Ring oven techniques have been used to analyze aerosol samples containing particles larger than 1-μm diameter which were collected with a specially designed impaction collector from aircraft at various altitudes above Tasmania. The collection and analyzing techniques allowed high temporal and spatial resolution, and sulfate, magnesium, calcium, copper, aluminum, and phosphate were found in the clean, background conditions. Sulfate is a major constituent of the aerosol below 1- to 2-km height, but calcium concentrations are higher than sulfate concentrations above the inversion. Both sulfate and magnesium appear to originate from the open sea. The aluminum is probably of continental origin and is a component of a omnipresent background concentration, whereas the calcium and copper concentrations at the lower altitudes are of marine origin. The Mg/SO, and Ca/SO4 ratios indicate that magnesium and calcium arising from the ocean experience little enrichment. However, Cu/SO4 ratios are consistent with an enrichment of copper of 104.