Asian Aridity and the Zonal Westerlies: Late Pleistocene and Holocene Record of Eolian Deposition in the Northwest Pacific Ocean

Rea, D. K. and Leinen, M., 1988. Asian aridity and the zonal westerlies: Late Pleistocene and Holocene record of eolian deposition in the northwest Pacific Ocean. Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 66:1 8. A 30,000-year record of eolian deposition in the northwestern Pacific Ocean provides a history of the aridity of the Asian source region and information on the changing latitude and intensity of the zonal westerlies. The position of the maximum in eolian flux to the deep sea remained unchanged at 38 ° to 40°N during this entire time period, but the dust flux record of aridity is greatest 6000 years ago at the Holocene climatic optimum. Eolian grainsize data indicate that the northern margin of the westerly jet stream retreated northward during the Holocene to a poleward extreme at about 6000 years ago and then moved back toward the equator. The change in wind intensity across this margin was continually reduced throughout the Holocene. These sorts of data enhance our understanding of the behavior of the atmosphere during times of climate change and can be used to test computer-generated models of past climatic conditions.