Elemental and mineral characterisation of coastal antarctic aerosols in snow using PIXE and SEM-EDAX

The chemical constituents of snow from a 3 m pit sampled at a coastal Antarctic site were characterised by means of PIXE and SEM-EDAX. Oxygen isotope dating revealed that the pit spanned an 8-year period. from 1986 to 1994. Concentrations measured by PIXE ranged from less than 1 ng g(-1) of H2O for Cu, and Zn to several tens of ng g(-1) for Si, S and Cl. The major elements found were Si, S, Al, and Na, which contributed more than 75% of the element loading. Snow layers with elevated Cl concentration were regularly found along the pit. The mineralogy of the insoluble particles determined by SEM-EDAX analyses showed that quartz, plagioclase and clays were the prevalent minerals. The proportion of each element in the insoluble phase was comparable with that previously found in similar studies. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.