Regional sources control dust in the mountain critical zone of the Great Basin and Rocky Mountains, USA
Mountain environments are profoundly impacted by the deposition of mineral dust, yet the degree to which this material is far-traveled or intra-regional is typically unclear. This distinction is fundamental to model future changes in mountain geoecosystems resulting from climatic or anthropogenic fo...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acfb26 |
| _version_ | 1797671597792821248 |
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| author | Jeffrey S Munroe Elsa J Soderstrom Camryn L Kluetmeier Michael J Tappa Derek V Mallia Ann M Bauer |
| author_facet | Jeffrey S Munroe Elsa J Soderstrom Camryn L Kluetmeier Michael J Tappa Derek V Mallia Ann M Bauer |
| author_sort | Jeffrey S Munroe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Mountain environments are profoundly impacted by the deposition of mineral dust, yet the degree to which this material is far-traveled or intra-regional is typically unclear. This distinction is fundamental to model future changes in mountain geoecosystems resulting from climatic or anthropogenic forcing in dust source regions. We address this question with a network of 17 passive dust samplers installed in primarily mountain locations in Utah, Nevada, and Idaho between October, 2020 and October 2021. For each collector, the dust deposition rate was calculated, and the physical and chemical properties of the dust were constrained. Results were combined with backward trajectory modeling to identify the geologic characteristics of the area over which air passed most frequently in route to each collector (the ‘hot spot’). Dust properties differ significantly between collectors, hot spots for many collectors are spatially discrete, and the dominant geologies in the hot spots corresponding to each collector vary considerably. These results support the hypothesis that the majority of the dust deposited in the areas we studied is sourced from arid lowlands in the surrounding region. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T21:17:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5d3eaefd7a19416487df4377973738a0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T21:17:52Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-5d3eaefd7a19416487df4377973738a02023-09-28T15:34:35ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262023-01-01181010403410.1088/1748-9326/acfb26Regional sources control dust in the mountain critical zone of the Great Basin and Rocky Mountains, USAJeffrey S Munroe0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9356-1899Elsa J Soderstrom1Camryn L Kluetmeier2Michael J Tappa3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9934-9100Derek V Mallia4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1983-7305Ann M Bauer5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7832-2112Department of Earth & Climate Sciences, Middlebury College , Middlebury, VT 05753, United States of AmericaDepartment of Earth & Climate Sciences, Middlebury College , Middlebury, VT 05753, United States of AmericaDepartment of Earth & Climate Sciences, Middlebury College , Middlebury, VT 05753, United States of AmericaDepartment of Geosciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison , Madison, WI 53706, United States of AmericaDepartment of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah , Salt Lake City, UT 84112, United States of AmericaDepartment of Geosciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison , Madison, WI 53706, United States of AmericaMountain environments are profoundly impacted by the deposition of mineral dust, yet the degree to which this material is far-traveled or intra-regional is typically unclear. This distinction is fundamental to model future changes in mountain geoecosystems resulting from climatic or anthropogenic forcing in dust source regions. We address this question with a network of 17 passive dust samplers installed in primarily mountain locations in Utah, Nevada, and Idaho between October, 2020 and October 2021. For each collector, the dust deposition rate was calculated, and the physical and chemical properties of the dust were constrained. Results were combined with backward trajectory modeling to identify the geologic characteristics of the area over which air passed most frequently in route to each collector (the ‘hot spot’). Dust properties differ significantly between collectors, hot spots for many collectors are spatially discrete, and the dominant geologies in the hot spots corresponding to each collector vary considerably. These results support the hypothesis that the majority of the dust deposited in the areas we studied is sourced from arid lowlands in the surrounding region.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acfb26dustcritical zonemountain environmentsSouthwestern US |
| spellingShingle | Jeffrey S Munroe Elsa J Soderstrom Camryn L Kluetmeier Michael J Tappa Derek V Mallia Ann M Bauer Regional sources control dust in the mountain critical zone of the Great Basin and Rocky Mountains, USA Environmental Research Letters dust critical zone mountain environments Southwestern US |
| title | Regional sources control dust in the mountain critical zone of the Great Basin and Rocky Mountains, USA |
| title_full | Regional sources control dust in the mountain critical zone of the Great Basin and Rocky Mountains, USA |
| title_fullStr | Regional sources control dust in the mountain critical zone of the Great Basin and Rocky Mountains, USA |
| title_full_unstemmed | Regional sources control dust in the mountain critical zone of the Great Basin and Rocky Mountains, USA |
| title_short | Regional sources control dust in the mountain critical zone of the Great Basin and Rocky Mountains, USA |
| title_sort | regional sources control dust in the mountain critical zone of the great basin and rocky mountains usa |
| topic | dust critical zone mountain environments Southwestern US |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acfb26 |
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