Thomas A. Cahill

Spatial and seasonal trends in particle concentration and optical extinction in the United States

In the spring of 1988 an interagency consortium of Federal Land Managers and the Environmental Protection Agency initiated a national visibility and aerosol monitoring network to track spatial and temporal trends of visibility and visibility-reducing particles. The monitoring network consists of 36 stations located mostly in the western United States. The major visibility-reducing aerosol species, sulfates, nitrates, organics, light-absorbing carbon, and wind-blown dust are monitored as well as light scattering and extinction. Sulfates and organics are responsible for most of the extinction at most locations throughout the United States, while at sites in southern California nitrates are dominant. In the eastern United States, sulfates contribute to about two thirds of the extinction. In almost all cases, extinction and the major aerosol types are highest in the summer and lowest during the winter months.

Seismicity and shape of the subducted Nazca Plate

An updated compilation of earthquake locations and focal mechanism solutions from the International Seismological Centre and Preliminary Determination of Earthquakes is the basis of a comprehensive study of the geometry of the Wadati-Benioff zone beneath western South America. The new data support previous mapping of a sharp flexure rather than a tear in the subducted Nazca plate beneath southern Peru and provide evidence for a similar flexure in the southward transition from nearly horizontal subduction to a slab with ∼30° dip at latitude 33°S. In contrast, the transition from 30° slab dip beneath Bolivia to a nearly horizontal dip in the region between 28°S–32°S is more gradual, occurring over several hundred kilometers of along-strike distance between 20°S and 32°S. This southward flattening corresponds to a broadening of a horizontal, benchlike part of the subducted plate formed between 100 and 125 km depth. The transition in continental tectonic style near 27°S–28°S, from a wide, volcanically active plateau to a narrow, nonvolcanic cordillera, appears not to be associated with the main slab flattening, which begins to the north of these latitudes, but with a more abrupt change in curvature of the subducted slab, from convex upward to concave upward, immediately below the plate boundary interface. The concept of Gaussian curvature is applied to slab bending to explain how subduction geometry is affected by the shape of the South American plate. We hypothesize that the polarity of vertical curvature in the subducting slab is governed by the orientation of lateral curvature of the plate margin. Focal mechanism solutions for intermediate and deep earthquakes are grouped by geographic region and inverted for the orientation and relative magnitudes of the principal stresses. Results of the inversion indicate that downdip extension dominates in the slab above 350 km while downdip compression dominates at greater depths.

Long-range transport of North African dust to the eastern United States

The long-range transport of North African dust to the Middle East, Europe, South America, and the Caribbean has been well documented during the past 25 years. With the advent of routine collection and analysis of fine aerosols at national parks, monuments, and wilderness areas in the continental United States, these North African dust incursions can now be tracked, characterized, and quantified across much of the eastern half of the United States. Identification of the North African source of these dust episodes is confirmed by mass distribution measurements, a characteristic Al/Ca ratio, isentropic backward air mass trajectories, and sequential plots of the spatial distribution of the dust plumes. North African dust incursions into the continental United States persist for ∼10 days and occurred, on average, 3 times per year from 1992 to 1995. Fine soil mass usually exceeds 10 μg m−3 during these dust episodes and dominates local fine soil dust by an order of magnitude or more, even in the so-called “dust bowl” states of the central United States. Size-resolved measurements of elemental composition taken during July 1995 indicate that the mass mean diameter of the transported North African dust is <1 μm. The high mass scattering efficiency and abundant particle surface area associated with these submicron soil aerosols could have important consequences for both the radiative balance of the region and the chemistry of the local aerosols during summer when the long-range transport of North African dust to the United States is most common.

ACE-ASIA Regional Climatic and Atmospheric Chemical Effects of Asian Dust and Pollution

Although continental-scale plumes of Asian dust and pollution reduce the amount of solar radiation reaching the earths surface and perturb the chemistry of the atmosphere, our ability to quantify these effects has been limited by a lack of critical observations, particularly of layers above the surface. Comprehensive surface, airborne, shipboard, and satellite measurements of Asian aerosol chemical composition, size, optical properties, and radiative impacts were performed during the Asian Pacific Regional Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-Asia) study. Measurements within a massive Chinese dust storm at numerous widely spaced sampling locations revealed the highly complex structure of the atmosphere, in which layers of dust, urban pollution, and biomass-burning smoke may be transported long distances as distinct entities or mixed together. The data allow a first-time assessment of the regional climatic and atmospheric chemical effects of a continental-scale mixture of dust and pollution. Our results show that radiative flux reductions during such episodes are sufficient to cause regional climate change.

Asian aerosols in North America: Frequency and concentration of fine dust

average) are between 0.2 and 1 mg/m 3 and only very rarely exceed 5 mg/m 3 . Our data also indicate that Asian dust is concentrated in an altitude zone ranging from about 500 to 3000 m MSL, consistent with isentropic transport processes previously observed in the western Pacific. INDEX TERMS: 0305 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801); 0345 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Pollution—urban and regional (0305); 0365 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Troposphere—composition and chemistry; 0368 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Troposphere—constituent transport and chemistry; KEYWORDS: dust, Asia, North America, aerosol, troposphere

Comparison of Real-Time Instruments Used To Monitor Airborne Particulate Matter

ABSTRACT Measurements collected using five real-time continuous airborne particle monitors were compared to measurements made using reference filter-based samplers at Bakers-field, CA, between December 2, 1998, and January 31, 1999. The purpose of this analysis was to evaluate the suitability of each instrument for use in a real-time continuous monitoring network designed to measure the mass of airborne particles with an aerodynamic diam less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) under wintertime conditions in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Measurements of airborne particulate mass made with a beta attenuation monitor (BAM), an integrating nephelometer, and a continuous aerosol mass monitor (CAMM) were found to correlate well with reference measurements made with a filter-based sampler. A Dusttrak aerosol sampler overestimated airborne particle concentrations by a factor of ~3 throughout the study. Measurements of airborne particulate matter made with a tapered element oscillating microbalance (TEOM) were found to be lower than the reference filter-based measurements by an amount approximately equal to the concentration of NH4NO3 observed to be present in the airborne particles. The performance of the Dusttrak sampler and the integrating nephelometer was affected by the size distribution of airborne particulate matter. The performance of the BAM, the integrating nephelometer, the CAMM, the Dusttrak sampler, and the TEOM was not strongly affected by temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, or wind direction within the range of conditions encountered in the current study. Based on instrument performance, the BAM, the integrating nephelometer, and the CAMM appear to be suitable candidates for deployment in a real-time continuous PM2.5 monitoring network in central California for the range of winter conditions and aerosol composition encountered during the study.

Long‐range transport of anthropogenic aerosols to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration baseline station at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii

Size-segregated measurements of aerosol mass and composition are used to determine the composition and seasonal variations of natural and anthropogenic aerosols at Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO) from 1993 through 1996. Although the springtime transport of Asian dust to MLO is a well-documented phenomenon, this study shows that fine anthropogenic aerosols, including sulfur, black carbon, and enriched trace metals such as As, Cu, Pb, and Zn, are also routinely transported to MLO each spring. It is estimated that at least one third of the sulfate measured at MLO during the spring is anthropogenic. In addition, indirect measurements indicate that the organic aerosol concentrations are often comparable to the sulfate concentrations. This study also combines size- and time-resolved aerosol composition measurements with isentropic, backward air-mass trajectories and gas measurements of 222Rn, CH4, CO, and CO2 to identify some potential source regions of the anthropogenic aerosols. Three types of long-range transport episodes are identified: (1) anthropogenic aerosols mixed with Asian dust, (2) Asian pollution with relatively small amounts of soil dust, and (3) biomass burning emissions from North America. This study shows that anthropogenic aerosols and gases can be efficiently transported to MLO from both Asia and North America during the spring.

Elemental characterization of particulate matter emitted from biomass burning: Wind tunnel derived source profiles for herbaceous and wood fuels

Particulate matter emitted from wind tunnel simulations of biomass burning for five herbaceous crop residues (rice, wheat and barley straws, corn stover, and sugar cane trash) and four wood fuels (walnut and almond prunings and ponderosa pine and Douglas fir slash) was collected and analyzed for major elements and water soluble species. Primary constituents of the particulate matter were C, K, Cl, and S. Carbon accounted for roughly 50% of the herbaceous fuel PM and about 70% for the wood fuels. For the herbaceous fuels, particulate matter from rice straw in the size range below 10 μm aerodynamic diameter (PM10) had the highest concentrations of both K (24%) and Cl, (17%) and barley straw PM10 contained the highest sulfur content (4%). K, Cl, and S were present in the PM of the wood fuels at reduced levels with maximum concentrations of 6.5% (almond prunings), 3% (walnut prunings), and 2% (almond prunings), respectively. Analysis of water soluble species indicated that ionic forms of K, Cl, and S made up the majority of these elements from all fuels. Element balances showed K, Cl, S, and N to have the highest recovery factors (fraction of fuel element found in the particulate matter) in the PM of the elements analyzed. In general, chlorine was the most efficiently recovered element for the herbaceous fuels (10 to 35%), whereas sulfur recovery was greatest for the wood fuels (25 to 45%). Unique potassium to elemental carbon ratios of 0.20 and 0.95 were computed for particulate matter (PM10 K/C(e)) from herbaceous and wood fuels, respectively. Similarly, in the size class below 2.5 μm, high-temperature elemental carbon to bromine (PM2.5 C(eht)/Br) ratios of ∼7.5, 43, and 150 were found for the herbaceous fuels, orchard prunings, and forest slash, respectively. The molar ratios of particulate phase bromine to gas phase CO 2 (PM10 Br/CO 2 ) are of the same order of magnitude as gas phase CH 3 Br/CO 2 reported by others.

Radar-Enabled Recovery of the Sutter’s Mill Meteorite, a Carbonaceous Chondrite Regolith Breccia

The Meteor That Fell to Earth In April 2012, a meteor was witnessed over the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. Jenniskens et al. (p. 1583) used a combination of photographic and video images of the fireball coupled with Doppler weather radar images to facilitate the rapid recovery of meteorite fragments. A comprehensive analysis of some of these fragments shows that the Sutters Mill meteorite represents a new type of carbonaceous chondrite, a rare and primitive class of meteorites that contain clues to the origin and evolution of primitive materials in the solar system. The unexpected and complex nature of the fragments suggests that the surfaces of C-class asteroids, the presumed parent bodies of carbonaceous chondrites, are more complex than previously assumed. Analysis of this rare meteorite implies that the surfaces of C-class asteroids can be more complex than previously assumed. Doppler weather radar imaging enabled the rapid recovery of the Sutter’s Mill meteorite after a rare 4-kiloton of TNT–equivalent asteroid impact over the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in northern California. The recovered meteorites survived a record high-speed entry of 28.6 kilometers per second from an orbit close to that of Jupiter-family comets (Tisserand’s parameter = 2.8 ± 0.3). Sutter’s Mill is a regolith breccia composed of CM (Mighei)–type carbonaceous chondrite and highly reduced xenolithic materials. It exhibits considerable diversity of mineralogy, petrography, and isotope and organic chemistry, resulting from a complex formation history of the parent body surface. That diversity is quickly masked by alteration once in the terrestrial environment but will need to be considered when samples returned by missions to C-class asteroids are interpreted.

Relation of vertical flux of particles smaller than 10 μm to total aeolian horizontal mass flux at Owens Lake

The vertical flux of particles smaller than 10 μm for a saline playa surface, the particle size composition of which was classified as loam-textured, was estimated for a highly wind-erodible site on the playa of Owens (dry) Lake in California. The ratio of this vertical flux to the horizontal flux of total airborne material through a surface perpendicular to the soil and to the wind, Fa/qtot, is 2.75×10−4 m−1. This is consistent with that ratio for sand-textured soils and suggests that the binding energy and size of saltating particles for the tested surface material at Owens Lake is of the same order as that for sandier soils. The horizontal mass flux of saltating grains, q, in the reported wind erosion event is 51.3% of the total horizontal mass flux qtot. Therefore the ratio of Fa/q is 5.4×10−4 m−1.