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Global Change in Atmospheric Metal Cycles

  • Chapter
Global Atmospheric Chemical Change

Abstract

It is now well recognized that the atmosphere is an important part of the global biogeochemical cycling of many metals. Such — statement may seem surprising since metals are present in the air in extremely low concentrations; generally less than one part per billion by weight over remote continental and oceanic areas. This contrasts with generally much higher relative abundances in rocks, soils, rivers, seawater and the biota. The presence of these elements has probably little impact on the overall oxidative power of the atmosphere, its acid-base characteristics, or on climate. Indeed, most metals are present entirely in the particulate phase and are not directly involved in gas-particle conversion processes or other aspects of gas-phase chemistry. There is, however, more and more evidence that the long-range transport and deposition of atmospheric trace metals constitutes — significant geochemical coupling between the continents and the oceans. For example, throughout geological times, aeolian mineral particles originating from arid and semi-arid regions have probably been — major source of particulate and dissolved materials found in many areas of the open ocean. It is now believed that in many parts of the ocean the atmospheric input of mineral dust significantly affects the concentration of dissolved iron in surface waters.

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  1. Laboratoire Mixte CNRS-CEA, Domaine du CNRS, Centre des Faibles Radioactivités, F-91198, Gif-sur-Yvette, Cedex, France

    Patrick Buat-Ménard

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  1. Institute of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK

    C. N. Hewitt

  2. Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, USA

    W. T. Sturges

  3. Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, Colorado, USA

    W. T. Sturges

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Buat-Ménard, P. (1993). Global Change in Atmospheric Metal Cycles. In: Hewitt, C.N., Sturges, W.T. (eds) Global Atmospheric Chemical Change. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1864-4_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1864-4_7

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