Identifying mineral dust signatures in the geochemistry of European agricultural soils

Roughly half of the mineral dust load to the atmosphere originates from the Sahara and is transported across the Atlantic towards South America and Eastern US or across the Mediterranean to Europe. Approximately 10% of these... [ view full abstract ]

Roughly half of the mineral dust load to the atmosphere originates from the Sahara and is transported across the Atlantic towards South America and Eastern US or across the Mediterranean to Europe. Approximately 10% of these dusts is calcite and gypsum they are therefore rich in Ca (1).
The GEMAS project(2) provides geochemical data on metals on agricultural and grazing land soil at the European scale.
This study has applied a self-modelling mixture resolution algorithm to the combined GEMAS geochemistry data set consisting of 4115 samples with 53 elements identifying 29 distinct geochemical signatures. Of these, one Ca rich component which showed high concentrations in southern Europe decreasing towards the north was tentatively identified as being derived from Saharan dust. Another signature, rich in iron and relatively high lead content, which is deposited mainly on the western coasts of European countries is a possible candidate for windblown dust from the Atlantic.
1 Flentje H, Briel B, Beck C, Coen MC, Fricke M, Cyrys J, Gu J, Pitz M, Thomas W. Identification and monitoring of Saharan dust: An inventory representative for south Germany since 1997. Atmospheric Environment. 2015 May 31;109:87-96.
2 Reimann, C., Birke, M., Demetriades, A., Filzmoser, P. & O’Connor, P. (Editors), 2014.Chemistry of Europe’s agricultural soils - Part A: Methodology and interpretation of the GEMAS data set. Geologisches Jahrbuch (Reihe B 102), Schweizerbarth, Hannover, 528 pp. + DVD