Investigation of short and long term trends in the eastern Mediterranean aerosol composition

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Tezin Türü: Doktora

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Mühendislik Fakültesi, Çevre Mühendisliği Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2009

Öğrenci: FATMA ÖZTÜRK

Danışman: SÜLEYMAN GÜRDAL TUNCEL

Özet:

Approximately 2000 daily aerosol samples were collected at Antalya (30°3430.54” E, 36°47’30.54”N) on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey between 1993 and 2001. High volume PM10 sampler was used for the collection of samples on Whatman41 filters. Collected samples were analyzed by a combination of analytical techniques. Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICPMS) was used to measure trace element content of the collected samples from Li to U. Major ions, namely, SO42- and NO3-, were determined by employing Ion Chromatography (IC). Samples were analyzed in terms of their NH4+ contents by means of Colorimetry. Evaluation of short term trends of measured parameters have been shown that elements with marine and crustal origin are more episodic as compared to anthropogenic ones. Most of the parameters showed well defined seasonal cycles, for example, concentrations of crustal elements increased in summer season while winter concentrations of marine elements were considerably higher than associated values for summer. Seasonal Kendall statistic depicted that there was a decreasing trend for crustal elements such as Be, Co, Al, Na, Mg, K, Dy, Ho, Tm, Cs and Eu. Lead, As, Se and Ge were the anhtropogenic elements that decreasing trend was detected in the course of study period. Cluster and Residence time analysis were performed to find the origin of air masses arrving to Eastern Mediterranena Basin. It has been found that air masses reaching to our station resided more on Balkans and Eastern Europe. Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) resolved eight factors influencing the chemical composition of Eastern Mediterranean aerosols as local dust, Saharan dust, oil combustion, coal combustion, crustal-anthropogenic mixed, sea salt, motor vehicle emission, and local Sb factor.