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The iron isotopic composition and the elemental ratios (Cd/Ti) in the size-fractionated aerosols collected over the East China Sea

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Sep 12, 2024 version files 4.80 KB

Abstract

Aerosol deposition is one of the major processes providing bioavailable Fe to the surface ocean. However, the quantification of aerosol Fe flux in the surface ocean is highly challenging operationally. In this study, we measured both Fe isotopic composition and specific elemental ratios in 5 size-fraction aerosols collected over the East China Sea (ECS) to quantify the relative contribution of lithogenic and anthropogenic aerosol Fe. Both the isotopic and elemental ratios indicate that anthropogenic aerosol Fe mainly originates from high temperature combustion activities, with the end member of the δ56Fe to be -4.5 ‰. We found that the Cd/Ti ratio is a much more reliable proxy to quantify the contribution of anthropogenic aerosol Fe in coarse aerosols than δ56Fe in the ECS. Attributed to extremely high deposition velocities and low solubilities for large size aerosols, lithogenic aerosols are still the dominant dissolved aerosol Fe source in the ECS.