Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 41-59 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | Journal of arid environments |
| Volume | 53 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2003 |
Abstract
Dust deposition over the Dead Sea has been studied for 3 years (1997-1999) using two collectors installed on a buoy anchored 3.5 km off-shore, south-east of Ein-Gedi. Deposition rates ranged between lows during winter (6.7-15.2 gm-2 year-1) and summer (11.4-24.7 gm-2 year -1) and highs in spring (35.7-120.7gm-2 year-1) and autumn (39.1-158.3 gm-2 year-1). Most of the deposition was in the form of pulses, generated by dust storms. A gradual increase in yearly deposition was observed from 255kgha-1 in 1997, to 605 kg ha-1 in 1999. The particle-size distribution is distinctly unimodal, with the mode close to 10 γm and is not season related. This distribution suggests that the dust had been transported from medium to long range and differs markedly from that of land based collectors, where the distribution curve is bimodal, indicating the presence of material of local origin. The deposit consists of soluble salts, carbonates, quartz, and aluminosilicates, principally feldspars and clay minerals. Soluble cations and anions, including bromide, are all related to Dead Sea water, except for nitrates which are of anthropogenic origin. Some of the sulphate may be air-borne gypsum. Calcite contents vary between 5.2% and 33.1%, dolomite in the range of 1.5-14.8%. The calcite/dolomite ratio rises with the rise in the deposition rate. Apatite is present in the range of 1-5% and apparently is season related. Small amounts of phosphate appear to be related to the frequency of winds blowing from a phosphate-mining area about 45 km away. Clay minerals include smectite, kaolinite, illite and minor amounts of palygorskite and differ distinctly from that of North-African Harmattan dust. The overall mineral composition of dust over the Dead Sea shows no relation to west and north Saharan dusts and suggests an origin principally in the Negev, Egyptian and Lybian deserts.
Keywords
- Dead Sea, Dust deposition, Dust mineralogy, Dust particle sizes, Dust sources
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Environmental Science(all)
- Ecology
- Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)
- Earth-Surface Processes
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In: Journal of arid environments, Vol. 53, No. 1, 01.01.2003, p. 41-59.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Dust deposition over the Dead Sea
AU - Singer, Arieh
AU - Ganor, Eliezer
AU - Dultz, Stefan
AU - Fischer, Walter
N1 - Funding information: Financial support for this research from the Niedersächsische Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur is gratefully acknowledged. For financial support of the project in its initial phases, thanks are extended to the Israel Ministry of Energy. The invaluable assistance in the sampling procedures of Drs Artur Hecht and Isaak Gertmann from the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute is gratefully acknowledged. The permission by NOAA to use the satellite image is acknowledged with thanks.
PY - 2003/1/1
Y1 - 2003/1/1
N2 - Dust deposition over the Dead Sea has been studied for 3 years (1997-1999) using two collectors installed on a buoy anchored 3.5 km off-shore, south-east of Ein-Gedi. Deposition rates ranged between lows during winter (6.7-15.2 gm-2 year-1) and summer (11.4-24.7 gm-2 year -1) and highs in spring (35.7-120.7gm-2 year-1) and autumn (39.1-158.3 gm-2 year-1). Most of the deposition was in the form of pulses, generated by dust storms. A gradual increase in yearly deposition was observed from 255kgha-1 in 1997, to 605 kg ha-1 in 1999. The particle-size distribution is distinctly unimodal, with the mode close to 10 γm and is not season related. This distribution suggests that the dust had been transported from medium to long range and differs markedly from that of land based collectors, where the distribution curve is bimodal, indicating the presence of material of local origin. The deposit consists of soluble salts, carbonates, quartz, and aluminosilicates, principally feldspars and clay minerals. Soluble cations and anions, including bromide, are all related to Dead Sea water, except for nitrates which are of anthropogenic origin. Some of the sulphate may be air-borne gypsum. Calcite contents vary between 5.2% and 33.1%, dolomite in the range of 1.5-14.8%. The calcite/dolomite ratio rises with the rise in the deposition rate. Apatite is present in the range of 1-5% and apparently is season related. Small amounts of phosphate appear to be related to the frequency of winds blowing from a phosphate-mining area about 45 km away. Clay minerals include smectite, kaolinite, illite and minor amounts of palygorskite and differ distinctly from that of North-African Harmattan dust. The overall mineral composition of dust over the Dead Sea shows no relation to west and north Saharan dusts and suggests an origin principally in the Negev, Egyptian and Lybian deserts.
AB - Dust deposition over the Dead Sea has been studied for 3 years (1997-1999) using two collectors installed on a buoy anchored 3.5 km off-shore, south-east of Ein-Gedi. Deposition rates ranged between lows during winter (6.7-15.2 gm-2 year-1) and summer (11.4-24.7 gm-2 year -1) and highs in spring (35.7-120.7gm-2 year-1) and autumn (39.1-158.3 gm-2 year-1). Most of the deposition was in the form of pulses, generated by dust storms. A gradual increase in yearly deposition was observed from 255kgha-1 in 1997, to 605 kg ha-1 in 1999. The particle-size distribution is distinctly unimodal, with the mode close to 10 γm and is not season related. This distribution suggests that the dust had been transported from medium to long range and differs markedly from that of land based collectors, where the distribution curve is bimodal, indicating the presence of material of local origin. The deposit consists of soluble salts, carbonates, quartz, and aluminosilicates, principally feldspars and clay minerals. Soluble cations and anions, including bromide, are all related to Dead Sea water, except for nitrates which are of anthropogenic origin. Some of the sulphate may be air-borne gypsum. Calcite contents vary between 5.2% and 33.1%, dolomite in the range of 1.5-14.8%. The calcite/dolomite ratio rises with the rise in the deposition rate. Apatite is present in the range of 1-5% and apparently is season related. Small amounts of phosphate appear to be related to the frequency of winds blowing from a phosphate-mining area about 45 km away. Clay minerals include smectite, kaolinite, illite and minor amounts of palygorskite and differ distinctly from that of North-African Harmattan dust. The overall mineral composition of dust over the Dead Sea shows no relation to west and north Saharan dusts and suggests an origin principally in the Negev, Egyptian and Lybian deserts.
KW - Dead Sea
KW - Dust deposition
KW - Dust mineralogy
KW - Dust particle sizes
KW - Dust sources
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0037217045&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1006/jare.2002.1023
DO - 10.1006/jare.2002.1023
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0037217045
VL - 53
SP - 41
EP - 59
JO - Journal of arid environments
JF - Journal of arid environments
SN - 0140-1963
IS - 1
ER -