On the islands of the Caribbean archipelago, huge sand particles from Africa were found.
The wind blowing dust and sand over the Sahara can carry dust clouds across the ocean. Previously, scientists assumed that only the smallest particles, no more than 0.2 mm in size, could cross the Atlantic - the rest settle in the air and remain in the water. But a recent discovery by scientists in the Caribbean archipelago refutes this.
It turns out that the Sahara can send larger "agents" across the ocean. By collecting samples of sand and dust blown by the wind to the Caribbean, the researchers found particles as small as 0.45 mm. Such a find will force climatologists to reconsider their views on the mechanisms of cloud formation, as well as on the carbon cycle in nature.
The possibility of carrying such large particles indicates that the total volume of dust particles that mix with water during rains is much larger than previously thought. This affects both the acidity of rainwater and the amount of carbon that is available for utilization by organisms that live in the water, such as algae. In addition, particles of this size have previously been ignored in the modeling of global climate change.