IUGG 2015. IAVCEI session VS13 Environmental and Health Effects of Natural Mineral Dusts
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Dear colleagues,
We would like to draw your attention to our session VS13 Environmental and Health Effects of Natural Mineral Dusts at the 26th IUGG General Assembly 2015, held in Prague (Czech Republic) from 22 June - 2 July 2015.
We welcome your contributions concerning the impacts of natural dusts on environmental and biological systems. Please see the session description below.
Abstract submission deadline is January 31, 2015.
We look forward to seeing you in Prague!
David Damby, Paul Ayris, Claire Horwell
david.damby@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Session description:
Natural mineral dusts (e.g., volcanic ash) have a diverse range of effects on environmental and biological systems. These effects are the product of a complex interplay of particle physical, chemical and mineralogical properties, in-situ processes acting upon those particles, and the resilience of the afflicted system. Understanding the response of any environmental or biological system to a mineral dust input therefore requires an in-depth understanding of these properties and processes; particularly, those associated with the mineral dust particles.
Particle morphology and granulometry control dust transport, affecting exposure to organisms and deposition onto environmental surfaces. Amongst other things, these particle properties can: influence energy, water and nutrient cycling at environmental interfaces; induce abrasion of biological surfaces when mobilised by wind, water or biotic action; and, dictate processing of particles following inhalation or ingestion. Particle surface chemistry is a product of composition and mineralogy, and any alteration processes acting upon that surface prior to, and following, deposition. The particle surface can therefore act as a source of species which can be mobilized in terrestrial and aquatic environments, and/or may function as nutrients and toxins upon uptake into biological systems. For example, the speciation of iron at the particle surface may influence its bioavailability to phytoplankton in iron-limited regions of the open ocean, and may also control redox chemistry within organisms.
Consideration of the effects of mineral dusts in both environmental and biological systems often relies on common concepts and techniques. Accordingly, we envisage interdisciplinary discourse amongst individuals working at the interface between natural mineral dusts and these systems. We invite contributions from field and experimental studies that constrain or document the influence of physical, geochemical and mineralogical properties of natural mineral dusts on environmental and biological systems, and/or the resilience of these afflicted systems in response to disturbance or insult.
Volcano Listserv is a collaborative venture among Arizona State University (ASU), Portland State University (PSU), the Global Volcanism Program (GVP) of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, and the International Association for Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI).
ASU - http://www.asu.edu/ PSU - http://pdx.edu/ GVP - http://www.volcano.si.edu/ IAVCEI - http://www.iavcei.org/
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