38 kyr record of Asian dust deposition in Hawaii: its links to interglacial/glacial changes

Abstract:

Asian desert dust is the major inorganic fraction of late Cenozoic sediments in the North Pacific. Dust modelling, satellite observations and stable isotope data have contributed to understanding of the dust provenance, teleconnection and process mechanisms. Most paleo-aeolian data have suggested positive links between Asian dust input variability and glacial-interglacial cycles in the North Pacific. However, existing Pacific paleodust studies mostly depend on low-resolution marine records at mid- and high-latitudes. In this study, we reconstruct 38 kyr terrestrial records of Asian dust deposition from Hawaiian montane peat bogs. We also focus on interpreting temporal correlations of the Asian dust flux history with its local hydrological variability over late Quaternary interglacial/glacial changes because of the significant positive correlation between Asian dust mass in Hawaiian surface soils and annual precipitations (Figure A1 & A2). For a proxy for Asian dust in Hawaii, we use quartz, a continental igneous rock-driven mineral type absent in Hawaiian basaltic rocks. Using an X-ray diffraction method, we quantify quartz content and calculate quartz deposition rates. We also reconstruct Hawaiian paleoprecipitation history by using pollen assemblage and peat humification degree analyses. Our results present two significant quartz deposition peaks during the Last Glacial Maximum (0.134 g/cm³) and between 2.6 and 0.4 kyr BP (0.044 g/cm³). Our moisture varaition results show that Hawaii was drier during the LGM than the Holocene. Therefore, this study suggests that Asian dust input in Hawaii has negative temporal correlations with wet deposition-controlling climates, but positive correlations with the drier glacial period in the late Quaternary.