Abstract
This research aimed to identify and characterize individual spherical fly ash particles extracted from surface snow at Urumqi Glacier No.1 (UG1), Eastern Tien Shan, central Asia. Characterization of the spherical particles (i.e. morphology, chemical composition and genesis) was obtained by scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (SEM-EDX). This method enabled the characterization of submicroscopic spherical particles, which were present in very small quantities. Spherical particles and agglomerates were identified according to their morphology in five snow samples. Prevalent particle types in all samples were granular spherical particles, hollow spherical particles, irregularly shaped carbonaceous particles and agglomerates. The vast majority of spherical particles in our samples had mostly smooth and glossy surfaces, although these particles varied in diameter and elemental composition. The diameter of fly ash particles ranged from 0.76 to 16.7 μm, with an average of 3.79 μm (median: 3.21 μm). Individual particle analyses of elemental composition showed that particles formed in combustion were mainly composed of carbon, silicon, aluminum and trace elements (e.g. Na, K, Ca, Fe). Some spherical fly ash particles contained toxic heavy metals (e.g. Pb, Cr, As, Zn), and indicated that fly ash particles acted as the main possible carriers of toxic heavy metals deposited in snow and ice of glaciers in high altitudes of central Asia. On the basis of chemical information obtained from EDX, the fly ash particles deposited in the snow could be classified into four types. Namely, Si-dominant particles, with average diameters of 3.24 μm were formed by industrial coal combustion via high temperature processes in typical coal-fired heating stations and thermal power plants. Moreover, Fe-dominant particles, with average diameters of 3.82 μm, and Ti-dominant spherical particles formed by lower temperature processes in foundry and iron or steel plants. In addition, C-dominant particles, with average diameters of 8.43 μm, formed from unburned coal. Fe-dominant particles had larger average diameters than Sidominant particles, indicating that the former were easier to form and developed earlier in the furnace because of their differential melting points of compositional oxide. Backward air mass trajectory analysis suggests that the developed urban regions of central Asia contributed the primary fly ash particles from industrial combustion to the study site through the high-level westerlies jet steam.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Rose N L. Fly-ash Particles in Tracking Environmental Change Using Llake Sediments. New York: Springer, 2001. 319–349
Alliskaar T. Spatial and temporal variability of the distribution of spherical fly-ash particles in sediments in Estonia. Dissertation for the Doctoral Degree. Tallinn: Tallinn Pedagogical University, 2000. 37–116
Rose N L, Harlock S, Appleby P G. The spatial and temporal distributions of spheroidal carbonaceous fly-ash particles (SCP) in the sediment records of European mountain lakes. Water Air Soil Pollut, 1999, 113: 1–32
Wik M, Renberg I. Environmental records of carbonaceous fly-ash particles from fossil fuel combustion. J Paleolimnol, 1996, 15: 193–206
Zhou K, Xu M H, Yu D X, et al. The effects of coal blending on the formation and properties of particulate matter during combustion. Chinese Sci Bull, 2010, 55: 3448–3455
Ducret J, Cachier H. Particulate carbon in rain at various temperate and tropical locations. Atmos Chem, 1992, 15: 55–67
Pöschl U. Atmospheric aerosols: Composition, transformation, climate and health effects. Angewandte Chemie, 2005, 44: 752–754
Hicks S, Isaksson E. Assessing source areas of pollutants from studies of fly ash, charcoal, and pollen from Svalbard snow and ice. J Geophys Res, 2006, 111: D02113
Cong Z Y, Kang S C, Dong S P, et al. Elemental and individual particle analysis of atmospheric aerosols from high Himalayas. Environ Monit Assess, 2010, 160: 323–335
Schöner W, Staudinger M, Winiwarter W, et al. Dating of snow samples from snow pits at Sonnblick, Austrian Alps as a tool for interpretation of chemical analysis. The Proceedings of EUROTRAC Symposium’ 92, SPB: Academic Publishing, 1993. 753–756
Flanner M G, Zender C S, Randerson J T, et al. Present-day climate forcing and response from black carbon in snow. J Geophys Res, 2007, 112: D11202
Sun A Z, Ma Y Z, Feng Z D, et al. Pollen-recorded climate changes between 13.0 and 7.0 14C ka BP in southern Ningxia, China. Chinese Sci Bull, 2007, 52: 1080–1088
Bourgeois J C, Gajewski K, Koerner R M. Spatial patterns of pollen deposition in Arctic snow. J Geophys Res, 2001, 106: 5255–5565
Short S K, Holdsworth G. Pollen, oxygen isotope content and seasonality in an ice core from the Penny Ice Cap, Baffin Island. Arctic, 1985, 38: 214–218
Xu B Q, Wang M, Joswiak D R, et al. Deposition of anthropogenic aerosols in a southeastern Tibetan glacier. J Geophys Res, 2009, 114: D17209
Wu G J, Yao T D, Xu B Q, et al. Seasonal variations of dust record in the Muztagata ice cores. Chinese Sci Bull, 2008, 53: 2506–2512
Marinoni A, Cristofanelli P, Laj P, et al. Aerosol mass and black carbon concentrations, two year-round observations at NCO-P (5079 m, Southern Himalayas). Atmos Chem Phys Discuss, 2010, 10: 8379–8413
Lau K M, Kim M K, Kim K. Enhanced surface warming and snow melt in the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau induced by the EHP effect. Environ Res Lett, 2010, 5: 025204
Wu G J, Zhang X L, Zhang C L, et al. Concentration and composition of dust particles in surface snow at Urumqi Glacier No. 1, Eastern Tien Shan. Glob Planet Change, 2010, 74: 34–42
Zamengo L, Barbiero N, Gregio M, et al. Combined scanning electron microscopy and image analysis to investigate airborne submicron particles: A comparison between personal samplers. Chemosphere, 2009, 76: 313–323
Goldstein J. Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-ray Microanalysis. New York: Kluwer, 2003. 1–223
Slezakova K, Pires J C M, Pereira M C, et al. Influence of traffic emissions on the composition of atmospheric particles of different sizes-Part 2: SEM-EDS characterization. J Atmos Chem, 2008, 60: 221–236
Umbria A, Galán M, Muñoz M J, et al. Characterization of atmospheric particles: Analysis of particles in the Campo de Gibraltar. Atmósfera, 2004, 17: 191–206
Tasić M, Branislava D S, Slavica R, et al. Physico-chemical characterization of PM10 and PM2.5 in the Belgrade urban area. Acta Chim Slov, 2006, 53: 401–405
Neinavaie H, Pirkl H, Trimbacher C. Herkunft und Charak-teristik von Stäuben: Research Report. Umweltbundesamt, Wien, 2000. 1–61
Sokol E V, Kalugin V M, Nigmatulina E N, et al. Ferrospheres from fly ashes of Chelyabinsk coals: Chemical composition, morphology and formation conditions. Fuel, 2002, 81: 867–876
Massei A M, Ollivon D, Garban B, et al. PAHs in the bulk atmospheric deposition of the Seine river basin: Source identifcation and apportionment by ratios, multivariate statistical techniques and scanning electron microscopy. Chemosphere, 2007, 67: 312–321
Gillani N V, Kohli S, Wilson W E. Gas-to-particle conversion of sulfur in power plant plumes—I. Parametrization of the conversion rate for dry, moderately polluted ambient conditions. Atmos Environ, 1981, 15: 2293–2313
Zhang X L, Wu G J, Yue Y H, et al. Mineral composition and morphology of individual dust fall particulates over Lhasa in summer (in Chinese). Acta Petrol Mineral, 2011, 30: 127–134
Aragon, A P, Torres G V, Monroy M F, et al. Scanning electron microscope and statistical analysis of suspended heavy metal particles in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Atmos Chem, 2000, 4: 4103–4112
Seames W S. An initial study of the fine fragmentation fly ash particle mode generated during pulverized coal combustion. Fuel Proc Tech, 2003, 81: 109–125
Zhang C, Yao Q, Sun J. Characteristics of particulate matter from emissions of four typical coal-fired power plants in China. Fuel Proc Tech, 2005, 86: 757–768
Choël M, Deboudt K, Flament P, et al. Single-particle analysis of atmospheric aerosols at Cape Gris-Nez, English Channel: Infuence of steel works on iron apportionment. Atmos Chem, 2007, 41: 2820–2830
Zhao Y C, Zhang J Y, Liu J, et al. Study on mechanism of mercury oxidation by fly ash from coal combustion. Chinese Sci Bull, 2010, 55: 163–167
Meji R. Trace element behavior in coal-fired power plant. Fuel Proc Tech, 1994, 39: 199–217
Goodarzi F, Sanei H, Duncan W F. Monitoring the distribution and deposition of trace elements associated with a zinc-lead smelter in the Trail area, British Columbia, Canada. J Environ Monit, 2001, 3: 15–25
Goodarzi F. Characteristics and composition of fly ash from Canadian coal-fired power plants. Fuel, 2006, 85: 1418–1427
Hinkley T, Pertsiger F, Zavjalova L. The modern atmospheric background dust load: Recognition in Central Asian snowpack, and compositional constraints. Geophys Res Lett, 1997, 24: 1607–1610
Lee X Q, Qin D H, Jiang G B, et al. Atmospheric pollution of a remote area of Tianshan Mountains: Ice core record. J Geophys Res, 2003, 108: 4406
Xu J Z, Hou S G, Chen F K, et al. Tracing the sources of particles in the East Rongbuk ice core from Mt. Qomolangma. Chinese Sci Bull, 2009, 54: 1781–1785
McConnell J R, Edwards R. Coal burning leaves toxic heavy metal legacy in the Arctic. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2008, 105: 12140–12144
Draxler R R, Rolph G D. An overview of the HYSPLIT_4 modeling system of trajectories, dispersion, and deposition. Aust Meteorol Mag, 1998, 47: 295–308
Li Z Q, Zhao S H, Edwards R, et al. Characteristics of individual aerosol particles over Urumqi Glacier No.1 in eastern Tianshan, central Asia, China. Atmos Res, 2011, 99: 57–66
Gromov S, Ginzburg V. Estimation of heavy metal emissions from coal-fired power plants in Russia. Adv Air Pollut, 1998, 5: 597–606
Kakareka S, Gromov S, Pacyna J, et al. Estimation of heavy metal emission fluxes on the territory of the NIS. Atmos Environ, 2004, 38: 7101–7109
Aizen V B, Aizen E M, Melack J M, et al. Association between atmospheric circulation patterns and firn-ice core records from the Inilchek glacierized area, central Tien Shan, Asia. J Geophys Res, 2004, 109: D08304
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Rights and permissions
This article is published under an open access license. Please check the 'Copyright Information' section either on this page or in the PDF for details of this license and what re-use is permitted. If your intended use exceeds what is permitted by the license or if you are unable to locate the licence and re-use information, please contact the Rights and Permissions team.
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, X., Wu, G., Yao, T. et al. Characterization of individual fly ash particles in surface snow at Urumqi Glacier No. 1, Eastern Tianshan. Chin. Sci. Bull. 56, 3464–3473 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-011-4684-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-011-4684-8