The nature and tropospheric formation of iberulites: Pinkish mineral microspherulites

Impacts of Aeolian dust deposition on European forest sustainability: A review

“…Scarce studies used wet-only devices, which collected dust deposition only during rainfall (Prospero et al, 1987). Other devices based on small flat surfaces are used in sampling areas where dry deposition predominates (Diaz-Hernandez and Parraga, 2008). Passive sampling quality and reliability are increasing but technical issues remain unresolved: contamination by organic matter despite the sieves and some presumed underestimations of deposition rate because of wind effects (Sow et al, 2006).…”

“…2 compile five quantitative studies that indicate an average crustal-like mineralogical composition dominated by phyllosilicates. To compare these results, minerals were sorted in four classes as either silicates composed of phyllosilicates (1) and nonphyllosilicates (2) or nonsilicates composed of carbonaceous (3) and other nonsilicates (4): phyllosilicates include illite/muscovite (7-38%), chlorite (4-17%), kaolinite (1-12%), and palygorskite (7-10%), other silicates are quartz (5-35%) and feldspars (up to 14%), and the main nonsilicates are carbonaceous minerals such as calcite (8-14%) and dolomite (1-15%); other qualitative studies are in good agreement with these results (Deangelis and Gaudichet, 1991;Delmas et al, 1996;Diaz-Hernandez and Parraga, 2008;Pett-Ridge et al, 2009b;DiazHernandez et al, 2011).…”

“…To better describe Aeolian dust chemistry, it was decided to select chemical data of natural particles obtained from passive sampling and to exclude those of urban PM10 or PM2.5 (particulate matter under 10 and 2.5 lm, respectively) for three reasons: (i) PM10 and PM2.5 may be under anthropogenic control and natural particulate matter has been found to interact with anthropogenic particles (Alastuey et al, 2005;Diaz-Hernandez and Parraga, 2008), (ii) the interest of this review is not in pollutant events occurring in megacities downwind regions and (iii) this review focuses on forests, which seem to be relatively sheltered from anthropogenic particulate pollution (Rodrigo et al, 2003). No chemical analyses of annual dust deposition have been published yet.…”

Characterization of indoor and outdoor atmospheric pollutants impacting architectural monuments: the case of San Jerónimo Monastery (Granada, Spain)

“…Figure 7c, d corresponds to AER-GR sample revealing the presence of Fe-rich spherical particles, clay minerals, calcite, quartz, gypsum, chlorine, and sulfate-based salts as well as the so-called iberulite particle. This is a new type of spherical aerosol particle with a vortex, detected in Southern Spain, made of a complex mineral assemblage that also contains biological remains (Díaz-Hernández and Párraga 2008). The most likely source areas based on inherent mineral components are the Sahara and Sahel, while other minerals are the results of atmospheric neoformation.…”

Spherulite-shaped cristobalite by fused silica devitrification

“…in mineral gangues. In materials obtained in different media, from terrestrial origins to aqueous, spray drying or hydrothermal syntheses, isolated spherulites are formed but they generally aggregate as isotropic spherical grains without vortex [20].…”