Chemistry and granulometry of settled dust in the northern Negev Desert, Israel (1987-1988)

Atmospheric dust concentration and grain-size distribution over Israel, especially during dust storms, are presented for 2 years. The annual average does not vary much from one year to the other in spite of the stormy periods. Two major constituents, Si and Ca, dominate all the samples in both years and in settled dust at both elevations above the ground (1 and 3 m). Texture of the settled dust includes grain size, and grain-size distribution. Almost all the granulometric analyses conducted on monthly collected samples for the years 1987-1988 and obtained from two levels above the ground, 1 m and 3 m show significant amounts of clay-size (<16 μm0, silt-size (between 62 and 16 μm), and sand-size grade (grains coarser >62 μM).