Title
Soluble trace metals in aerosols over the tropical south-east Pacific offshore of Peru
Date Issued
12 February 2016
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Baker A.R.
Thomas M.
Bange H.W.
Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería
Publisher(s)
Copernicus GmbH
Abstract
Bulk aerosol samples collected during cruise M91 of FS Meteor off the coast of Peru in December 2012 were analysed for their soluble trace metal (Fe, Al, Mn, Ti, Zn, V, Ni, Cu, Co, Cd, Pb, Th) and major ion (including NO-3 and NH+4/content. These data are among the first recorded for trace metals in this relatively poorly studied region of the global marine atmosphere. To the north of ∼13° S, the concentrations of several elements (Fe, Ti, Zn, V, Ni, Pb) appear to be related to distance from the coast. At the south of the transect (∼15-16° S), elevated concentrations of Fe, Cu, Co, and Ni were observed, and we calculated dry deposition fluxes of soluble Cu approximately an order of magnitude higher than a recent model-based estimate of total Cu deposition to the region. The model did not take account of emissions from the large smelting facilities in the south of Peru and northern Chile, and our results may indicate that these facilities constitute an important source of trace metals to the region. Calculated dry deposition fluxes (3370-17800 and 16-107 nmolm-2 d-1 for inorganic nitrogen and soluble Fe respectively) indicated that atmospheric input to the waters of the Peru upwelling system contains an excess of Fe over N, with respect to phytoplankton requirements. This may be significant as primary production in these waters has been reported to be limited by Fe availability, but atmospheric deposition is unlikely to be the dominant source of Fe to the system.
Start page
817
End page
825
Volume
13
Issue
3
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Geología
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84958233556
Source
Biogeosciences
ISSN of the container
17264170
Sponsor(s)
Meteor cruise M91 was supported by the BMBF projects SOPRAN II and III (FKZ 03F0611A and FKZ 03F662A). We thank the Peruvian authorities for authorising us to conduct the study in their territorial waters. We also would like to thank our Peruvian colleagues from IMARPE (M. Graco, A. Bernal, G. Flores, and V. León) for their logistical support to our work. Sample analysis was funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) through grant NE/H00548X/1 and by the School of Natural Sciences, University of East Anglia. We gratefully acknowledge the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory for the provision of the HYSPLIT transport and dispersion model and the READY website (http://www.arl.noaa.gov/HYSPLIT.php) and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on our manuscript.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus