Does someone study the settling of dust?

I would guess that there are people who study how dust accumulates and falls, especially in the forensic sciences, with regards to crime and body decomposition. They would need to know how fast or at what rate it falls, accumulates or changes in depth.

Of course geologists would also sort of study dust, with regards to the earth and stones and layers.

And then there are pedologists who study soil in its natural setting.

You would think it would get thicker.

They could start at my house …

But seriously, “dust” is too generic a term to someone who would study this topic. After all, there’s coal dust and ash from power plants, which are distinctly different things. (For one thing, coal dust is explosive, and ash from pulverized coal is relatively inert, but still unlike wood ash because it is so abrasive.)

Most household dust is, believe it or not, from the wearing of fabric. That is, from the fabric wearing out, not just because you wear fabric. The lint that collects in the screen on your clothes drier is similar to the dust on your mantel and door sills and tables. But dust also blows in through open windows, and much of that is pollen (in season) and very fine sand that can come from different parts of the world, even. (Los Angeles recently had a brown day as very fine sand from the Chinese desert blew in. And dust from the Sahara can often cover parts of southern Europe when the wind and weather are right.)

I recall the speculation about what might happen when the first Moon landings occurred. There was real concern that the dust might be so fine that the landing module could be buried as it landed. (The lack of atmosphere prevented that, since layers of fine dust on Earth – where that can occasionally be a concern – is “lubricated” by air to make it as puffy as it can be. That’s not going to be much of a concern in space.)