Sahara’s Dust Fuels the Amazon’s Phosphorus Budget Across Oceans
Each year about 27.7 million tons of Saharan dust reach the Amazon, delivering roughly 22,000 tons of elemental phosphorus—nearly balancing the rainforest’s phosphorus losses from runoff and helping sustain its productivity. While Bodélé Depression was once thought the main source, newer research points to El Djouf and other western North African regions as major contributors; the exact mix remains debated. This intercontinental dust transport establishes a real, if still uncertain, nutrient link between the desert and the rainforest, with implications as climate patterns shift.