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Bedrock controls on the mineralogy and chemistry of PM10 extracted from Australian desert sediments

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Environmental Geology

Abstract

Given the relevance of desert aerosols to environmental issues such as dust storms, climate change and human health effects, we provide a demonstration of how the bedrock geology of an arid area influences the mineralogy and geochemistry of even the finest particulate matter (i.e., the inhalable fraction <10 μm in size: PM10). PM10 samples extracted from desert sediments at geologically contrasting off-road sites in central and southeastern Australia (granitic, high grade metamorphic, quartzitic sandstone) were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The “granitic” PM10 are highly alkali feldspathic and illitic, with a wide range of accessory minerals including rutile (TiO2), monazite [(Ce, La, Nd, Th, Y) PO4], xenotime (YPO4), apatite [Ca5(PO4)3 (F, OH, Cl)], hematite (Fe3O4), zircon (ZrSiO4) and thorite (ThSiO4). This mineralogy is reflected in the geochemistry which shows notable enrichments in rare earth elements (REE) and most high field strength elements (both held in the accessory minerals), and higher than normal levels of low (<2.0) ionic potential elements (Na, K, Li, Cs, Rb: held in alkali feldspar and illite). The “metamorphic” resuspended PM10 define a mineralogy clearly influenced by local exposures of pelitic and calc-silicate schists (sillimanite, muscovite, calcite, Ca-amphibole), a dominance of monazite over other REE-bearing phases, and a geochemistry distinguished by enrichments in alkaline earth metals (Ca, Mg, Ba, Sr) and depletion in heavy REE. The “quartzite” PM10, derived from rocks already recycled by Precambrian erosion and sedimentary transport, show a sedimentologically mature mineralogy of mostly quartz and kaolinite, detrital accessory ilmenite, rutile, monazite and hematite, and the strongest geochemical depletion (especially K, Rb, Cs, Na, Ca, Mg, Ba).

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Acknowledgments

The authors will like to thank Jim West (from the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries) for his help supplying us the 1:25.000 Silverton geological map (Geological Survey of New South Wales), and the two referees whose time and efforts allowed us to improve on the original text.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Earth Sciences “Jaume Almera”, CSIC, C/Lluis Solé i Sabarís s/n, 08028, Barcelona, Spain

    Teresa Moreno, Fulvio Amato, Xavier Querol, Andrés Alastuey & Josep Elvira

  2. AP 23075, 08080, Barcelona, Spain

    Wes Gibbons

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  1. Teresa Moreno
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  2. Fulvio Amato
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  3. Xavier Querol
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  4. Andrés Alastuey
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  5. Josep Elvira
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  6. Wes Gibbons
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Correspondence to Teresa Moreno.

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Moreno, T., Amato, F., Querol, X. et al. Bedrock controls on the mineralogy and chemistry of PM10 extracted from Australian desert sediments. Environ Geol 57, 411–420 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-008-1312-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-008-1312-2

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