Open AccessDust deposition to the East China Sea and its biogeochemical implications
Author(s) -
Hsu ShihChieh,
Liu Shaw Chen,
Arimoto Richard,
Liu TsunHsien,
Huang YiTang,
Tsai Fujung,
Lin FeiJan,
Kao ShuhJi
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2008jd011223
Subject(s) - biogeochemical cycle , deposition (geology) , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , aerosol , asian dust , oceanography , particulates , environmental chemistry , climatology , geology , chemistry , meteorology , physics , geomorphology , sediment , organic chemistry
Atmospheric Al concentrations published by Hsu et al. (2008) are used together with new information on mass particle‐size distributions (MSDs) to calculate dust deposition to northern Taiwan and to evaluate the significance of the process for the East China Sea (ECS). Seasonal variations in aerosol Al in northern Taiwan show maxima in spring and winter and minima in summer and fall. The MSD of Al and Fe is monomodal, with a mean mass median diameter of 3.6 ± 1.2 μ m, and the dry deposition velocity integrated over the entire MSD is 2.0 ± 1.5 cm s −1 . The estimated dust deposition to the ECS is ∼20 g m −2 a −1 , with wet deposition accounting for three fourths of the total. The quantity of dust deposited decreases exponentially with distance from the source regions. The annual dust input to the entire ECS is estimated to be ∼17 Mt, and when compared with riverine discharge, dust deposition appears to be a significant source of sediments and dissolved Fe. The large quantities of dust deposited also could have significant implications for the biogeochemical cycling of Fe (and Al), including effects on phytoplankton populations.