A group of researchers led by Richard W. Griffin, Professor and Research Scientist, is conducting the Saharan and Sahelian Red Dust Collection Project (SSRDCP). The SSRDCP seeks to determine whether red colored soils found on PVAMU’s farm originate from the Saharan or Sahelian regions of Africa.
The project was developed during a field trip to the King Ranch in South Texas. A tour guide noted that a flock of cattle egrets in the area was directly descended from the original West African flock that was brought to the area by a hurricane in the 1800’s. The guide went on to say that all cattle egrets in the US are descended from that same flock. Griffin thought that if the winds were strong enough to carry a flock of egrets across the ocean surely they could carry dust from the desert.
The dust storms happen two or three times a year in the late spring and summer. The sands, mostly from the Sahara Desert, are carried on strong winds about 5,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. These large clouds of dust are referred to as the Saharan Air Layer (SAL). According to the Weather Channel, the SAL typically travels about 5,000 to 15,000 feet above the Earth’s surface. The dust from the SAL can cause hazy skies and can trigger large, environmentally harmful algal blooms in the Gulf of Mexico.
This research is important because bacteria on the dust can survive the long journey across the Atlantic to the United States and the Caribbean Islands. Griffin stated, “There would be some impact on humans that have asthma conditions, allergies, and upper respiratory illnesses”. The SSRDCP at CARC is still underway and researchers are finding new information about the dust’s impact on soil and society in Southeast Texas. As Griffin explains, “This is one of the reasons we are interested in continuing this work. It has bioenvironmental and biomedical implications.”
For more details about the SSRDCP and the SAL, contact Dr. Richard Griffin (rwgriffin@pvamu.edu). This work is supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Evans-Allen 1890 Research Formula Program projects under Section 1445.
Jakari Bates
DOMCiT Student Staff