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Global Dust

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

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Definition

Global dust refers to palls or plumes of solid particles suspended in the troposphere, to be transported for thousands of kilometers by the action of strong, turbulent winds in source regions characterized by dry land surfaces with little or no vegetation cover. Other notable sources include the volcanic ash (tephra) emitted during eruptions and organic matter and elemental carbon derived from forest fires and industrial sources (Gieré, 2010). A large proportion of global dust particles have aerodynamic diameters finer than 20 micrometers (μm).

Introduction

Erosion, airborne transport and deposition of solid dust particles have occurred throughout geological time. Evidence of such events includes wind transport and deposition of mineral dust over the past 2.6 Myr in the form of the thick clayey-silt formation, known as loess, found on all inhabited continents. Long range (hemispherical and global) transport of dust involves atmospheric turbulence in source areas such as...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 3, 104 Evesham Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK

    Prof. Edward Derbyshire

  2. Centre for Quaternary Research, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, UK

    Prof. Edward Derbyshire

Authors
  1. Prof. Edward Derbyshire
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Correspondence to Edward Derbyshire .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada

    Peter T. Bobrowsky

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© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Derbyshire, E. (2013). Global Dust. In: Bobrowsky, P.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4399-4_158

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