SILICON AND ALUMINUM IN URBAN AEROSOLS FOR CHARACTERIZATION OF ATMOSPHERIC SOIL PARTICLES IN THE NAGOYA AREA

Measurements of size distributions and Concentrations of Si and Al in urban aerosols were made in Nagoya, Japan, and the behavior of the atmospheric soil particles is described. The size distributions for both elements suggest that more than 90% of the mass of Si and Al in the atmosphere originates from soils. The average concentrations of Si and Al in the three seasons except spring were 2.30 and 0.812 µg/m3, respectively. In the spring, yellow sand dusts called Kōsa Were transported from North China to Japan, so that the concentrations of both elements increased to 5.33 and 1.88 µg/m3, respectively. However, the size distributions and the concentration ratio of Si/Al were almost constant throughout the year. The contribution of soil dust to the total suspended particulate matter is also discussed. © 1979, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.