Mongolian Dust Activity Over the Last 25 Kyr Predominantly Driven by the East Asian Winter Monsoon: Insights From the Geochemistry of Lake Tuofengling Sediments

Abstract

Abstract Dust deposition in northeastern Asia since the Last Glacial Maximum has previously been studied using a variety of archives. However, the mechanisms driving variability in dust are less well constrained. Here, we present records of the Nd‐Sr isotope and major element composition of sediments from Lake Tuofengling, a crater lake located in northeastern China, over the past ∼25 thousand years. The results indicate that the lithogenic fractions of the sediments are a mixture between aeolian dust and local volcanic detritus. Our provenance data suggest that the aeolian dust component is predominantly from the Mongolia Plateau, likely carried by the East Asian Winter Monsoon. Our isotope and calculated dust flux records exhibit similar changing patterns to proxies of global ice volume and the strength of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, potentially implicating ice sheets and ocean circulation as the dominant drivers of the East Asian Winter Monsoon over this time interval.

Keywords

• dust deposition
• East Asian Winter Monsoon
• lake sediments
• Sr‐Nd isotopes
• Northeastern China