Single particle mineralogy of aeolian dust in the East Rongbuk ice core from Mt. Qomolangma (Everest)

Abstract

A recent work demonstrated the practical applicability of the combined use of two techniques, attenuated total reflectance FT–IR (ATR–FT–IR) imaging and a quantitative energy–dispersive electron probe X–ray microanalysis, low–Z particle EPMA, for the characterization of individual aerosol particles. In this work, this analytical methodology was applied to characterize an insoluble mineral particle sample in the East Rongbuk ice core from Mt. Qomolangma (Everest). On the basis of morphological, X–ray spectral, and ATR–FT–IR spectral data, 140 individual particles were classified into different mineral types, such as SiO2, montmorillonite, montmorillonite + K-feldspar, K- feldspar, Na-feldspar, carbonaceous, FeOx, muscovite, illite, vermiculite, and AlSiO3.