Provenance of aeolian sediment in the Taklamakan Desert of western China, inferred from REE and major-elemental data

Assessment of chemical and mineralogical characteristics of airborne dust in the Sistan region, Iran

“…4) (Larssen and Carmichael, 2000;Muhs and Benedict, 2006). Furthermore, the chemical and mineralogical composition of soil dust provides useful information about its provenance (Yang et al, 2007), radiative forcing implications (Sokolik and Toon, 1999) and human health effects (Erel et al, 2006). For these reasons, in addition to the airborne dust samples, soil samples were collected at 16 locations around Sistan and Hamoun, at depths ranging from 0 to 5 cm from the soil crust.…”

The environmental implications for dust in high-alpine snow and ice cores in Asian mountains

“…The Tengger is located to the northeast of Qilian Shan, where the prevailing high-level westerlies and north-westerly nearsurface winds contradict the possibility of Tengger dust transport to the NCG3. Element composition of the finer fraction (b53 μm, which can serve as the mid-to long-range transport dust particles) of the Taklimakan eolian sediment (Yang et al, 2007a) is similar to that of Dunde, Qiyi and NCG3 dust, suggesting that the Tarim Basin might be the major source area for Qilian Shan snow dust, promoted by the perennial westerlies. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that the source of Qilian Shan snow dust comes mainly from Taklimakan.…”

“…Thompson et al, 1989). The Asian mountain ranges are located adjacent to or even enclosed by the vast Asian arid region, which is one of the major dust sources in the world (Yang et al, 2007a;Wu et al, 2009a). The widely distributed glaciers on these ranges are excellent media to receive and preserve eolian dust from the deserts (Wake et al, 1992(Wake et al, , 1994Wu et al, 2009b).…”

Changes of Permanent Lake Surfaces, and Their Consequences for Dust Aerosols and Air Quality: The Hamoun Lakes of the Sistan Area, Iran

“…On the other hand, dust deposition may influence biogeochemical cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, while dust accumulation in soils can influence texture, element composition and acid neutralizing capacity [97][98]. Furthermore, the chemical and mineralogical composition of soil dust provides useful information about its provenance [99], radiative forcing implications [100] and human health effects [101]. For these reasons, in addition to the airborne dust samples, soil samples were collected at 16 locations around Sistan and Hamoun, at depths ranging from 0 to 5 cm from the soil crust.…”