MODEL SIMULATION OF ASIAN DUST AND IRON DEPOSITIONS OVER THE EAST ASIAN MARGINAL SEAS

This study applies a dust model to investigate Asian dust and iron depositions on the East Asian marginal sea during the months of the northeasterly monsoon from November to May, when dust events are often observed. Simulated dry and wet depositions of dust are compared with measurements obtained from Taipei, Taiwan. According to the model simulation, higher concentrations of atmospheric dust occur from March to May over East Asia, resulting in greater dry and wet deposition fluxes of dust and iron within these months than other months. The monthly averaged dry and wet deposition fluxes of iron are 0.6 and 0.7 mg m(-2) day(-1), respectively, over the East China Sea, and are five to six times lower over the South China Sea. The wet depositions of dust and iron demonstrate sporadic distributions over the marginal sea, rather than decreasing with downwind distance as occurs with dry deposition.