Micro-PIXE technique for the study of asian dust sources

Kasahara, Mikio*; Ma, C.-J.*; Okumura, Motonori*; Kojima, Takuji; Hakoda, Teruyuki; Taguchi, Mitsumasa; Sakai, Takuro; Ohara, Yoshihiro

As the source of Asian dust particles, the sands at four different desert areas in China were to be the target of bulk and single analyses by means of PIXE and micro-PIXE analyses, respectively. The physical properties of desert sands like morphology, color, and size were basically determined. Also the chemical characteristics of bulk sands of each desert were specified as the relative elemental mass. The elemental maps and spectra for individual sands allow us to understand the nature of individual sands. Consequently, the physicochemical properties of desert sands obtained from this study can be helpful to understand what kinds of man-made pollutants and sea-salts are incorporated into natural Asian dust particles.