Sampling Patagonia dust onboard FS Meteor on her transit from Walvis Bay (Namibia) to Talcahuano (Chile), Fall 2008

巴塔哥尼亚沙尘现在从阿根廷吹入南大西洋，被认为在全球冰川气候条件的发展中发挥了重要作用，因为它助长了南大洋高营养、低叶绿素水域的初级生产2。此外，关于南极冰芯中发现的风吹尘埃的来源的争论仍在继续，有强有力的迹象表明，南美洲是冰川时期尘埃的主要来源3‘4’5，尽管最近的研究表明澳大利亚也是一个潜在的尘埃来源6。在冰河时代，巴塔哥尼亚沙尘不仅被吹过大西洋，飞向南极，还被吹过南美洲大陆，并沉积在阿根廷潘帕斯草原下风的巨大黄土沉积物中。目前，巴塔哥尼亚的尘埃羽流被认为是南半球海洋的第二大尘埃供应者，仍有可能成为南大西洋的肥料。然而，几乎没有对这种物质的化学和矿物成分或扩散模式进行任何研究。在从纳米比亚的沃尔维斯湾到智利的塔尔卡瓦诺的过境巡航中，RV Meteor将直接穿过从阿根廷吹到大西洋的巴塔哥尼亚尘埃羽流。这是一个研究这种基本上未知的尘埃来源的独特机会，通过分析尘埃的物理、(生物)地球化学和矿物学成分，有助于讨论南极尘埃的来源。

Patagonian dust, which is nowadays blown from Argentina into the South Atlantic Ocean, isthought to have played a major role in the development of global glacial climate conditionsthrough fuelling of primary production in the High-Nutrient-Low-Chlorophyll waters of theSouthern Ocean2. In addition, there is an ongoing debate on the origin of wind-blown dustfound in Antarctic ice cores, and there are strong indications that South America was a majorsource of dust during glacial times3'4'5, although recent studies have demonstrated theimportance of Australia as a potential source of dust as well6. During glacial timesPatagonian dust was not only blown over the Atlantic Ocean towards the South Pole, butalso over the South American continent, and deposited in vast loess deposits downwind ofthe Argentinean pampas7. At present, the Patagonian dust plume is considered the secondmost important supplier of dust to the ocean on the southern hemisphere8, potentially stillacting as fertiliser for the South Atlantic. However, hardly any studies have been carried outon the chemical and mineralogical composition or dispersal patterns of this material.On its transit cruise from Walvis Bay (Namibia) to Talcahuano (Chile), RV Meteor will sailright through the Patagonian dust plume, which blows from Argentina into the AtlanticOcean. This is a unique opportunity to study this largely unknown source of dust, and byanalysing the dust's physical, (bio-) geochemical, and mineralogical composition, contributeto the discussion on the provenance of Antarctic dust.