THE CONCENTRATIONS OF PARTICULATE ALUMINUM AND CLAY-MINERALS IN AEROSOLS FROM THE NORTHERN ARABIAN SEA

Aerosol samples were collected from the northern Arabian Sea during the northeast monsoon. Total atmospheric Al concentrations ranged between 323 and 20,300 ng m-3 of air; these are among the highest found over marine regions and demonstrate that the atmosphere is an important pathway for the transport of crustal material to the northern Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman. The clay mineralogy of the soil-sized particulates in the aerosol is similar to that of the surface sediments underlying the collection region but is different from that of the other sediments in the Arabian Sea. The clay mineral data provide evidence supporting previously proposed theories that the relatively high concentrations of chlorite in the sediments of the northern Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman are a consequence of the atmospheric transport of crustal material from the adjacent land masses.