Did you know that more than 180 million tons of dust are lifted from the Sahara Desert and blown out off North Africa by strong seasonal winds every year? Some of these dust plumes are large enough to cross the entire tropical Atlantic Ocean toward the Americas, thought to stimulate the “biological carbon pump” through acting as a vehicle for the long-range transport of massive amounts of nutrient-enriched particles from the continental deserts to fuel phytoplankton productivity in the oceans. When incorporated in marine snow aggregates and fecal pellets produced by plankton, dust also acts as mineral ballast to increase their sinking velocities. This is critical for the export of carbon from the surface and its subsequent sequestration in the deep ocean.
Just take a look at the dramatic display of airborne dust particles observed in February 18, 2021, by the NOAA-20 spacecraft (more info here). We wonder about the “wonders” caused by this plume at the surface of the ocean…. :)
Aairborne dust particles was observed on February 18, 2021, by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the NOAA-20 spacecraft.