Late Cenozoic records of eolian quartz flux in the Sea of Japan (ODP-Leg 128, Sites 798 and 799) and paleoclimate in Asia
Abstract The quartz content at Sites 798 and 799, as a proxy for eolian sediment supply, gives important informations about paleoclimate in Asia and the paleoenvironment of the Sea of Japan. Lower Pliocene sediments are characterized by rather unique, low quartz accumulation rates, which we attribute to equablee warm, humid climatic conditions. A dramatic shift to higher eolian sediment supply, represented in a distinct increase in quartz flux rates near the Gauss/Matuyama boundary, probably marks an increased aridification in Asia triggered by the development of major Northern Hemisphere glaciation near 2.5 Ma. Late Pliocene/Pleistocene sediments of Site 798 are characterized by short-term, Milankovitch-type changes in eolian quartz supply, probably reflecting glacial/interglacial arid/humid climatic cycles.