Source and evolution of the “perfect Asian dust storm” in early April 2001: Implications of the Sr–Nd isotope ratios

The “perfect Asian dust storm,” so-called from the huge, clear picture obtained of it by earth-orbiting satellites, occurred over a vast area of northern China and Mongolia and moved eastward across the northern Pacific in early April 2001. We determined the Sr–Nd isotopic ratios of acid-resistant minerals and the Sr isotopic ratios of weak-acid-soluble minerals in the dust from this storm deposited at nine sites from northern China to Japan and compared these data with those ratios of surface arid soils in northern China. The isotopic compositions of the dust minerals resembled those from soils of the Badain Juran, Tengger, and Ulan Buh deserts and the area to their north, which on meteorological grounds are considered to be the emission area of the dust plume, but they varied regionally, reflecting the heterogeneity of the source soils. Our results and those of other meteorological and modeling studies suggest that this variation was caused by mixing with local soils uplifted into the lower part of the dust plume, but further downwind the dust was less mixed with local soils and was derived mainly from the upper dust plume. Mineral isotope, mineralogical, and elemental data on Asian dusts and soils in northern China and Mongolia provide invaluable information on physical and chemical processes of dust storms and on dust source areas.