Fig. 1: Schematic atmospheric circulation and locations of key records (modified from Wan et al.65).
From: Humidification of Central Asia and equatorward shifts of westerly winds since the late Pliocene
The major contribution of Asian dust to the North Pacific is indicated by monthly mean total iron concentrations (μg m−3) based on Earth system modeling (color spectrum) and dust fluxes to the oceans (g cm−2 a−1) (dotted lines)66,67. Marine records include crust CM3D18 in the western Pacific Ocean (this study), IODP Site U1430 in the Sea of Japan22, ODP Site 1146 in the South China Sea (SCS)32,49, and ODP Site 885/88613,23 and ODP Site 12089,68 in the North Pacific. Terrestrial records include the sediment core from Lop Nor (No. 1)40 and loess deposits (No. 2)12 in the Tarim Basin of western China, and loess profiles from Baishui (No. 3)46 and Lingtai (No. 4)48 in the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP). The shaded areas in the Asian interior are potential source regions of Asian dust in the Taklimakan Desert (China) and the Gobi Desert (Mongolia). Arrows indicate wind directions for the East Asian Winter Monsoon (EAWM; light blue) and the prevailing westerlies (dark blue arrow over land for winter; pink arrow over land for summer; thick red arrow over the ocean)69. The locations of the July and January jet streams are from Ishizaka6.
