, 1992 are selected as years with positive (negative) AAO(MAM) anomalies. All the AAO anomalies are computed based on linearly detrended data.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The trajectory of air-born dust is mainly governed by the wind direction in the lower and middle troposphere [Iwasaka et al, 1983]. Dust storms may extend to the North Pacific, Japan and Korea [Duce et al, 1980;Merrill et al, 1989]. Particularly severe dust storms can even cross the Pacific and reach the western coast of North America as was the case for the April 6, 2000, dust storm.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antarctic oscillation and the dust weather frequency in North China

Fan

Wang

2004

Geophysical Research Letters

161

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[1] The linkage between the Antarctic Oscillation (AAO) to the dust weather frequency (DWF) in North China is addressed. Here DWF denotes the number of days of dust weather events including dust haze, blowing dust and dust storm in one year. It is found that the interannual variation of AAO plays a significant role in the dust-related atmospheric circulation during boreal spring. AAO and DWF correlate well, with positive AAO tending to decrease DWF in North China. Two possible mechanisms for the AAO-DWF coupling are identified, one is related to a meridional teleconnection pattern; the other is related to a regional circulation pattern over the Pacific Ocean.

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“…The reason that the end-member of the upstream concentration varies is unclear; however, this variation is probably caused by day-to-day variation in the fl ow rate. Regarding the variation in the Cd concentration at the bay site (St. P), as Abe (2007) reported, the remineralization and release of Cd associated with organic matter from sediments (Gobeil et al 1987;Rasheed et al 2002) and atmospheric deposition from the land (Duce et al 1980;Arimoto et al 1985) could be anticipated in this study period as well. The variation in the Cd concentrations of upstream and bay water and the characteristic and amount of supplied Cd-adsorbed particles into the study sites might be infl uenced by weather conditions, such as precipitation and wind stress, which probably change each distribution pattern in Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Behavior of dissolved cadmium in surface water of Urasoko Bay, Ishigaki Island, Japan

Abe

2008

Galaxea, Journal of Coral Reef Studies

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Long-Range Atmospheric Transport of Soil Dust from Asia to the Tropical North Pacific: Temporal Variability

Cited by 815 publications

References 9 publications

Chemical characteristics of continental outflow from Asia to the troposphere over the western Pacific Ocean during September–October 1991: Results from PEM‐West A

Chemical characteristics of continental outflow from Asia to the troposphere over the western Pacific Ocean during September–October 1991: Results from PEM‐West A

Antarctic oscillation and the dust weather frequency in North China

Behavior of dissolved cadmium in surface water of Urasoko Bay, Ishigaki Island, Japan

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