Temporal variations and sources of elements in the South Pole atmosphere: 1. Nonenriched and moderately enriched elements

Abstract

High‐volume particle samples were collected from 1979 to 1983 from the south pole atmosphere and analyzed by nuclear methods. The new results are combined with similar studies at the south pole. There is no trend of concentrations during 12 years of sampling, but concentrations of elements fluctuate through seasonal cycles. Concentrations of elements associated with crustal dust and sea salt showed opposite seasonal variations. Concentrations of most crustal elements are low during winters, but double during summers. Concentration of marine elements are low in the summers and high in winters. Enrichment factors of some crustal elements, such as Ba, La, Ce, Yb, and Hf are higher in the winter than summer, indicating the presence of a second crustal component with a different chemical composition in the south pole atmosphere. A similar difference in the crustal enrichment factor of Co is due to the influence of volcanic or anthropogenic sources. Sulfate, seasalt, meteoritic particles, volatiles, and two different types of crustal particles are found to be components of the south polar aerosols. The relative contribution of each component to total aerosol mass is as follows: crustal, 4.0% in summer, 2.5% in winter; marine elements 16.6% in summer, 78.6% in winter; sulfate, 77.5% in summer, 18.0% in winter; meteoritic particles, 0.1% in summer, 0.1% in winter; volatiles, 0.9% in summer, 0.5% in winter; crustal component II, 0.8% in summer, 0.7% in winter.