Tank bromeliads capture Saharan dust in El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico. (January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Royer, Dana L.; Moynihan, Kylen M.; Ariori, Carolyn; Bodkin, Gavin; Doria, Gabriela; Enright, Katherine; Hatfield-Gardner, Rémy; Kravet, Emma; Nuttle, C. Miller; Shepard, Lisa; Ku, Timothy C.W.; O'Connell, Suzanne; Resor, Phillip G.
• Is Part Of: Atmospheric environment. Volume 173(2018)
• Page Start: 325
• Page End: 329
• Publication Date: 2018-01
• Subjects: African dust -- Caribbean -- Atmospheric transport -- Tank bromeliads -- Geochemical fingerprinting; Air -- Pollution -- Periodicals; Air -- Pollution -- Meteorological aspects -- Periodicals; 551.51
• DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.11.018
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1352-2310

Abstract

Abstract: Dust from Saharan Africa commonly blows across the Atlantic Ocean and into the Caribbean. Most methods for measuring this dust either are expensive if collected directly from the atmosphere, or depend on very small concentrations that may be chemically altered if collected from soil. Tank bromeliads in the dwarf forest of El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico, have a structure of overlapping leaves used to capture rainwater and other atmospheric inputs. Therefore, it is likely that these bromeliads are collecting in their tanks Saharan dust along with local inputs. Here we analyze the elemental chemistry, including rare earth elements (REEs), of tank contents in order to match their chemical fingerprint to a provenance of the Earth's crust. We find that the tank contents differ from the local soils and bedrock and are more similar to published values of Saharan dust. Our study confirms the feasibility of using bromeliad tanks to trace Saharan dust in the Caribbean. Highlights: Trade winds deliver large quantities of dust from northwest Africa to the Caribbean. We document with trace metal chemistry that tank bromeliads growing in Puerto Rico capture some of this African dust. This technique for identifying the provenance of atmospheric inputs is simple and inexpensive.