Abstract: Indoor and outdoor concentrations of atmospheric gaseous pollutants as well as composition, size, and morphology of particulate matter have been investigated at the monastery of San Jerónimo in Granada (Southern Spain). Complementary micro- and nano-analytical techniques were applied; elemental and mineralogical composition and morphological characteristics of particulate matter were investigated combining electron probe microanalysis at the single particle level, and bulk aerosol samples were analyzed using energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray analyzer and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Microclimatic conditions at the monastery were monitored, and gas concentrations were assessed by means of diffusion tubes subsequently analyzed with ion chromatography. Results revealed high abundances of soil dust particles (aluminosilicates, calcite, dolomite, quartz), salt aerosols (chlorides, sulfates and ammonium-rich salts), and NO2 and SO2 both outdoors and indoors. Amorphous black carbon particles had surprisingly high abundances for Granada, a non-industrialized city. The composition of indoor particles corresponds to severe weathering affecting the construction materials and artworks inside the church; moreover their composition promotes a feedback process that intensifies the deterioration. Chemical reactions between chloride-rich salts and pigments from paintings were confirmed by TEM analyses. Indoors, blackening of surface decorative materials is fostered by particle re-suspension due to cleaning habits in the monastery (i.e. dusting). This is the first air quality study performed in a monument in the city of Granada with the aim of developing a strategy for preventive conservation.

Abstract: By using a polyester sailboat as sampling platform, a series of duplicate aerosol samples was collected by cascade impactors on a trip from Panama to Tahiti in 1979. Elemental analysis mainly by particle-induced X ray emission (PIXE) indicated, in the samples collected between Panama and the Galapagos Islands, the presence of a substantial crustal component (∼0.4 μg/m3), fine Cu (∼0.4 ng/m3) and Zn (∼0.6 ng/m3), and excess fine S and K (∼100 and ∼2.4 ng/m3, respectively) in addition to the major sea salt elements. The crustal component and fine Cu and Zn are suggested to result from natural continental sources (i.e., eolian dust transport from the American continents and perhaps geothermal emissions). Samples collected west of the Galapagos Islands in the southern trades showed significantly lower concentrations for the nonseawater components. The average Si and Fe levels were as low as 4.8 and 3.3 ng/m3, corresponding to a maximum of 0.066 μg/m3 for an assumed mineral dust component, whereas heavy metal concentrations were all below the detection limits (typically ranging from 0.05 to 0.15 ng/m3 for V, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Se). Excess fine S decreased to a mean of 46 ng/m3, a level similar to those reported for other remote marine and continental locations. This all indicates that the marine atmosphere west of the Galapagos was little influenced by natural continental source processes or by anthropogenic emissions. Under these truly marine conditions, several concentration ratios of the major seawater elements were significantly different from those in bulk seawater. Ca, Sr, and S in >1 μm diameter particles were enriched relative to K and Na, with the enrichment being substantially more pronounced (up to 50% or higher) for l4-μm diameter particles than for particles >4 μm. Comparison of these data with a similar data set from samples collected over the Atlantic indicates that the departures from seawater composition are significantly larger for the Pacific. Differences in sea-to-air fractionation processes, probably involving binding of divalent cations to organic matter in the oceanic surface microlayer, are suggested as being responsible for these observations.

Abstract: A variety of samples, collected from different historical buildings and monuments throughout Belgium, were thoroughly studied, using several trace- and micro-analysis techniques. Thin sections of stones and mortar joints were characterized by means of electron probe X-ray microanalysis (EPXMA). The morphological appearance of the surface weathering crust and the possible presence of non-innate particles in the crust were elucidated using petrographical and electron microscopy. Quantitative characterization of the total chemical composition of the crust surface layer and underlying layer was performed by energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence, and by ion chromatography and atomic absorption spectrometry for the leachable components. Special attention was also paid to the chemical composition of rain and air at the particular sampling sites. The element distribution in the transition zone between the weathering crust and the original stone material was found to vary greatly amongst the different samples analyzed. Detailed EPXMA measurements on pieces of the weathering crust showed remarkable differences in morphology and composition between the surface and the underlying layer, and provided information about the presence of fly-ash and soil dust particles in the crust. Except for crusts from the city of Brussels, which were all very high in sulphate, the samples appeared to contain very variable sulphate contents; very local micro-climate and environmental conditions at a particular site are more important in determining the weathering condition of the building stones than the local air pollution situation. Bulk analytical characterization further showed, in all the crust samples studied, a very small contribution of nitrogen- and chlorine-containing weathering products, in contrast to sulphur-containing weathering salts.

Abstract: River sediments from all of the major drainage basins (except the Indus) in the Indian sub-continent were collected and analysed by thin-film X-ray fluorescence technique (XRF) to determine their chemical composition. On the basis of analysis of more than 120 samples, average chemical compositions of river-borne sediments from the Indian sub-continent have been calculated. Also, average concentration values for sediments from each of the river basins, and the sub-continent average and the inter-basin differences are discussed in relation to weathering processes in the drainage basins. Comparisons have been made with the chemistry of sediments from the Bay of Bengal (which receives the bulk of sediments delivered by Indian rivers). Our observations are discussed in the light of average chemical composition of world-river sediments and the world surface rock exposed for continental weathering.

Abstract: A total of 82 samples of wet and total deposition were sampled near the limestone cathedral at Mechelen, Belgium, which is presently being affected seriously by air pollution, and at a reference site. Most of these samples were analyzed for 10 major and 7 trace ions in solution and for 15 elements in suspension. It appeared that calcite, released from the building, effectively neutralizes the rainwater in the near vicinity and produces high Ca and bicarbonate concentrations. Heavy metal concentrations are hardly affected by the building.