NASA CALIPSO Estimates 27.7 Million Tonnes of Saharan Dust Reach Amazon Each Year
Updated
Updated · spacedaily.com · Jul 28
NASA CALIPSO Estimates 27.7 Million Tonnes of Saharan Dust Reach Amazon Each Year
1 articles · Updated · spacedaily.com · Jul 28
Summary
27.7 million tonnes of Saharan dust settle over the Amazon basin annually on average, according to NASA-led CALIPSO satellite data from 2007-2013, with about 22,000 tonnes of phosphorus mixed into that flow.
182 million tonnes of dust moved past the Sahara’s western edge each year and 132 million tonnes remained airborne near South America, showing the Amazon figure is the deposited share rather than the full transatlantic plume.
86% year-to-year variation between 2007 and 2011 means the estimate is a seven-year average, with wetter Sahel conditions linked to weaker dust transport in the following year.
2022 field work found phosphorus additions lifted fine-root productivity 29% and canopy productivity 19% in low-phosphorus old-growth Amazon forest, supporting the idea that outside inputs can offset long-term nutrient losses.
Later studies put African dust deposition over Amazonia at roughly 8 million to 10 million tonnes a year and point to smoke, biological particles and Andean sediments as other nutrient sources, leaving the transatlantic link intact but the exact tonnage disputed.