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‘The man who vacuum cleaned the Atlantic’ − the aerosol collector and Gunnar Erdtman’s attempts to measure pollen rain
Departments of Geography & Environment and Archaeology, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK;McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research and Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7205-066X
Swedish Museum of Natural History, Department of Bird Ringing and Palynology. Palynologiska laboratoriet, Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0009-0006-2432-6015
2023 (English)In: Palynology, ISSN 0191-6122, E-ISSN 1558-9188, Vol. 48, no 1, article id 2260437Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

In 1937, the Swedish palynologist Gunnar Erdtman (1897–1973) mounted two adapted vacuum cleaners atop an ocean-going liner and set out to obtain air samples as he crossed the Atlantic Ocean. The devices were able to capture samples of airborne pollen which were related to air volume and distance from land. The results of this investigation are still cited in the scientific literature, but a study of publications demonstrates that the ocean study had land-based antecedents. Furthermore, archival investigation reveals the background to such studies, including the technical plans for Erdtman’s ‘aerosol collector’, records of raw data from the voyage, draft portions of the key publication, photographs and the precise location of the land-based equipment. A storage loft in the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm has been found to house a surviving aerosol collector.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2023. Vol. 48, no 1, article id 2260437
Keywords [en]
Aerobiology biology geology pollen palynology Erdtman Gunnar pollentrap ‘aerosol collector’
Keywords [sv]
Gunnar Erdtman pollen aerobiologi geologi biologi palynologi pollenfälla fjärrtransport
National Category
Natural Sciences Earth and Related Environmental Sciences Medical and Health Sciences Biological Sciences
Research subject
Man and the environment
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:nrm:diva-5905DOI: 10.1080/01916122.2023.2260437OAI: oai:DiVA.org:nrm-5905DiVA, id: diva2:1928704
Available from: 2025-01-17 Created: 2025-01-17 Last updated: 2025-01-31Bibliographically approved

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Publisher's full texthttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01916122.2023.2260437

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