Chemical composition and trajectories of atmospheric particles at the Machu Picchu Peruvian Antarctic scientific station (62.09° S, 58.47° W)
alvarez-tolentino, Daniel
Univ Nacl Intercultural Selva Cent Juan Santos Ata
Suarez-salas, Luis
Inst Geofis Peru IGP
Pomalaya-valdez, Jose
Univ Nacl Ctr Peru UNCP
Journal
Atmosfera
ISSN
0187-6236
2395-8812
Open Access
hybrid
Volume
38
Start page
557
End page
569
Antarctica is a remote and relatively pristine region, but the regional transport of aerosols may be a source of pollution, especially in the Antarctic Peninsula. Few studies have characterized atmospheric aerosols and evaluated the contribution of their emission sources. The Peruvian Antarctic research station Machu Pichu (ECAMP, by its Spanish acronym) is located on King George Island in the Antarctic Peninsula. During February 2020, atmospheric particulate mass (PM 10 and PM 2.5 ) was sampled and analyzed to characterize its elemental composition and was supplemented by measurements of equivalent black carbon and aerosol size distributions. Chemical elements were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), multivariate techniques, and enrichment factors. The most abundant elements in PM 10 and PM 2.5 were Na, Fe, Mg, and Si, with the most important local sources being marine (Na, Mg, Mn, Ca) and crustal (Fe, Al, P). Sources of weathering (Ba and Si) from glacial thawing and sources of combustion linked to the use of oil (V) and emission of black carbon were recorded. Air mass back -trajectory analysis using the HYSPLIT model helped identify external sources of particulate matter in the air masses reaching the ECAMP site. Overall, this study supports the growing evidence of the anthropogenic impact of distant and local sources on the white continent.
Name
document.pdf
Type
Main Article
Size
1.89 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum
(MD5):ec0e19ed708e266aea74c8bc5f5bb8d6