Chemical and Physical Characteristics of Sediments from Prevalent Dust Sources in the Central Chihuahuan Desert, Chihuahua, Mexico
Abstract
The Chihuahuan Desert has been recognized as an important contributor of mineral aerosols emplaced into the atmosphere in the Western Hemisphere. Along with the production of these aerosols, growing concern has been stated relating the downwind transport of atmospheric dust particles to increases in human health related impacts such as asthma and bronchitis in the Binational Paso Del Norte, the largest urban area in the region. Efforts have been made to describe the source types (land use/cover) and frequency of emission from the "dust hotspots" or prevalent sources within the region. These studies have outlined specific areas and their related sedimentological environments responsible for the regular dust production. Ephemeral lakes, fluvial and alluvial related environments form the main natural dust producing landforms in the region, modulated by short-term climatic variability and anthropogenic disturbance. Analysis of remote sensing imagery shows that the margins between natural areas and agricultural lands form the main anthropogenic related source areas. Most of the previously published studies focus on these remotely sensed descriptions of the dust sources, while only a few deal with in situ or field characteristics of these sources. A formal and detailed description of the physicochemical properties of many of these areas is presented, providing key data on this component of the overall dust production cycle. Elemental and mineralogical compositions of dust source sediments, soil textural compositions (grain size distributions) and field sedimentological descriptions are presented as an effort to attain a detailed in situ description of the prevalent dust sources in the central part of the Chihuahuan Desert.
- Publication:
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AGU Spring Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- May 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013AGUSMNH51C..03D
- Keywords:
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- 0305 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE / Aerosols and particles;
- 1029 GEOCHEMISTRY / Composition of aerosols and dust particles