Abstract
Mineral dust is a natural tracer of atmospheric composition and climate variability. Yet, there is still much to be known about the Southern Hemisphere dust cycle during the last Pleistocene. Major efforts have attempted to solve the ‘puzzle’ of the origin of the potential source areas that contribute dust to the Southern Ocean and East Antarctica (EA). Here we present a comprehensive geochemical characterization of an important potential source area, which role as a dust supplier to different environments of the SH has significantly been underestimated, that is, the Southern Africa (SAF) region. On the basis of Sr-Nd-Pb isotope ratios and rare earth element concentrations analyzed in sediments collected along the major dust-producing areas in the Namibian coast (Kuiseb, Omaruru and Huab riverbeds and the Namibian sand sea region), this study demonstrates for the first time that SAF emerges as the second most important dust source to EA during interglacial times.
Geochemical characterization of critical dust source regions in the American West
