Abstract
Airborne concentration data for 43 trace elements in remote areas throughout the world have been summarized. The data have been used to calculate crustal enrichment factors, based on aluminum, to assist with interpretation. For all of the elements, the airborne concentrations vary greatly among the remote sites for which data are available. These variations reflect differences in characteristics of the sites. The influences of crustal erosion, sea spray, volcanism, biogenic emissions, and anthropogenic emissions vary considerably from site to site. Values of the crustal enrichment factor also show wide variations for the highly enriched elements. The data presented in this chapter suggest that the elemental composition of global background aerosol is complex, and may vary greatly over small distance and time scales. It may thus be difficult to arrive at meaningful estimates of global minimum airborne concentrations of particular chemical species.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Unknown Publisher |
| Number of pages | 66 |
| ISBN (Print) | 0471826545 |
| State | Published - 1800 |
| Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Engineering