Knippertz, P. and Stuut, J.-B.W. (eds.): Mineral Dust – A Key Player in the Earth System. Springer, Book Review – Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 65 (2016) (1) 81–85.84 Windblown dust defl ated from arid-semiarid areas and aeolian dust deposits are standing in the fo- cal point of environmental scientifi c studies. Huge amount – billions of tons – of mineral dust is emit- ted annually from the major source areas. Rapidly growing body of scientifi c publications recognized and confi rmed that mineral dust has considerable impacts on numerous atmospheric, climatic and biogeochemical processes, and it plays an important role in the modifi cation of global energy and carbon budgets. Atmospheric dust has also an eff ect on hu- man health, agriculture, traffi c and industrial produc- tion. Mineral dust related investigations are regarded as truly interdisciplinary studies. The editors, Peter Knippertz and Jan-Berend W. Stuut, well-known experts from various perspectives of dust storms and mineral dust and the 60 contributing authors give a comprehensive overview of the full range of mineral dust research. The 509 (+25) page book is organized into four main thematic sections: characteristics of mineral dust particles; global dust cycle; impacts of dust on the Earth system; and aeolian dust deposits as climate archives. Chapter 1 (‘Introduction’) is an overview by the two authors on the importance, history and recent developments of dust research, so it gives a short introduction into the topic. In Chapter 2 Dirk Scheuvens and Konrad Kandler provide a detailed discussion of chemical composi- tion, shape and morphology of particles and the grain size distribution of mineral dust with a special at- tention to individual particle analysis. Climatic (e.g. radiative forcing eff ects), other environmental (e.g. nutrient supply) and human health eff ects of particles with diff erent physicochemical properties are also discussed in this part. Thereby, this section provides a foundation for subsequent chapters. Chapter 3 by Daniel R. Muhs et al. discusses the geographical dis- tribution of recent and past global dust source ar- eas. The most widely used methods (fi eld studies, geomorphological perspectives, satellite observations, back-trajectory analyses, geochemical and isotopic methods) to identify dust source areas are properly summarized in this part. Chapter 4 by Alex R. Baker et al. is dealing with the so-called atmospheric ageing of freshly emitt ed particles. Aft er the emission from the source area, mineral dust is exposed to a number of processes that alters its properties. These physical and chemical processes have an eff ect on dust reac- tivity, hygroscopicity and atmospheric composition, which in turn aff ects the direct and indirect climatic impacts of ageing-modified atmospheric mineral particles. Chapters of Part II describe global dust budget via discussion of emission, transport and deposition mechanisms. In Chapter 5 Béatrice Marticorena introduces our knowledge of dust production proc- esses and wind-surface interactions leading to dust emission episodes. Physics of main stages of dust emission (erosion threshold, saltation fl ux and dust production by sandblasting) is overviewed properly in this section. Peter Knippertz discusses the main meteorological aspects of dust storms in Chapter 6. Meteorological situations leading to stronger near-sur- face winds which exceed the local emission threshold are identifi ed and classifi ed in this part of the book. According to the fi ndings, key meteorological drivers of intense emissions are connected to large-scale mon- soon-type fl ows, mobile synoptic-scale systems, gust fronts of convective storms and intense dry convec- tions of daytime planetary boundary layer. Once dust is entrained into the atmosphere spatiotemporal dis- tribution of dust-loaded air-masses should be known as accurate as possible. Isabelle Chiapello in ‘Dust Knippertz, P. and Stuut, J.-B.W. (eds.): Mineral Dust – A Key Player in the Earth System. Springer, Dordrecht–Heidelberg–New York–London, 2014. 509 p. DOI: 10.15201/hungeobull.65.1.8 Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 65 2016 (1) 85Book Review – Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 65 (2016) (1) 81–85. Observations and Climatology’ section (Chapter 7) examines the diff erent methods of observations from ground-based networks to remote sensing of satel- lites. Inter-annual variability and trend analyses of dust observation time-series allow us to gain insight into the climatological aspects of dust cycles also from a local, regional and global viewpoint. In Chapter 8 Gilles Bergametti and Gilles Forêt discuss the dry and wet dust depositional mechanisms. These proc- esses determine the atmospheric lifetime of particles and the dust accumulation budget of depositional areas. The authors describe the physics of strongly size dependent removal processes, the measured data of fi eld campaigns and also the uncertainties of simulated dust mass budget. Ina Tegen and Michael Schultz summarize in Chapter 9 the possibilities of application of numerical models in dust research. Computer models are ideal tools to investigate these previously mentioned detailed processes; however, there are also some shortcomings of the simulations (e.g. numerical models are oft en unable to repro- duce the small-scale wind events). Angela Benedetti and her 23 co-authors provide in the Chapter 10 an overview on the operational dust predictions which became prominent in the recent years. Dust models applied in operational forecast systems produce daily predictions of dust fi elds. The third part of the book is dealing with the im- pacts of mineral dust. In Chapter 11 Ellie Highwood and Claire Ryder discuss the radiative eff ects of at- mospheric dust. This direct impacts (refl ection, ab- sorption, scatt ering) are dependent on the optical properties and so are sensitive to size and composi- tion of dust particles. Dust optical thickness, single- scatt ering albedo, real and imaginary refractive index determination and measurement methods and ap- plications are also discussed in detail in this section. Athanasios Nenes et al. explain the indirect impacts of atmospheric particles via microphysical interactions with clouds (Chapter 12). Mineral dust acting as cloud condensation nuclei and ice nuclei has an important eff ect on cloud formation, optical properties of cloud and also on precipitation. General microphysics, the role of ageing and climatic eff ects are discussed in this chapter, while a more comprehensive overview of dust radiative forcing upon climate is given by Ron L. Miller et al. in Chapter 13. Biogeochemical im- pacts of dust on another key climatic component on the global carbon cycle is explained in Chapter 14 by Tim Jickells et al. Deposited dust material provides a nutrient supply to terrestrial and marine ecosystems and enhances the primary production. Relationships between atmospheric mineral dust and human health are discussed by Suzett e A. Morman and Geoff rey S. Plumlee in Chapter 15. These eff ects are ranging from respiratory diseases (asthma, nonindustrial silicosis) caused by the smallest size fractions of atmospheric particulate matt er to bacterial meningitis outbreaks in the ‘meningitis belt’ of sub-Saharan Africa. Last part of the book is concerned with aeolian dust deposits as climate archives. The most important ter- restrial dust archives are the ‘loess records’, which are explained in detail by D.R. Muhs et al. in Chapter 16. All of the most important loess regions are introduced in this section aft er a short description of general char- acteristics of loess and loess stratigraphy. Subaquatic dust deposits are discussed by J.-B.W. Stuut in the Chapter 17, while dust material found in ice core ar- chives is explained in the last section (Chapter 18) by Paul Vallelonga and Anders Svensson. The overall impression of this well-produced, high- quality work is absolutely positive. This book will undoubtedly fi nd wide relevance and it is an essen- tial handbook for scholars with an interest in Earth Sciences including geology, geography, chemistry, meteorology and climatology. György Varga