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Saharan dust particles in snow samples of Alps and Apennines during an exceptional event of transboundary air pollution

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Abstract

Southern European countries are often affected in summer by transboundary air pollution from Saharan dust. However, very few studies deal with Saharan dust pollution at high altitudes in winter. In Italy, the exceptional event occurred on February 19, 2014, colored in red the entire mountain range (Alps and Apennines) and allowed to characterize the particulate matter deposited on snow from a morphological and chemical point of view. Snow samples were collected after this event in four areas in the Alps and one in the Apennines. The particulate matter of the melted snow samples was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDS) and by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). These analyses confirmed the presence of Saharan dust particle components in all areas with similar percentages, supported also by the positive correlations between Mg-Ca, Al-Ca, Al-Mg, and Al-K in all samples.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Renzo Tassinari and Lisa Volpe for the precious help in analyzing samples by ICP-MS and SEM-EDS analysis respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), Technical Unit for Environmental Assessment Models, Methods and Technologies (UTVALAMB), Air Quality Laboratory (AIR), 40129, Bologna, Italy

    Chiara Telloli

  2. Department of Life Science and Biotechnologies, Ferrara University, 44121 Ferrara, Italy

    Milvia Chicca

  3. Department of Earth Science, Ferrara University, 44122 Ferrara, Italy

    Salvatore Pepi & Carmela Vaccaro

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  1. Chiara Telloli
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  2. Milvia Chicca
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Correspondence to Chiara Telloli.

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Telloli, C., Chicca, M., Pepi, S. et al. Saharan dust particles in snow samples of Alps and Apennines during an exceptional event of transboundary air pollution. Environ Monit Assess 190, 37 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-6412-6

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