What do sandstorms carry other than dust and dirt?

Weather of Arabia - Sandstorm usually occurs in sandy areas and deserts, when the wind speed is able to raise the surface layer of sand on the ground, and push it in the direction of its movement. Sandstorms arise when a storm or strong winds blows carrying grains of sand and surface dust, But what can sandstorms carry other than dust and dirt?

What do sandstorms carry other than dust and dirt?

Sandstorms carry a large amount of sand, dust and suspended particles. The size of the majority of particles in a dust or sandstorm is between 0.08 - 1 mm. These particles carry some bacteria, fungi and pollen, and contain some pollutants such as toxins, heavy metals, salt, sulfur, and pesticides, which may cause significant health effects on humans when inhaling polluted dust, such as allergies, respiratory diseases, etc.

In addition, sandstorms may contain acid particles that can erode buildings and infrastructure.

Despite these harmful substances carried by sandstorms, they can also carry useful substances. Each year, about 182 million tons of dust migrate from the Sahara Desert, and travel with the westward trade winds across the Atlantic and Caribbean Seas. On the way, some dust falls and settles in the ocean, in the rainforest, and may make its way over the Caribbean Sea towards the United States.

This desert dust cloud is a flowing ribbon of important minerals such as iron and phosphorous that fertilize the most biologically diverse environments on the planet, such as the Amazon rainforest.

Phosphorous is a vital nutrient for plant growth, which is usually rapidly depleted from the Amazon soil after rain or floods, and is carried away by waterways, so desert dust carried by sandstorms provides enough phosphorous to make up for the lost amount. Sandstorms from the Sahara desert also supply the waters of the eastern tropical Pacific with iron, which some marine creatures need.

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