NASA Satellite Video Reveals Millions of Tons of Dust From the Sahara Desert Fertilizing the Amazon Rainforest
The wind of Sahara is a fierce goddess who shapeshifts into different forms depending on where she desires to go. From Egyptian khamsin that blows for fifty days to south-easterly Ghibli that blows across the Libyan desert, the enchantress wafts in mysterious dances, often dismantling camp tents with her swirling vortex of golden dust. But as ferocious and terrifying as she is, her bosom also possesses a wellspring of motherly nourishment for those in need. In a February 2015 video, NASA Goddard captured the journey of how this Saharan wind milks out millions of tons of nutrient-rich dust from its dunes, sweeps over the Atlantic waters, and deposits it in the lap of lush Amazon rainforest. NASA scientists published their observations in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
The Sahara is the world’s largest source of dust, it lifts over 60 million tons of mineral dust into the atmosphere each year. The barren landscape of its gold, sun-licked sands is an object of curiosity for astronauts, many of whom have snapped stunning images of it from the International Space Station including the Eye of Sahara. But to think that all this dust travels over 6,000 miles, from the world’s largest desert to nourish the wet, green belly of the world’s largest rainforest, is otherworldly.
The long-distance relationship was captured by the space agency’s CALIPSO satellite measured the amount of dust that travels from an ancient lake bed in Chad known as the Bodélé Depression to the Amazon. One way the Saharan dust fertilizes the Amazon soil is through phosphorus, an ingredient that helps in plant growth. While Amazon lacks this essential ingredient, the Sahara has an abundant supply, given the fact that it was a vast salt lake millions of years ago.
ESA astronaut @astro_luca took this photo of the Sahara Desert from the @Space_Station, saying "Two deserts, face to face: one rich in colour, the other completely void of it. And us, in between." See more 📷 on his #MissionBeyond @Flickr album, see https://t.co/PdJiDMjPCA pic.twitter.com/cAO1yXCORX
— European Space Agency (@esa) August 10, 2019
According to NASA, around 22,000 years ago, when the lands of the Sahara were still green and fertile, a lake called Mega-Chad Lake rested there. However, about 7,000 years ago, the changing climate triggered havoc into the lakebed, causing it to dry out. The water rose in the searing storm, never to appear again. All that was left in the terrain were thick diatomaceous earth, lacustrine deposits, and nutrient-rich dust. Over time, this dust turned out to be a potent source of nutrition for the Amazon rainforest. The dust can travel for thousands and thousands of miles.
Saharan dust lofted over the Atlantic Ocean on August 24. The Sahara Desert is Earth’s largest source of airborne dust, which can travel for thousands of miles – even reaching the U.S. This image was captured by the @NOAA-@NASA Suomi NPP satellite. pic.twitter.com/Gt7LBeLaIb
— NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) August 28, 2024
During this study, NASA scientists found that an average of 182 million tons of dust leaves Chad each year. “About 27.7 million tons of it — enough to fill more than 100,000 semi trucks — make it to the Amazon, bringing with it an estimated 22,000 tons of phosphorous, roughly equivalent to the amount that rain removes from the soil by washing it into waterways,” per a NASA press release.
A sand storm raging over the #Sahara desert. #BlueDot pic.twitter.com/tyY65Njuvh
— Alexander Gerst (@Astro_Alex) September 8, 2014
As for now, given the variations in rainfall, soil erosion, and vegetation, scientists are now looking forward to studying how long this long-distance relationship has been going on and for how long will it last. If these two seemingly opposite landscapes can connect, it could unleash new possibilities about the interconnectedness of different parts of the globe. Ultimately, as long as the wind goddess prevails, there is no separation.