ALKALI AND ALKALINE-EARTH ENRICHMENTS IN AEROSOLS DEPOSITED IN ANTARCTIC SNOWS

About 175 snow samples collected in various locations both in East and West Antarctica, using stringent contamination free techniques, have been analysed for Na, Mg, K, Ca and Al by flameless atomic absorption after preconcentration (precision: ±10%). Multiple linear regression analysis was used to calculate the enrichment factors for K, Ca and Mg in both the oceanic and the crustal components: no significant enrichments are found in Antarctica snows, which suggests that the enrichments previously observed by Vosters (1971) and Boutron et al. (1972) could be linked with a contamination of the samples analysed by these authors. This conclusion can probably be extended to Antarctic aerosols, since their composition is very likely similar to that of snow, as shown at the South Pole by comparison between our snow data and unpublished aerosols composition data by Maenhaut, Duce and Zoller. © 1979.