Asian dust transport of proteinaceous matter from the Gobi Desert to northern China
<p>Asian dust can greatly influence the ecosystem's productivity and biogeochemical cycles by providing new nutrients. However, the transport of proteinaceous matter (combined amino acids, CAAs) by Asian dust to downwind ecosystems remains unclear. Here, the concentrations and <span cl...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| Online Access: | https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/25/7699/2025/acp-25-7699-2025.pdf |
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| Summary: | <p>Asian dust can greatly influence the ecosystem's productivity and biogeochemical cycles by providing new nutrients. However, the transport of proteinaceous matter (combined amino acids, CAAs) by Asian dust to downwind ecosystems remains unclear. Here, the concentrations and <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>15</sup>N</span> values of individual CAAs in Gobi surface soil and vegetation and in PM<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2.5</sub></span> samples from four cities in northern China were characterized. Proline dominated the total pool of CAAs in urban PM<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2.5</sub></span> during non-dust periods, whereas CAAs transported by Gobi dust were rich in alanine, glycine and glutamic acid. The concentrations and percentages of these three CAAs in PM<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2.5</sub></span> from northern China notably increased during dust periods. During non-dust periods, the <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>15</sup>N</span> values of individual CAAs in urban PM<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2.5</sub></span> fell within their respective ranges in local urban sources, suggesting CAAs in PM<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2.5</sub></span> were primarily influenced by local urban sources during non-dust periods. Compared to their values in urban PM<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2.5</sub></span> during non-dust periods, glycine and leucine in Gobi Desert sources exhibited <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>15</sup>N</span> depletion by more than 6 ‰. During dust periods, glycine and leucine in urban PM<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2.5</sub></span> all exhibited negative shifts in their <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>15</sup>N</span> values, confirming that Gobi dust is a significant source of CAAs in PM<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2.5</sub></span> in northern China. The dry deposition of protein N from Gobi dust was calculated using nitrogen isotopic mass balance based on the <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>15</sup>N</span> values of glycine and leucine, yielding a value of up to 0.36 <span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M14" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow class="unit"><mi mathvariant="normal">mg</mi><mspace width="0.125em" linebreak="nobreak"/><mi mathvariant="normal">N</mi><mspace width="0.125em" linebreak="nobreak"/><msup><mi mathvariant="normal">m</mi><mrow><mo>-</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">2</mn></mrow></msup><mspace width="0.125em" linebreak="nobreak"/><msup><mi mathvariant="normal">d</mi><mrow><mo>-</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">1</mn></mrow></msup></mrow></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="65pt" height="15pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="787367e437607d26f339866a2c6a9eb0"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="acp-25-7699-2025-ie00001.svg" width="65pt" height="15pt" src="acp-25-7699-2025-ie00001.png"/></svg:svg></span></span>. The rapid accumulation of such considerable protein N quantities may profoundly affect oligotrophic ecosystem productivity.</p> |
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| ISSN: | 1680-7316 1680-7324 |