Mineralogical similarities and differences of dust storm particles at Beijing from deserts in the north and northwest

Abstract

Dust storm particles have been one of the important contributors to global aerosol loading, affecting human health and climate system. Beijing, a megapolitan city, experienced two severe dust storms in spring of 2015, with maximum hourly-mean PM₁₀ mass concentrations exceeding 1000 μg/m³. The first dust storm (Dust 1) was from east area of Gobi Desert about 850 km in the north of Beijing and the second (Dust 2) was from west area of Gobi Desert about 1500 km in the northwest of Beijing. Morphologies and elemental compositions of dust particles were identified using high-resolution electron microscopy. The statistical analysis showed that the number fractions of mineral dust particles during the two dust storm episodes were 85.3% and 95.4%, respectively. Clay minerals were the most abundant among mineral particles, with a number fraction larger than 50%, followed by quartz particles (17.3% and 14.8%) and feldspar. Feldspar and carbonate particles accounted for 14.8% and 3.4% of mineral particles in Dust 1, and 9.9% and 13.6% in Dust 2, with the difference due to the different source areas. When the dust storms directly migrated to Beijing, the occurrence of S-containing mineral particles and the relative weight ratio of S in individual mineral particles were extremely low, indicating limited production of sulfate on the dust-storm particles in the atmosphere, regardless of the differences of source areas, migration paths, and mineralogical components. After the peaks of dust storms passed, the occurrence of S on the mineral particles were much higher, although the relative weight ratios of S in the mineral particles was still very small. This result suggests that most of the mineral particles underwent heterogeneous reactions, but the reaction rates were low.

Keywords: Dust particles; Individual particle analysis; Migration paths; Minerals; Sulfate.