Active sand dunes are largest dust source in the Sahara Desert

Abstract

Dried up lakebeds and playas in the Sahara Desert of North Africa are large sources of dust in the atmosphere. The Bodélé Depression at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, for example, is the single largest source of dust in the world; on average, 100 dust storms a year originate from the Bodélé Depression. A new study by Crouvi et al., however, finds that active sand dunes could be even bigger sources of desert dust in the atmosphere. Atmospheric dust plays active roles in climate and biological processes in the ocean: It regulates heating at the surface of the Earth; modifies cloud properties that affect rainfall; and acts as the only source of iron, a critical nutrient for microorganisms in the ocean. Little is known about types of dust sources in the Sahara Desert, which alone accounts for more than 50% of the dust in the atmosphere.