Barren marine deserts bloom seasonally with iron infusions from Asian dust storms.
dust
Posted inNews
The Akkadian Empire—Felled by Dust?
Chemical measurements of a stalagmite from a cave in Iran reveal a large uptick in dust activity in northern Mesopotamia roughly 4,200 years ago, coincident with the decline of the Akkadian Empire.
Posted inScience Updates
Assessing the Many Influences of High-Latitude Dust
First International Conference on High Latitude Cold Climate Dust (HLCCD); Reykjavík, Iceland, 22–25 May 2017
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Where Are the Electrical Currents in the Enceladus Plume?
A plume of water ice that escapes Saturn’s moon Enceladus should be coursing with electrical currents, but data are mixed. Now simulations suggest that a sticky dust cloud may shield signals.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Mars Got Its Layered North Polar Cap
Orbital wobbling shaped the dome of ice and dust at the planet's north pole.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Carbon Dioxide Frost May Keep Martian Soil Dusty
Temperature readings acquired from orbit show that Mars's surface gets cold enough at night to allow layers of solid carbon dioxide frost up to several hundred micrometers thick to build up near the equator.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
A (Dust) Devil of a Time—on Mars
New computer simulations of Martian dust devils could aid Red Planet weather forecasts.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Blowin’ in the Wind: Observing Stratospheric Aerosols
New observations and understanding of stratospheric particles are crucial for evaluating their role in climate change.
Posted inScience Updates
Seeking Knowledge in the Dust
The Batsheva de Rothschild Seminar on Atmospheric Dust, Dust Deposits (Loess) and Soils in Deserts and Desert Fringe: The Sahara-Sinai-Negev as an Analogue for the Global Arid Regions; Jerusalem and the Negev Desert, 14–19 October 2015
Posted inScience Updates
The Impact of African Dust on Air Quality in the Caribbean Basin
Symposium on Airborne Dust, Climate Change, and Human Health; Miami, Florida, 19–21 May 2015