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East Siberian ice wedges recording dust transport variability during the Late Pleistocene

Soyeon Kim,Hyunwoo Lee,Jeongmin Kim,Yuyoung Lee,Jeong-Heon Choi,Mi Jung Lee,Ui‐Jin Kwon,G. Iwahana,T. Opel,H. Meyer,S. Wetterich,Alexander Fedorov,Jinho Ahn

Published 2025 in Nature Communications

ABSTRACT

During the Late Pleistocene, a severely cold and dry climate strengthened dust production across the Northern Hemisphere. Despite many studies examining aridification and dust production, there is a lack of understanding about dust transportation during global climate variability. Long-range transported (LRT) dust can be traced by comparing global geochemical signatures and constraining provenance relationships. Here we report rare earth element abundances and strontium, neodymium, and oxygen isotope compositions of inorganic substances in ice wedges from Batagay and Central Yakutia (Cyuie and Churapcha), which comprise Yedoma deposits that formed in unglaciated Beringia. Distinct geochemical properties reflect differences between local and LRT dust contributions. Particles in the Batagay ice wedges show higher similarities to Chinese aeolian deposits, while those in Central Yakutia indicate stronger local input. These provenance constraints highlight variability in atmospheric circulation transporting dust to the Arctic during the Late Pleistocene, linking climate changes to aerosol distribution. Dust preserved in Siberian ice wedges reveals shifts in wind patterns during the last glacial stage. Long-range dust transport from China to the Arctic operated under similar mechanisms as today but was blocked during the Last Glacial Maximum.

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