Dust Cloud from China Circles the Globe More Than Once

Clouds caused by a colossal dust storm in Taklimakan desert in China in 2007 completed more than one full circle around the globe in 13 days.  The dust cloud – measuring about 1.9 miles vertically and about 1,242 miles horizontally – was formed in Xinjiang, in north-western China. Interestingly, the cloud remained in that formation all through its journey around the Earth.

The dust cloud came down and deposited some of its dust into the Pacific Ocean when it reached there a second time.  According to scientists in Kyushu University’s Research Institute for Applied Mechanics in Japan, while Asian dust usually gets deposited near the Yellow Sea (around the Japan area), the Sahara dust lands in the Atlantic Ocean and the coast of Africa.

However, the study showed that dust originating in China can be deposited into the Pacific Ocean, the study report published in the journal Nature Geoscience says.

It was found that the dust clouds were lifted about 6 miles above the Earth’s surface before returning.  According to scientists, dust clouds contain 5% iron, which is important for the ocean.  Scientists in Japan used a satellite of NASA as well as mathematical modelling in order to track and measure the movement of the dust cloud that originated in China. This cloud was formed after the storm that raged from May 8 to 9, 2007.

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