A New Geochemical Method for Determining the Sources of Atmospheric Particles: A Case Study from Gannan, Northeast China
by
Chenmeng Yang 1,2, Guangyi Sun 1,2,*
, Chao Zhang 1, Yupeng Chen 1, Wen Yang 3 and Lihai Shang 1,*
Chenmeng Yang 1,2, Guangyi Sun 1,2,*, Chao Zhang 1, Yupeng Chen 1, Wen Yang 3 and Lihai Shang 1,*
1
State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
2
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
3
Heilongjiang Institute of Geological Survey, Harbin 150036, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Atmosphere 2019, 10(10), 632; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos10100632
Received: 24 September 2019 / Revised: 12 October 2019 / Accepted: 16 October 2019 / Published: 20 October 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emissions, Transport and Fate of Pollutants in the Atmosphere)
The geochemical characteristics of atmospheric deposition can help trace the origin and assess the impacts of pollutants. Northeast China has always been a region seriously affected by sandstorms. This study aims to explain the potential source of sandstorms in Gannan County, Heilongjiang Provence, by collecting dust and analyzing geochemistry in one year where there is no significant industrial or anthropogenic pollution. Input fluxes of deposition show that Zn and Mn were more prevalent (36.7 g·hm−2·a−1 and 77.93 g·hm−2·a−1, respectively) than other elements. The geochemical composition of atmospheric deposition samples from 17 collection points in Gannan County were determined with regard to 20 elements including nine heavy metals, two metalloids, three nonmetallic elements, a transition metal, and five other major elements. The discriminate function (DF) and chemical index of alteration (CIA) indices indicate that Gannan County (agricultural production area) and Harbin (densely inhabited district) have similar geochemical characteristics of dry deposition. The integration of Na/Al and Ca/Mg ratios with an air mass back-trajectories model shows effects from Russian dust sources (36.6%) and from the northwest desert of China (13.3%). The results will assist in developing strategies for reducing dry deposition pollution inputs to agricultural soils in the area and will effectively target policies to protect soils from long-term contaminant accumulation.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Yang, C.; Sun, G.; Zhang, C.; Chen, Y.; Yang, W.; Shang, L. A New Geochemical Method for Determining the Sources of Atmospheric Particles: A Case Study from Gannan, Northeast China. Atmosphere 2019, 10, 632.
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