Major Asian aeolian inputs indicated by the mineralogy of aerosols and sediments in the western North Pacific

TLDR: The authors compared the compositions of soil aerosols and sediments collected from the western North Pacific and found that their mineralogies are identical, except for one mineral, which supports the hypothesis that the sediments are heavily impacted by aeolian sources.

Abstract: Recent atmospheric chemistry studies have shown that substantial quantities of soil material are being transported out of Asia and across large regions of the North Pacific1,2. In the central North Pacific, the estimated1 (6–12×1012 g yr−1) and measured2 (20×1012 g yr−1) deposition rate of mineral aerosols could account for a substantial fraction of the non-biogenic portion of deep-sea sediments in this region, where sedimentologists have previously estimated that 75–95%3,4 of the surface sediment is derived from atmospheric dust fallout. The quantitative importance of wind-transported (aeolian) material to sedimentation in the North Pacific would be more firmly established if it could be shown that the composition of the present-day soil aerosol is similar to that of mineral particles in the underlying sediments, which have been deposited over a period of thousands of years. Here we compare the compositions of soil aerosols and sediments collected from the western North Pacific and find that their mineralogies are identical, except for one mineral. This supports the hypothesis that the sediments are heavily impacted by aeolian sources.