Examinando por Autor "Alfonso, Juan A."

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    Elemental and Mineralogical Composition of the Western Andean Snow (18°S–41°S)
    (Nature Publishing Group, 2019-12) Alfonso, Juan A.; Cordero, Raul R.; Rowe, Penny M.; Neshyba, Steven; Casassa, Gino; Carrasco, Jorge; MacDonell, Shelley; Lambert, Fabrice; Pizarro, Jaime; Fernandoy, Francisco; Feron, Sarah; Damiani, Alessandro; Llanillo, Pedro; Sepulveda, Edgardo; Jorquera, Jose; Garcia, Belkis; Carrera, Juan M.; Oyola, Pedro; Kang, Choong-Min
    The snowpack is an important source of water for many Andean communities. Because of its importance, elemental and mineralogical composition analysis of the Andean snow is a worthwhile effort. In this study, we conducted a chemical composition analysis (major and trace elements, mineralogy, and chemical enrichment) of surface snow sampled at 21 sites across a transect of about 2,500 km in the Chilean Andes (18–41°S). Our results enabled us to identify five depositional environments: (i) sites 1–3 (in the Atacama Desert, 18–26°S) with relatively high concentrations of metals, high abundance of quartz and low presence of arsenates, (ii) sites 4–8 (in northern Chile, 29–32°S) with relatively high abundance of quartz and low presence of metals and arsenates, (iii) sites 9–12 (in central Chile, 33–35°S) with anthropogenic enrichment of metals, relatively high values of quartz and low abundance of arsenates, (iv) sites 13–14 (also in central Chile, 35–37°S) with relatively high values of quartz and low presence of metals and arsenates, and v) sites 15–21 (in southern Chile, 37–41°S) with relatively high abundance of arsenates and low presence of metals and quartz. We found significant anthropogenic enrichment at sites close to Santiago (a major city of 6 million inhabitants) and in the Atacama Desert (that hosts several major copper mines). © 2019, The Author(s).