79 Soil, Dust, and Everything in Between: Current, Quaternary and Earlier Geological Processes and Records

This session will explore research on the interaction between soils, dust deposits (e.g., loess), dust emission and landscape evolution in modern and geological time scales.

Monday, 20 October 2025
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
HBGCC, 212AB

Characterization and spatiotemporal relationships of dust in the Southern Great Plains ecoregion of Oklahoma

Paper number: 79-10
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 10:45 AM – 11:00 AM

Authors

Abstract

Mineral dust aerosols (or MDA, henceforth termed “dust”) are small particles derived from larger rock material that are capable of atmospheric suspension and can vary in size over three orders of magnitude. Dust exerts both negative and positive effects on human populations and ecosystems. For example, mineral aerosols can be associated with detrimental impacts on health outcomes and influence a variety of climate forcings from direct radiative effects to enhancing cloud nucleation and primary productivity. Modeling and remote sensing studies consistently return positive correlations between aridity and dust emissions in the south and southwestern United States for past, present, and future climate scenarios. In this way, dust is both a driver and a product of a changing climate.

North America’s primary dust point sources are split between the western United States and the Great Plains Region (GPR). Dust plays an important role in both climate and human health, a relationship that Oklahoma (OK), as a locus of the 1930s “Dust Bowl,” is all too familiar with. Given these relationships, the current rapidly changing climate, and OK’s sordid history with dust, this study seeks to create a baseline characterization of dust in the state. Specifically, we explore the spatial distribution, morphology, and chemical composition of mineral aerosols (~2-200 μm) collected in central and western OK, before discussing flux and potential provenance through backwards trajectory monitoring and geochemical analyses. Here, we present preliminary results from seasonal and year-long cumulative dust sampling taken via stationary traps in six locations within the area of interest from December 2023 to December 2024 and historical dust deposition soil profiles in relatively undisturbed areas.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 57, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-412108

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