Dust^2Oct 31

Living next to an expanding #dust source has costs, as detailed in a recent report about Great Salt Lake in northern #Utah. Dr. Derek Mallia with the DUST^2 team contributed to this study by modeling which communities around the lake are impacted most by blowing dust. #geology #science #publichealth #dustsquared

https://uta hnewsdispatch.com/2025/10/30/new-research-shows-true-cost-of-living-with-great-salt-lake-dust/

Jeff MunroeOct 3, 2024
As part of my work with @dustsquared, I drive a big loop through some of the most spectacular landscapes in the Intermountain West to visit all of the dust collectors that I am responsible for. It’s an awesome trip that I look forward to each time. This year i’m posting videos to show what it’s like out there. You can follow along at: https://bit.ly/CollectorsTourPlaylist. #geology #soilscience #soil #utah #nevada #DustSquared
Jeff MunroeMar 19, 2024

Like #alpine zones and high mountain landscapes? I just published an #openaccess paper using ground penetrating radar to look beneath the gently sloping surface of high ridgelines in the Uinta Mountains of #Utah. It turns out that the bedrock surface beneath that smooth cover of soil is surprisingly rough, which has implications for #soil formation, #water storage, and #landscape evolution.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15230430.2024.2322334

#alpine_research #alpine_forschung #dustsquared #geophysics #gpr

Jeff MunroeSep 28, 2023
The delivery of mineral #dust has a variety of impacts for #mountain ecosystems. But the source of this dust is often unclear. In this new paper, colleagues and I establish that much dust deposited at high elevations in #Utah and #Nevada comes from the surrounding deserts. Knowing where the dust is coming from is an important step in making appropriate management decisions. #dustsquared #geology #ecology #soil #criticalzone https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/acfb26
Jeff MunroeSep 6, 2023
Excited that one of my passive #dust samplers is now deployed on the Monte Rosa massif in northern #italy! Thanks to collaborators from the University of Turin for making this unique opportunity possible. #dustsquared #CriticalZone #Alps #environment #geology #soil
Jeff MunroeSep 2, 2023
As part of #DustSquared I maintain a network of samplers in the mountains of #utah and #nevada to capture mineral #dust blowing up from the deserts. A former student is making the big loop to empty them all this month, and I’m excited to follow along with his adventures! #fieldwork #geology #soil
Jeff MunroeJul 26, 2023
The #dust samplers I use for #dustsquared are covered by #snow each winter. That might sound like a problem, but results suggest that longer snow cover actually corresponds with more dust accumulation! To test this at the limit, I deployed two collectors after the hot summer of 2022 at a site where snow typically doesn't melt out completely. In July, 2023 the collectors were still under 1 to 6 m of snow. Will be interesting to see how much dust they contain whenever they emerge again!
Jeff MunroeJul 14, 2023
As part of the #DustSquared #CriticalZone project, I maintain a network of mountain #dust samplers in the southwestern US. They reveal the strong connection between mineral dust and soil formation. Here, in the Uinta Mountains of #utah, more than half of the #soil would not exist without the long-term deposition of material carried up from the desert by the wind over thousands of years. That’s a big deal for the geoecology of these environments! #geology #alpine #drone
Jeff MunroeJun 28, 2023
As part of the #NSF #CriticalZone meeting in Salt Lake City, #utah this week, I helped organize a field trip to the Atwater snow study site at Alta. Here’s a #drone photo of the group in front of the tower where some of the #dust collecting equipment for #DustSquared is located. Amazing to think that in late April, the depth of #snow on the ground was above the platform!