Open AccessDepositional fluxes and concentrations of 7 Be and 210 Pb in bulk precipitation and aerosols at the interface of Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts in Spain
Author(s) -
Lozano R. L.,
San Miguel E. G.,
Bolívar J. P.,
Baskaran M.
Publication year - 2011
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 - 10.1029/2011jd015675
Subject(s) - sedimentary depositional environment , precipitation , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , troposphere , scavenging , aerosol , climatology , geology , chemistry , physics , structural basin , meteorology , geomorphology , biochemistry , antioxidant
Bulk depositional fluxes of 7 Be and 210 Pb in precipitation measured over a period of 16 months (April 2009–July 2010) in Huelva, Spain varied between 5.6 and 186 Bq m −2 month −1 (annual mean: 834 Bq m −2 year −1 ) and 0.8 and 8.1 Bq m −2 month −1 (annual mean: 59 Bq m −2 year −1 ), respectively, with the lowest depositional fluxes occurring during dry summer months. Quantitative evaluation of the precipitation‐normalized seasonal depositional fluxes of 7 Be and 210 Pb indicates that the enrichment factor in winter is < 1.0 while in 2010 spring, it is significantly higher than 1, possibly indicating input of air from the stratosphere‐troposphere exchange (for 7 Be). The specific activities of 7 Be and 210 Pb varied from 0.03 to 7.42 Bq L −1 (mean = 2.5 Bq L −1 ) and 0.005 to 1.07 BqL −1 (mean = 0.23 Bq L −1 ), respectively, with the highest values corresponding to the spring season. The spatial and temporal variations of 7 Be and 210 Pb in aerosols from three stations are evaluated and compared to their monthly depositional fluxes. The mean depositional velocity of aerosols using 7 Be and 210 Pb are similar, ∼0.5 cm s −1 and are compared to other published values. This is the first time the fractional amounts of 7 Be and 210 Pb in monthly bulk precipitation are compared to the fractional amount of precipitation and provides insight on how the amount of precipitation plays a key role on the scavenging of these nuclides. The importance of dry fallout is evaluated for the study site which has direct implications for other areas in the Mediterranean Climate Zone.