Abstract
Abstract. Dust deposition in southern Belgium is estimated from the geochemical signature of an ombrotrophic peatland. The rare earth elements (REE) and lithogenic elements concentrations, as well as Nd isotopes, were determined by HR-ICP-MS and MC-ICP-MS, respectively, along an ~6 m peat section covering 5300 yr, from 2000 to 7300 cal BP, dated by the 14C method. Changes in REE concentration in the peat correlate with those of Ti, Al, Sc and Zr that are lithogenic conservative elements, suggesting that REE are immobile in the studied peat bogs and can be used as tracers of dust deposition. Peat humification and testate amoebae were used to evaluate hydroclimatic conditions. The range of dust deposition varied from 0.03 to 4.0 g m−2 yr−1. The highest dust fluxes were observed from 2750 to 2550 cal BP and from 5150 to 4750 cal BP, and correspond to cold periods. The ϵNd values show a large variability from −13 to −5, identifying three major sources of dusts: local soils, distal volcanic and desert particles.
Highlights
Atmospheric dust is an important part of the global climate system, and plays an important role in the marine (Meskhidze et al, 2003) and terrestrial (Goudie and Middleton, 2006) biogeochemical cycles as a source for both major and trace nutrient elements
We report La and Nd as light rare earth elements (REE) (LREE), Sm and Eu as medium REE (MREE) and Yb and Lu as heavy REE (HREE) (Fig. 4)
Elemental concentrations and Nd isotopes analysed in an ∼ 6 m long peat core collected from the Hautes-Fagnes Plateau allow for identification of dust sources
Summary
Atmospheric dust is an important part of the global climate system, and plays an important role in the marine (Meskhidze et al, 2003) and terrestrial (Goudie and Middleton, 2006) biogeochemical cycles as a source for both major and trace nutrient elements. Reconstruction of dust composition and fluxes is crucial to help in understanding Holocene climate variability as well as ongoing biogeochemical cycles. The link between Holocene climate and atmospheric dust deposition has been intensively studied Climate (dry and/or wet conditions) influences the intensity of the transport of air particles and their abundance (Goudie, 2001). Dust particles can be transported for thousands of kilometres before their deposition (Grousset et al, 2003). The principal sources of atmospheric dust are the world’s deserts, and arid and semi-arid areas including northern and southern Africa, the Middle East and Asia, dry river
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