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