Impact and mineralogy of north-african atmospheric particulate matter in Western Andalusia

In this work we present a study of the impact of the air masses coming from North of Africa in Western Andalusia, and a mineralogical characterization of atmospheric particle obtained during the impact of one of these air masses in Huelva. The North African air masses suppose a 18% of the annual total frequency, compared with 66% of the Atlantic origin. They come generally accompanied with an important load of atmospheric particulate material reaching concentrations between 43-65 μgPM10/m3 and composed essentially by quartz, feldspars, clay minerals, carbonates and radiolarites