XRF, XRD, grainsize and total organic carbon in core Konar Sandal peat bog, SE Iran

Their impact on Asian climate has been investigated for monsoonal domains, but remains largely unknown in westerly wind-dominated semi-arid regions. Here we generate a dust record from southeastern Iran spanning the period 19-7 cal. ka BP.

We find a direct link between frequent occurrences of dust plumes originating from the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa, and rapid southward shifts of the westerlies associated with changes of the winter stationary waves during Heinrich Stadial 1, the Younger Dryas, the Preboreal Oscillation and the 8.2 ka event. Dust input rises and falls abruptly at the transitions into and out of these cooling events, which we attribute to changes in the ocean circulation strength and modulated by the North Atlantic winter sea-ice cover.