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Geology News
Dust Storm Current Events

NASA’s Aqua Satellite captured this spectacular image of dust plumes streaming from the desert of Egypt out over the Mediterranean Sea on October 4, 2009.

“In this image, the wind is blowing from the snow-covered mountains to the Gulf of Alaska. The wind picked up fine sediment from the riverbank and carried it over the ocean. The pale brown plume of airborne dust contrasts sharply with the dark ocean beneath it.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory image release.

“Dust blows across Turkey’s arid interior and fans out over the Black Sea in this photo-like image taken on October 13, 2009. The thick dust obscures the eastern shoreline and hides the Georgian landscape. At least some of the dust originated in Iraq. No distinct point source is visible in Turkey.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory release.

Visibility dropped to zero in parts of eastern Washington on October 4, 2009, as a large dust storm blew through. This image of the storm was captured by NASA’s Terra satellite shortly after noon (Pacific Daylight Time).

The worst dust storm in 70 years is hitting eastern Australia. The storm has caused fights to be delayed or canceled, tied up traffic and caused health problems for Australian residents – who in many areas have been warned to stay indoors.

In New South Wales the concentration of particles in the air reached 15,000 micrograms per cubic meter – about 1000 times higher than normal.

NASA Image

This article from the University of Michigan discusses the occurrence of lightning, in conjunction with dust storms, on Mars. The lightning has apparently occurred in the absence of rain.

USGS has a new podcast about moving sand dunes in Arizona. Here is their description…. “Climate change is increasing the mobility of sand dunes in the southwest, posing threats to roadways, infrastructure, human health, cultural practices of the Navajo Nation, and much more. Vegetation on dunes serves as stabilizers, but as the climate warms and precipitation decreases, there is less vegetation growth.”

A dust storm struck northeastern Arizona on April 3, 2009. With winds over 145 kilometers (90 miles) per hour reported near Meteor Crater, east of Flagstaff, the storm reduced visibility and forced the temporary closure of part of Interstate 40, according to The Arizona Republic. (Quoted from the Earth Observatory release.)

Saharan dust swept over the Canary Islands in early March 2009. In this true-color image, beige plumes of dust form arcs and swirls off the coasts of Morocco and Western Sahara. Dust appears especially thick over parts of the Canary Islands.

This article from EARTH Magazine discusses how dust and natural aerosols may affect the ocean. Experiments with algae were conducted to gain more insight on the topic.

Gusty winds blasted across northern Utah on Wednesday, March 4, ahead of a winter storm that was making its way east across the region. The winds scoured dust off the Great Salt Lake Desert and Bonneville Salt Flats and showered it down across the northern part of the state.

Earth Observatory has a satellite image of additional dust plumes blowing off the Atlantic coast of Argentina. Dry conditions in Patagonia combined with strong wind storms to carry the dust long distances.

“Dust plumes blew off the north coast of Africa and over the eastern Mediterranean Sea in late November 2008. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on NASA

NASA’s Earth Observatory website has a new satellite image of large dust plumes spreading over the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman. The image was captured on October 15, 2008 by NASA’s Aqua satellite. Large plumes of dust blow southwestward in this image off the coasts of Iran and Pakistan.

A dust storm on September 12th blew plumes of dust off the coast of Kuwait and Iraq to the southeast and out over the Persian Gulf. The plume was thick enough to hide the water surface below. East of Qatar, a large, thin plumes of dust created a haze over the Gulf.

“In the late 1950s, pilots flying over the Arctic began having trouble seeing long distances, their vision cut short by a mysterious, reddish-brown fog. What they were seeing is now known as

Earth Observatory has an interesting satellite image of dust blown far out over the Mediterranean Sea near the island of Cyprus.

On August 10, 2008, NASA

Large, dry salt lakes are located on the border between Argentina and Chile. Last week strong wind storms blowing across these dry lake beds picked up large quantities of salt dust and carried it across Argentina.

This is one of the more impressive satellite images that shows a dust storm removing massive amounts of dust from a continent. The image from July 4th shows a thick dust cloud blowing off the Sudanese cost and across the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia.

Researchers at the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies determined that African dust storms may dampen hurricanes by cooling sea surface temperatures. They now propose using a dust storm activity forecast as a tool for predicting the severity of the upcoming hurricane season.

NASA and the University of Arizona have published images of dust devil tracks on Mars. These tracks provide evidence that dust devils the size of Earth tornadoes are commonly found on Mars.

In a new NASA study, researchers taking advantage of improvements in satellite sensor capabilities, offer the first measurement-based estimate of the amount of pollution from East Asian forest fires, urban exhaust, and industrial production that makes its way to western North America. (NASA Image)

Earth Observatory has a satellite image of a dust storm in the Taklimakan Desert. It shows beige plumes near the desert

Earth Observatory has an interesting satellite image of Saharan dust blowing northward over the Mediterranean Sea then turning east and blowing over the Black Sea. It is surprising how the plume stays intact all the way to the Black Sea, even with a direction change.

“A dust storm struck central Mexico on March 18, 2008, and winds transported the dust into southern Texas. Dust from Mexico mixed in the atmosphere with rain showers, raining mud over the city and creating what some described as

A large dust storm in Kuwait has closed the ports and disrupted air traffic.

I am always amazed with how common and how far the dust clouds swept off or Africa and Asia can travel. Earth Observatory has a new MODIS image of three prominent dust plumes and numerous smaller ones over the Red Sea.

NASA satellites provide data suggesting that dust blown from the African Sahara could be responsible for one-third of the drop in North Atlantic Ocean sea surface temperatures between June 2005 and 2006. Satellite images clearly show that amazing amounts of dust are blown off of the African continent.

NASA Image

The dust storms that started in June on Mars have finally started to die down and Rovers Spirit and Opportunity have survived. They are gaining energy and are now driving on to new locations, although their dusty solar panels are operating slower than normal.