Author: Babagana Abubakar

E-mail: babaganabubakar2002@yahoo.com
PERMANENT ADDRESS: ALHAJI BUKAR KUYA HOUSE FEZZAN WARD, MAIDUGURI, BORNO STATE, NIGERIA
Tel: +2348062220179 Skype: babagana.abubakar

Magical Dust from the Kanuris Ancient Kanem-

Bornu Empire Territory Sustaining the Great
Amazon Rainforest of South America

Introduction:

Recent research discovered that fine Marine dust particles left over on the beds of the
dried ancient Lake Mega Chad is transported by wind and showers over the American
Amazon jungle on a periodic basis.This magic dust remains the main source of nutrients
of the Amazon plants as the Amazon soil itself is infertile to be able to sustain such a
gigantic rainforest.

Fig.1: Showing a World map with the location of the republic of Chad: Fig.2: An imagery indicating the position of Bodele in red coloure:

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The place where these very rich marine sediments is concentrated and transported by
wind within this territory of Africa is geographically an area of depression referred to as
the Bodele Depression.The Bodl Depression is also known as the Bodele, it is
located at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert located within the ancient territory of
the Kanem-Bornu . Geographically Bodele is located at 165722.4N 174651.2E.

The Kanem-Bornu Empire territory was a founded in the heart of the African Sahara desert
around the 7th century by Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan also known as Sef Dhu Ifazan ( Sef, son of
Dhu Ifazan) . The dominant population of this Empire were the Kanuri people, the people that
have great influence on the remnant of the Lake Mega Chad as such that their actions or means
of livelihood within this environment is scientifically believed to have been contributing factor in
to the free movement of this marine sediments continentally (Africa-America).

However today the Empire was splatted to form part of 5 different nations namely; Nigeria,
Cameroon, Chad, Niger and southern Libya during the colonial amalgamation of Africa in the
19th century this development made the greater part of the Lake Mega Chad to be within the
republic of Chad.

The Bodele depression is now in the republic of Chad and it is the lowest point in Chad.

The Republic of Chad itself is located at 15.4542 N, 18.7322 E. Chad is a large landlocked
country in the heart of the Sahara desert region of Africa between the west and central regions
of Africa. It has a total land area of 495,800 mi2 (1,284,000 km2) and a population of just 14,
268, 344 people as at 2015. Standing in its northern part, is the rugged granite uplands of the
Tibesti Mountains which has extinct volcanic peaks that reach an altitude of 11,204 feet (3,415
meters). The Ennedi and Wadai plateaus stands along the eastern border with Sudan which has
peaks that reach 1,969 feet (600 meters) in between lies the Bodele depression which is an
ancient lake bed with very rich nutrients made of marine sediments.

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 Fig. 1: An imagery showing the geography of Bodele Depression and the Wind system from the NASA World Wind:

The World has wind systems that originates in one part of the World carrying surrounding dust
particles with them from the place of origins graduating in to a strong wind referred to as the
Jet streams travelling thousands of miles across very high altitudes in Space and end up
depositing these particles in another part of the World through rain, snow falls and others.
The same principles applies with the Bodele depression when Wind sweeps the dust
between the Tibesti and the Ennedi Mountains in Northern Chad which is channel
across the depression resulting in Dust storm graduating in to jet stream and
subsequently getting settle on the Amazon rainforest of South America. The dry bowl
that forms the depression is marked by a series of ephemeral lakes, many of which
were last filled during wetter periods of the Holocene. Dust storms from the Bodl
occurs on an average of about 100 days per year. In accordance to the NASA's Terra
and Aqua satellites, indicated that these storms moves across the Bodl Depression at
about 47 km/h (29 mi/h)two times faster than previously believed. Diatoms from these
fresh water lakes, once part of the Mega-Lake Chad, now make up the surface of the
depression and are the source material for the dust, which, carried across the Atlantic
Ocean and rains over the great Amazon rainforest which is also known as the Amazon
Jungle in South America which has an Area of 5,500,000 km2 (2,123,562 mi2).

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 Graph 1: A graph explaining the scenario:

The study shows that the dust emitted from the Bodl amounted to more than 60
Tg (60 million metric tons) in the year spanning Oct 2003 to Oct 2004.

Fig. 16: A satellite imagery showing the magical Dust from the Bodl Depression in Africa crossing to the Amazon rainforest in South America:

Dust from the Bodele depression contains fossilized fish apatite a mineral rich in fertilizing
phosphorus a nutrient essential for photosynthesis. This magical dust is made up decomposed
fish and similar marine animals sediments, the Bodele dust is from the decomposed fish

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sediments that lived within the ancient Bodele lake which was once part of the Lake Mega-
Chad, meaning that the present day Lake Chad of just 1800 km2 in size in 2001 and now
located at Coordinates 130N 140E with Surface area of 1,350 km2 (520 mi2) as at 2005, was
once so big that it even included the Bodl Depression forming part of its Seabed. But the
Bodele portion of this Lake Mega-Chad dried up over the last 10,000 years to form the present
day dry dusty lands of the Bodele made up very rich marine sediments and its located in the
heart of a very dry and very unviable desert in Africa called the Sahara Desert ,but yet keeps
fertilizing the very viable Amazon rainforest in South America with phosphorus from the
biogenic sources (such as fish bone) which is more soluble than inorganic sources (such as in
rock) for a very long time( thousands of years) resulting in the emergence of this mighty
Amazon jungle.

Fig.3: Showing a sub-fossil skeleton of a 1.15 metre Nile Perch found in the Bodl depression:

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 Fig.1: Showing jet stream carrying particles from Bodele: Fig.2: Showing a Map of the Amazon rainforest of South
America:

The magical dust imported from the heart of the African main land to the heart of the
South America forms an important source of nutrient minerals for the Amazon
rainforest which accounts for more than 30% of the worlds total rainforest and stands as one of
the main oxygen-generating sources for the entire globe by providing approximately 20% of
earth's oxygen (O2 ) needs and also keeps providing food, medicines, shelter and protection to a
large portion of the Worlds biodiversity including threatened species as well as humans,
animals, microorganisms and many others in addition to its role of continues absorption of
Carbon dioxide (CO2 ) in the Atmosphere and providing economic incomes for many of the
South America countries including Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia,
Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana among others.

Fig.3: Showing a nourished tree in the Amazon forest: Fig.3: Showing a bird in the middle of the Amazon forest:

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Arising problems:

1. The republic of Chad used to be a very poor country with almost no any natural
resources or industry to rely on with an average economy income of less than
one USD $ Dollars per family, with massive unviable lands and a very little
population since independence from France in 1960. However things have begun
to change with the discovery of petroleum resources around the Lake Chad basin
in the country since the late 1990s, today it has even started exporting petroleum
products in fact since the year 2004. This made the Chadian economy one of the
fasted growing in the region as a result influx of migrant workers within Africa and
beyond, this has begun making its population to be proportionally growing with its
economic incomes with time. So under this trend coupled with the modern
technological advancement in human ability of transforming barren lands or
deserts like the Bodele depression in to agricultural productive fields or an
agricultural islands just like the case with the Great Man-Made River (GMR)
where network of pipes supplies water to the Sahara desert from the Nubian
Sandstone Aquifer -System fossil aquifer in Libya or the case with Israel where
the Arava desert was transformed in to a viable agricultural landscape. Chad
would one day grow and think of converting the barren lands of the Bodele in to
agricultural productive fields if the international communities or the United
Nations do not come to mutual understanding between the people of Chad and
those of the Amazon forest member nations at this point in time. Or else the
Bodele depression might become viable once again and would consequently
stop exporting its dust, the Amazon forest will become malnourished resulting in
the global decline in O2 supply, also raise the volume of the global CO2 with
significant percentage in the Atmosphere which automatically increases or raises
the global temperature and finally give way to a man induced climate change with
potential impacts on every corner of the Earth.

2. The top layers of the Bodl Depression, which contains the biogenic
phosphorous or the magical dust will eventually be get exhausted with time.

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3. With modern incessant outbreaks of earlier unknown diseases such as the Zika
virus, Ebola, Tuberculosis, and Lassa fever among many others with some of
them even having the ability to be airborne diseases in endemic areas and with
the ability of radioactive dust migrating from one part of the World to the other
like the case with the Chernobyl disaster of 1986 that end up affecting people
beyond its borders having effect as far as the Eastern Europe through the wind
systems. So what checks or facilities those the international community and the
United Nations in particular presently has in place determining and or filtering
such global travelling particles endemic to some areas from having secondary
impacts in a different part of the World as dangerous particles can be generated
from both the natural sources through mining as well as industrial sources such
as the nuclear plants and other industrial toxic waste generating industries all
scattered throughout the World, for the safety of human health and containing
dangerous particles before causing havoc elsewhere.

4. The Bodele Depression area has its own indigenous peoples; though many are
presently ignorant about this highly technical issue involving travelling of their
resources (Dust) from their lands and having highly effective economic benefits
that doesnt benefits them in another part of the World and Amazon area also
has its own indigenous peoples living within the Amazon and yet apart from very
few International Legal instruments associated to indigenous issues such as the
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (General
Assembly resolution 61/295 New York, 13 September 2007) many of the Legal
instruments relating to rights to resources, genetic resources, territories, lands,
culture and cultural landscapes are still under negotiations ,so what would
happens if conflicts relating to indigenous issues with the potentials of affecting
the smooth travelling of this or such dust occurs at any of the spots in the World
at this moment as most of the governments exclude indigenous peoples during
negotiations of such magnitude.

Fig. 1: Two different Photos comparing lives in the lush Amazon rainforest of South America and the dry dusty
Sahara desert region of Africa:

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Suggestions/ Recommendation:

1. The United Nations, governments of Chad and the Amazon forest member nations
should reach an understanding right now on the issue of protecting the Bodele to
enable it continue feeding the Amazon forest as no signs of any mineral or petroleum
prospectors prospecting for mineral deposit or petroleum in the region at presence,
because if neglected and by the time that resources of economic value appears within
the Bodele depression itself or its surrounding areas where the Wind carrying dust
passes happens it would be very difficult for the international communities or the
United Nations kill the flame fast or at the much needed time.

2. The United Nations World Health Organization should establish her presence within the
Bodele depression and in any other spots on Earth that generates dust that passes
through the jet stream in order to monitor and filter such dust that normally ends up
bringing benefits elsewhere on Earth to avoid spreading of unwanted diseases and
dangerous particles such as the radioactive particles from the mines.

3. The United Nations has been trying in its work for bringing peace and settling disputes
all around the World since its inception and has adopted so many legal instruments in
settling disputes relevant to conflicts related to the indigenous peoples in the recent
past, but yet there is still a great need at this point in time to fast track the remaining
ongoing negotiations relating to resources, landscapes, territories and similar others
that has the potentials of protecting places like the Bodele depression and its
inhabitants for the global benefit of humans as well as all other living things depending
on oxygen for survival.

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 4. Scientists should help explore more opportunities in sustaining and ensuring the survival
of the great Amazon jungle without the Bodele dust as this magical dust from the
Bodele depression proves exhaustible and it can finish at any time.

5. Henceforth the Chadian government and the indigenous peoples of the Bodele should
be monetarily compensated by the member nations of the Amazon rainforest region in
South America from monies generated through the sales of the Amazon forest products
such as timber products, foods, medicines and others in order to protect the Bodl
depression in Chad which keeps fertilizing the Amazon forest.

Conclusion:
Until recently Bodele remains a land in Africa having unnoticed relationship with the
Amazon rain forest of South America separated by the Atlantic Oceans and thousands of
kilometers apart, but surprisingly despite human ability and activities of constructions,
farming, demolition mountains and other natural structures to give way to Dams, roads,
airports, mines etc. but yet the Bodele and its surrounding mountain structures (Tibesti
and the Ennedi Mountains in Northern Chad) that enable it keep generating the
magic dust that sustains the Amazon rainforest remains intact and the activities of the
travelling dust from Africa to the Jungle of the Amazon still continues while continue to
benefit the entire world in the process through abundant O2 supply, effective CO2
absorptions, timber products, medicines, foods, shelter and many more. So Bodele has
now becomes a farmland of everybody given by nature, but the tasks on protecting it
still remains with the Guards of this unique farm which are the government of the
republic of Chad and its indigenous peoples. This lead to making the above listed
suggestions which if proffered and implemented, would make this magical Dust from
Africa keep nourishing the great jungle of the Amazon rainforest endlessly or otherwise
this Dust will stop flying, the Amazon will be malnourished or probably disappear and
then climate change steps in to become the order of the day despites all the efforts and
resources put in place towards reaching the COP 21 agreement in Paris in the year
2015, which expected key result of setting a goal of limiting global warming to less than
2 degrees Celsius (C). In fact instead the World without this magical Dust showering on
the Amazon rainforest would be a World without the Amazon jungle which can lead to
accelerated catastrophic temperature increases.

Thanks for reading this piece:

References:

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Thank you for Listening.

Author-BABAGANA ABUBAKAR

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UNCCPP, Masters, BSc, Fellow African Scientific Institute

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