Semi-ferrous microparticles gather in the mesosphere due to static attraction, however they repel each other such that they remain evenly dispersed much like a gas, and are carried by the wind. As these particles pass cooler zones below, they tend to dip down and effectively "shear off" chunks of stratospheric cirrus type cloud formations, leaving the clouds appearing oddly faceted. The harvested moisture from the cloud formation causes the particles to oxidize rapidly, and the low pressure environment means the oxides jump a phase during transition, and sublimate to gases once again, within the mesosphere.