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Abstract The recent colder winters in midlatitude Eurasia have been proposed to result from Arctic sea-ice decline. However, large uncertainties remain regarding this link in the present variable climate. Here, we present ice-rafted debris records from the eastern Arctic and geochemical data from the temperate East China Sea to reconstruct Holocene changes in sea ice and the East Asian winter monsoon. Our reconstructions and climate numerical simulations revealed enhanced Arctic sea-ice decline but warmer winters in East Asia in the mid-Holocene than in the late Holocene. In the warmer mid-Holocene, enhanced Arctic sea-ice loss transferred more heat from intensive summer solar insolation to the winter atmosphere, suppressing meridional heat transport; thus, less high-latitude cold air moved to lower latitudes in Asia due to the weakened winter monsoon. Our findings imply that the colder winters in East Asia may not change the long-term trend toward winter warming in the context of Arctic sea-ice decline.

Numerous studies, spanning experimental, instrumental, historical, and modeled approaches, have delved into understanding climate change across the Holocene era and millennial-scale occurrences. However, the chronology and causes of centennial-scale climate events during the Holocene remain controversial. In this study, we overviewed 10 of the best-resolved and most accurately dated records detailing climate change in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) over the Holocene, obtained from different proxies across different climatic zones, and constructed a stack of temperature changes in the NH. Based on the constructed stack, we identified and categorized 15 notable Holocene centennial cooling events (HCCEs) in the NH (period with temperature decreases). To test the chronological validity of the constructed HCCEs, we compared them with the most accurately dated and highly resolved climate records during the last 3 kyr, which have been extensively investigated by the scientific community. Based on the close alignment of the outlined HCCEs with temperature records, we suggest that other HCCEs also match centennial climate cooling events over the last 10 kyr. To understand the origins of the established HCCEs, we compared them with potential climate influencing factors: total solar irradiance (TSI), explosive volcanic activity, Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC)-limited slowdowns, Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) fluctuations, and El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO variability. Early Holocene HCCE 5, terminated by a prominent 8.2-ka cold event, was likely driven by the superposition of the AMOC limited slowdown, TSI minimum, and volcanic activity. The Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM) happened between HCCEs 5 and 4a and was interrupted by HCCE 4c and 4b, coeval, with a significant southward shift of the ITCZ, likely related to cooling in the tropical zone. However, the sequence of HCCEs 3b, 3a, and 2b (over 4.53–3.42 BP), accompanied by small changes in the TSI, was likely forced by an increase in ENSO variability, leading to remarkable changes in the tropical processes and a southward shift of the ITCZ, coeval with the collapse of the Chinese Neolithic cultures and onset of the Holocene Neoglacial. Subsequent HCCEs 2a–0a were likely forced by the TSI minimum combined with the influence of ENSO and volcanism over the last 2 ka.

Abstract The West Philippine Basin is not only a back-arc basin resulting from the subduction of the paleo-plates, but it has also undergone modification due to intraplate processes. However, the interaction between intraplate processes and back-arc spreading processes remains unclear. In this study, we present geochemical compositions of basaltic lavas from various tectonic sites in the West Philippine Basin. Lavas from the Benham Rise and its adjacent seamount, as well as basement crust samples from the West Philippine Basin, are similar to oceanic island basalts and mid-oceanic ridge basalts, respectively. The lavas from the Central Basin Fault lie between the two aforementioned types. Based on the mixing modeling of geochemical data, morphological structure of the West Philippine Basin, and age data for lavas, we developed a conceptual model for the three-stage tectonic evolution, with the simultaneous influence of back-arc spreading and mantle plume processes.

Abstract The polar oceans play a vital role in regulating atmospheric CO2 concentrations (pCO2) during the Pleistocene glacial cycles. However, despite being the largest modern reservoir of respired carbon, the impact of the subarctic Pacific remains poorly understood due to limited records. Here, we present high-resolution, 230Th-normalized export productivity records from the subarctic northwestern Pacific covering the last five glacial cycles. Our records display pronounced, glacial-interglacial cyclicity superimposed with precessional-driven variability, with warm interglacial climate and high boreal summer insolation providing favorable conditions to sustain upwelling of nutrient-rich subsurface waters and hence increased export productivity. Our transient model simulations consistently show that ice sheets and to a lesser degree, precession are the main drivers that control the strength and latitudinal position of the westerlies. Enhanced upwelling of nutrient/carbon-rich water caused by the intensification and poleward migration of the northern westerlies during warmer climate intervals would have led to the release of previously sequestered CO2 from the subarctic Pacific to the atmosphere. Our results also highlight the significant role of the subarctic Pacific in modulating pCO2 changes during the Pleistocene climate cycles, especially on precession timescale ( ~ 20 kyr).

The εNd record from the IODP Exp. 359 Site U1467 in the northern Indian Ocean, along with climate modeling, reveals a two-step weakening of the South Asian summer monsoon (SASM) wind since 12 Ma. The SASM evolution was mainly caused by interhemispheric ice-sheet growth since the Middle Miocene.

The latitude-dependent periodicity of East Asian hydroclimate during the Quaternary was probably a response to summer insolation in the north and ice sheet forcing in the south, suggested by analyses of proxy-based rainfall records and climate model simulations.

A shift in Central Asian dust supply with a reduced dominance of the Gobi Desert occurred during Pliocene global cooling, according to a combination of multi-proxy records from a Pacific ferromanganese crust and climate simulations.

Abstract Magnetic greigite may be a valuable indicator for methane emissions in the geological past, if its formation pathway and diagenetic environment can be unambiguously defined. Here, we investigate sulfur isotopic compositions of iron sulfides and ferrous iron concentrations of thick greigite‐bearing sediments (TGBSs) in the South Yellow Sea, a shallow marginal sea with strong methane emissions. For the first time, isotopically heavy iron sulfides (up to 28.7‰ in δ34S and 0.19‰ in Δ33S) and enrichments of ferrous iron in the TGBSs are observed. We interpret the data as indicating synchronic occurrences of anaerobic oxidation of methane coupled to sulfate and iron reductions, which occur in coastal methanic zones with limited sulfate availability and therefore probably imply leakages of methane. Consequently, we suggest that greigite is a promising geological indicator for tracing methane liberated from coastal sediments, accounting for ∼60% of the currently rising global marine methane budget.

Based on marine multiproxy records, a new study outlines the role of larger heat discharge of the pan-Arctic Rivers in determining the pronounced sea ice retreat over the East Siberian Arctic Shelf in the mid-Holocene.

Thirteen Short sediment cores (30-50 cm) were collected from Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea and Changjiang Estuary in China, and the early diagenesis of several redox sensitive metals (Fe, Mn, Mo, U and V, referring to as RSMs) in sediment were studied. The recycling process of Mo and Mn was closely correlated with each other, generating benthic fluxes diffusing upward from sediment to overlying water column, and the flux rates are related to the organic carbon oxidation rates. The recycling of U and V were more tightly coupled with Fe oxides, generating benthic fluxes going downward into the sediment in most cores. Significant authigenic accumulation of U, in contrary to little to no accumulation of Mo and V, were found in the study region, even in Changjiang Estuary where hypoxic condition was often found during summer. Benthic diffusive fluxes were compared with authigenic mass accumulate rates (MAR), which indicated that, besides the benthic diffusion process, there are other processes controlling the authigenic accumulation of the RSMs. The close relationships between authigenic accumulation of RSMs with OCburial and OCburial with Sburial, indicating the authigenic accumulation of RSMs is a consequence of redox environment in shelf sediment, which directly influencing the organic carbon degradation process. Compared with other continental margin, moderate enrichment of U was found in China continental sediment. The authigenic U accumulation in BS and NYS sediments accounted for 20 - 68% of the Yellow River input, whilst in SYS sediments accounted for ~ 64% of the Yellow River and Changjiang River input, which acting as important U sinks that cannot be ignored.

The Tibetan Plateau uplift has induced the formation of the largest sediment source-sink system in the northeast Indian Ocean, which has become an ideal region for investigating land-sea interaction processes. However, many questions regarding sediment transport patterns and their controlling factors at different time scales remain unanswered. Therefore, in the present study, a gravity core named BoB-79, based on the southern Bay of Bengal (BoB) was selected to investigate sediment provenance shift and its corresponding mechanism to sedimentary environment change since the last glacial maximum (LGM). The clay mineral compositions are analyzed and the whole core sediments reveal a feature dominated by illite (~55%), followed by chlorite (~24%) and kaolinite (~17%), and the content of smectite (~4%) is the lowest. A trigonometric analysis of provenance discrimination of clay minerals showed that the Himalayas, together with the Indian Peninsula, represent the main sources of southern BoB sediments, and the last glacial period might have been controlled by the dominant Himalayan provenance, with an average contribution of approximately 90%. However, as a secondary source, the influence of the Indian Peninsula increased significantly during the Holocene, and its mean contribution was 24%, thus, indicating that it had a crucial effect on the evolution process of BoB. The sediment transportation pattern changed significantly from the LGM to the Holocene: in the last glacial period, the low sea level exposed the shelf area that caused the Ganges River connected with the largest submarine canyon in BoB named Swatch of No Ground (SoNG), and the Himalayan materials could be transported to the BoB directly under a strong turbidity current, thereby forming the deep sea deposition center with a sedimentation rate of 4.5 cm/kyr. Following Holocene, the sea level increased significantly, and the materials from multiple rivers around the BoB were directly imported into the continental shelf area. The intensive Indian summer monsoon dominated the transportation process of the terrestrial materials, thereby forming a deposition center in the shallow water area of the continental shelf northeast Indian Ocean; subsequently, the material flux relative to the input to the deep sea area decreased significantly, and the sedimentation rate in the southern BoB decreased to 1.7 cm/kyr.

The main goal of the study is to establish the spatial and temporal distribution of pyroclastic material from large explosive eruptions of the volcanoes of Kamchatka, the Kuril, and Aleutian Islands to create a generalized tephrochronological model and reveal patterns of explosive activity in this region. This paper presents new data on the composition of volcanic ash (tephra) found in the Pleistocene deposits of the northwestern Pacific from the eastern slope of the Detroit Rise (northwestern part of the Imperial Ridge), 450–550 km east of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Eleven layers and lenses of tephra aged from 28 to 245 ka, which were previously unknown, were studied in the core Lv63-4-2. Their stratigraphic position and age were determined based on age models developed in this study. Based on the geochemical composition of volcanic glass (determined using an electron microprobe), seven layers were correlated with tephra from several cores in the northwestern Pacific and the Bering Sea. The obtained results supplement the information on large explosive eruptions of volcanoes in the region and their periods of activity. They also allow the development of a generalized tephrochronological model of Quaternary deposits, which is necessary for stratigraphic correlation, and of paleooceanological and paleogeographic reconstructions.

With the consumption of terrestrial metal resources, deep-sea polymetallic nodule minerals have been widely exploited around the world. Therefore, the environmental impact of deep-sea polymetallic nodule mining cannot be ignored. In this study, for the first time, a field disturbance and observation device, integrated with multiple sensors, is used to simulate the disturbance process of mining on seabed sediments in the polymetallic nodule area of the western Pacific Ocean at a depth of 5700 m. The impact of the process of stroking and lifting on the bottom sediment in the polymetallic nodule area is 30 times higher than that caused by the waves or the current. The time for turbidity to return to normal after the increase is about 30 min, and the influence distance of a disturbance to the bottom bed on turbidity is about 126 m. The time it takes for density to return to normal is about four hours, and the influence is about 1000 m. At the same time, the resuspension of the bottom sediment leads to an increase in density anomaly and salinity. Moreover, suspended sediments rich in metal ions may react with dissolved oxygen in water, resulting in a decrease in the dissolved oxygen content and an increase in ORP. During the observation period, the phenomenon of a deep-sea reciprocating current is found, which may cause the suspended sediment generated by the continuous operation of the mining vehicle to produce suspended sediment clouds in the water near the bottom of the mining area. This could lead to the continuous increase in nutrients in the water near the bottom of the mining area and the continuous reduction in dissolved oxygen, which will have a significant impact on the local ecological environment. Therefore, the way mining vehicles dig and wash in water bodies could have a marked impact on the marine environment. We suggest adopting the technology of suction and ore separation on mining ships, as well as bringing the separated sediment back to the land for comprehensive utilization.

Oceanic oxygen levels are decreasing significantly in response to global climate change; however, the microbial diversity and ecological functional responses to dissolved oxygen (DO) in the open ocean are largely unknown. Here, we present prokaryotic distribution coupled with physical and biogeochemical variables and DO gradients from the surface to near the bottom of a water column along an approximately 12,000-km transect from 13° N to 18° S in the Tropical Pacific Ocean. Nitrate (11.42%), temperature (10.90%), pH (10.91%), silicate (9.34%), phosphate (4.25%), chlorophyll a (3.66%), DO (3.50%), and salinity (3.48%) significantly explained the microbial community variations in the studied area. A distinct microbial community composition broadly corresponding to the water masses formed vertically. Additionally, distinct ecotypes of Thaumarchaeota and Nitrospinae belonging to diverse phylogenetic clades that coincided with specific vertical niches were observed. Moreover, the correlation analysis revealed large-scale natural feedback in which chlorophyll a (organic matter) promoted Thaumarchaeotal biomass at depths that subsequently coupled with Nitrospina, produced and replenished nitrate for phytoplankton productivity at the surface. Low DO also favored Thaumarchaeota growth and fueled nitrate production.

Abstract Despite the importance of the westerlies to the global climate system, we still know little about their long‐term evolution and possible orographic controls during the late Cenozoic because of the lack of sedimentary records with precise chronological control. Eolian deposition in the North Pacific preserved past information about the westerlies, the major wind system delivering Asian dust to the Pacific. A continuous, high‐resolution eolian flux record since 23 Ma was reconstructed from sediments at Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 296 in the North Pacific. Combined with dust flux at Ocean Drilling Program Site 1208, variations in their difference indicated a northwards shift of the westerlies during 23‒9 Ma and a relatively stable state since then. We suggest that Tibetan uplift since the early Miocene began to drive the poleward shift of the westerlies until 9 Ma, after which the westerlies remained relatively stable over Asia on million‐year timescales.

AbstractAs the largest submarine fan, the Bay of Bengal (BoB) captures the abundant environment and climate fingerprints on different time scales. To investigate the sedimentary response to climate change since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), an integrated survey was performed to study grain size, major, and trace elements (Al2O3, CaO, K2O, Na2O, TiO2, Sr, and Rb) of core BoB-24 sediments from the central BoB. The (K/Al)-TiO2 (%) relationship of the sediments was taken for the discrimination of provenance, which indicated that sediments from core BoB-24 in 24~6.5 cal ka BP were primarily from terrigenous material input from the Himalayas. In contrast, the material contribution from the Indian subcontinent increased distinctly since 6.5 cal ka BP. The rising sea level severed direct material supply, thus causing the evolution of sediment provenance of the central BoB. Meanwhile, the strengthened Indian summer monsoon (ISM) in the Holocene affected detrital material transport from offshore to the central BoB. After understanding the sediment provenance in the study, we choose the sensitive grain-size fraction to show the evolution of hydrodynamic conditions. The chemical index of alteration (CIA) and Ti/Ca and Rb/Sr ratios are calculated to indicate the change in terrigenous input and weathering intensity. The contents of sediment fraction from 11.05 to 15.63 μm, CIA, and ratios of Ti/Ca and Rb/Sr in core BoB-24 showed the same trends, which were low during the last deglaciation and late Holocene but high in the Early Holocene. The trends were strongly correlated with the variation of the Indian summer monsoon, indicating the possible impact of Indian monsoon on sediment transport in the Bay of Bengal. Alternative indicators such as the contents of ratios of Ti/Ca and Rb/Sr, CIA, and sensitive grain-size content in sediments of core BoB-24 jointly record the evolution history of ISM since 24 ka BP in the Bay of Bengal. Although the sensitivity and response of each indicator to the paleoenvironment and paleoclimate change are slightly different, on the whole, the change trend is the same. Specifically, four warm-cold alternating periods (Heinrich Event 1, Bølling/Allerød, Younger Dryas, and Early Holocene Climatic Optimum) had a strong signal in these proxies that indicated that the millennial-scale climate controls the terrigenous input to the Bay of Bengal, where a high value occurs in warm events and low value in cold events. The sedimentary pattern of the northeastern Indian Ocean provides scientific evidence for an insight into the regional response to global climate change and the long-term climate change trend of the human environment across the monsoon region.

AbstractThe mineralogical and geochemical compositions of the sediments deposited by rivers have been used extensively to evaluate past chemical weathering and the physical erosion history of drainage basins at different time scales. However, the role of sediment sorting in the mineralogical and geochemical compositions of river sediment needs to be better constrained because it could significantly modify proxies used to evaluate weathering intensity in the past. In this study, major and trace element concentrations and mineralogical compositions were determined on seven different grain-size fractions of riverbed samples taken from the Pahang and Kelantan Rivers in the Malay Peninsula. The main aims are to assess chemical weathering and the fractionation of alkali elements during sediment transportation under tropical climate conditions. Fine sediments (from

Mineral resources are essential to prosperity and security of modern societies. How mineral resources can guarantee sustainable development of economy in countries, especially those developing countries, has long been a focus of attention of international communities. This paper provides a comprehensive summary for major advance of the research on mineral resources in past decades, and proposes some key issues regarding ore-forming mechanism, exploration and utilization of major and critical mineral resources. On the basis of these aspects, we also identify four priority science issues to be addressed in the future, including (1) mechanism of both metal circulation and extremely high concentration, (2) theories and technologies of prospecting deep-earth resources, (3) investigation of mineral resources in seafloor and polar regions, and (4) efficient, clean and recycling utilization of mineral resources. It can be expected that new advances in these four issues would tremendously promote the innovation of mineral resource science, and provide scientific and technologic support to meet the demand of mineral resources for human activities and the harmonious development of both mineral-resource exploration and ecological restoration.

AbstractRadon (222Rn) has been widely employed as a tracer for estimating submarine groundwater discharge (SGD). However, the uncertainty of the SGD estimation remains significant, due to the spatial variability of radon in groundwater. In this study, we analyzed the hydrochemical proprieties of seawater and coastal groundwater in the Upper Gulf of Thailand and discussed the distribution characteristics of 222Rn in aquifers in terms of aquifer lithology, groundwater system recharge conditions, and water retention time. The results suggested that the residence time of groundwater and the process of groundwater salinization have the greatest impact on the distribution of 222Rn activity. A 222Rn mass balance model, synthesizing the distribution characteristics of 222Rn in groundwater and tidal influences on SGD, was built to estimate the submarine groundwater discharge in the Upper Gulf of Thailand. The result showed that the SGD flux of the Upper Gulf of Thailand was 0.0203 m/d. Moreover, there is a positive correlation between tidal height and the activity of 222Rn in groundwater. The SGD observed during the low tide was about 1.25 times higher than that observed during the high tide. This may influence the marine geochemical cycles of elements and their impact on marine ecosystems.

AbstractThe Sea of Japan (JS), a unique marginal sea without any large river influxes in the western Pacific, provides ample information about the evolution of sea level, East Asian monsoons (EAM), sea ice activity, and ocean currents in geological time. However, insufficient investigation in the western JS limits our knowledge of East Asian climate change. This study utilizes major and trace elements and Pb isotopes of fine siliciclastic components (

AbstractWildfire is an integral part of the Earth’s climate system and plays an important role in shaping terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity, atmospheric chemistry, regional climate, and the carbon cycle in the Earth’s history. However, the lack of high-resolution records of long wildfires limits our understanding of the natural variability, long-term trends of wildfire activity, and the reasons behind the changes in wildfire on orbital timescales. Here, a 320 ka long high-resolution wildfire record from the subarctic North Pacific is reconstructed with black carbon (BC), including its two subtypes char and soot. A 7-day-long back trajectory simulation analysis reveals the higher frequency of trajectories comes from Siberia. Our data show that continuous incidence of wildfire on a continental scale over the last 320 ka was higher during glacial periods than during the interglacial periods. The increase in wildfire frequency during glacial periods is ascribed to less precipitation. Contrasting patterns of wildfire incidence between marine isotope stages 2 and 6 may be ascribed to different fuel availability, which is related to contrasting configurations of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheet between glacial periods. A significant periodicity of 23 ka of our wildfire record suggests the precession of the Earth’s orbit pace wildfire development. The tight coupling of intensified wildfire and enhanced nutrient utilization efficiency suggests a nontrivial role of fire in the climate system.

The West Pacific Margin incorporates 75% of global marginal basins/back-arc basins. These basins and their adjacent trenches and island arcs constitute a huge trench-arc-basin system created by the interactions among three tectonic plates (the Pacific, Eurasian, and Indian plates) since about 50 Ma. Located among these three plates, the Philippine Sea Plate (PSP) is surrounded by a series of subduction zones, e.g., the Philippine Trench to the west, the Ryukyu Trench and the Nankai Trough to the north, the Izu-Bonin-Mariana (IBM) Trench to the east, and the Yap and Palau trenches to the south. Plate reconstruction shows that the PSP was originally located near the equator, and it has gradually moved northward since the Early Cenozoic. In addition, due to multiple subducted slab rollback events and the related multiple rifting of the proto-IBM Arc, several important tectonic units have been formed, including back-arc basins and relic/active arcs. The back-arc basins include the West Philippine Basin (WPB, spreading at 65-35 Ma), the Shikoku Basin (SKB, spreading at 27-15 Ma), the Parece Vela Basin (PVB, spreading at 29-15 Ma), and the Mariana Trough (MT, spreading from 5 Ma to present), and the main arcs include the Relic Kyushu-Palau Arc (ridge) (KPR, termination at 29 Ma), the Relic West Mariana Arc (ridge) (WMR, termination at 6Ma), the Active IBM Arc (since 11 Ma), and the Yap Arc (since 24 Ma). The geochemistry of these main tectonic units is as follows. The WPB has undergone back-arc spreading and intraplate magmatism, producing many rock types such as back-arc basin basalts (BABBs) similar to normal mid-oceanic ridge basalt (NMORB) and/or enriched mid-oceanic ridge basalt (EMORB) in the central basin, and oceanic island basalts (OIBs) in the Benham Rise and the Urdaneta. In addition, several Late Mesozoic arc terranes (e.g., the Amami Plateau, the Daito Ridge, and the Huatun Basin) developed in the WPB. The SKB mainly contains back-arc basin basalts (BABBs). After termination of the spreading in the SKB, two groups of seamounts with ages of 15-7 Ma formed. One group has undergone subduction. The other group (the Kinan Seamount Chain) is characterized by an OIB and mixed mantle source (Indian Ocean MORB and enriched mantle type one (EM1) geochemical signatures. The PVB basement rock is composed of back-arc basin basalts (BABBs). However, the southern PSP basin is very complex. The Mariana Trough mainly contains BABBs, with island arc basalts (IABs) occurring in the spreading center near the island arc. The IBM Arc mainly contains 52-51 Ma fore-arc basalts, 49-45 Ma boninites, and

The distribution and evolution of C4 plants are closely related to climate change. However, with the development of agriculture, to what extent human activities affect the natural environment and play an important role in controlling C3/C4 vegetation remains unclear. In this study, the carbon isotopic composition of black carbon (BC) extracted from sediments in core CSDP-1 in the western South Yellow Sea was used to reconstruct the evolution of C3/C4 vegetation in the Yellow River Basin since ∼7 ka BP. The results show that the warm and humid climate in northern China was more suitable for C4 plant growth during the middle Holocene. The relative abundance of C4 plants in the source region, the Yellow River Basin, decreased with lower temperature and precipitation from 7 to 3 ka BP. However, after ∼3 ka BP, the inherent relationship between climate and vegetation growth decoupled, with rapid expansion of C4 plants under cooling and drying climates. We suggest that strengthened human activity (including deforestation and cultivating C4 crops) replaced climate as the main factor affecting C3/C4 vegetation during the late Holocene.

The carbon cycle on the Earth’s surface is linked to long-term variations in atmospheric CO2 as well as carbon sequestration in various pools. The burial of particulate organic carbon (OC) in marine sediments is also highly sensitive to the global climate over geological time scales, but with little known about OC burial and its regulations over glacial-interglacial cycles. Here, we present a long-term OC record over the past ∼380 kyr, from the Northwest Pacific Ocean, an ideal region for studying OC burial and its environmental implications on glacial-interglacial timescales. We observed a distinct cyclicity of higher OC burial in glacial periods, which was coupled with input from Asian dust and the Kuroshio Current but seemingly decoupled from biogenic element contents, implying a limited effect of marine productivity on OC burial. Moreover, the sedimentary record of OC was synchronous with oceanic redox conditions, especially the redox sensitive elements at the sediment-water interface, indicating a relatively reducing conditions that enhanced OC preservation during glacial periods. The overall glacial-interglacial OC burial regime in the Northwest Pacific Ocean was conceptually constructed. It showed a higher efficiency of OC burial during glacial periods and significant degradation during interglacial periods. The findings of this study highlighted the important contribution of environmental redox conditions on OC burial in the deep Northwest Pacific, demonstrating the sensitivity of the carbon cycle to global climate on an orbital scale.

AbstractThe continental margin is one of the major depocenters for terrigenous sediments in the world ocean. Complex interactions between land and sea control the sedimentary processes along the continental margin. The Okinawa Trough (OT) receives huge amounts of terrigenous materials transported by rivers from the adjacent landmass, while the Kuroshio Current (KC) and the North Pacific Intermediate Water jointly play major roles in oceanic climate and regional deposition patterns of terrigenous sediments. Various studies have investigated the changes in terrigenous sediment provenance in the central OT only since the last glacial. Still, few studies focus on more long-term variations in terrigenous deposition over the last few glacial-interglacial cycles. Here, we report a new high-resolution sediment geochemistry record of a well-dated core MD01-2404 taken from the central OT covering a timespan of 92 kyr. Our results show dynamic glacial-interglacial changes in sediment compositions and terrigenous deposition patterns. Bulk sediments in MD01-2404 comprise relatively high biogenic components during interglacials, while higher terrigenous fractions during the last deglacial and glacial periods. We suggest that the provenance of terrigenous sediments is mainly derived from Taiwanese rivers, Yangtze River, and Yellow River with hydrothermal inputs. During the time interval of 37 to 46 kyr, a new finding of “Negative Ce Anomaly Event” in the central OT firstly reported here is attributed to a combination of suboxic conditions in deep and pore waters and the addition of depleted Ce-bearing sediments. Temporal changes of deposition patterns in the central OT are attributed to complex interactions among dynamic glacial-interglacial changes in eustatic sea level, the East Asian summer monsoon, and the KC.

Abstract Slope topography is known to control the spatial distribution of deposits on intraplate seamounts; however, relatively little is known about how slope topography changes constrain those depositional patterns. In this study, we analyse data on four lithotypes found on seamount slopes, including colloidal chemical deposits comprising mainly cobalt-rich crusts, and examine the relationships between the spatial distribution of these lithotypes and current slope topography. We use these relationships to discuss depositional patterns constrained by slope topography changes. Some depositional units in drill core samples are interpreted to have resulted from past topographic changes that created the current slope topography. Two or more types of deposits that accumulated at the same location implies that the slope topography changed over time and that the depositional patterns on seamount slopes are constrained by changes in slope topography.

Abstract Reconstruction of monsoon evolution in the tropical Indian Ocean and evaluation of its influence on large-scale ocean circulation and sea-air interaction processes can help us understand climate driving mechanisms. Herein, we used a gravity core SO184-10043 to present the marine sedimentary record from the southernmost Sumatra, spanning the past 35 kyr. The age model is well constrained by 12 accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates determined in mixed planktic foraminifera. We also measured sediment grain size and major and trace elements to reconstruct the variations in hydrodynamic conditions and chemical weathering intensity. These data were then used to reveal the evolution of the northwest (Indonesian) monsoon system over the past 35 kyr. The results showed that both monsoon current and chemical weathering coincided with summer insolation in the Northern Hemisphere and responded to glacial-interglacial climate changes in the northern Atlantic. Higher grain-size values of sensitive components, increased chemical index of alteration (CIA), and Ba/Sr ratios, together with lower CaO/MgO ratios, reflect a stronger monsoon current and chemical weathering during the late marine isotope stage 3 and Holocene. Higher intensity of chemical weathering might be attributed to a stronger northwest monsoon carrying warm and moist air from the Asian continent to Indonesian waters. Lower values of sensitive components, CIA, and Ba/Sr, along with higher CaO/MgO values, reveal a weaker monsoon current and lower intensity of chemical weathering during the last glaciation-deglaciation phase, which was controlled by a weaker monsoon system. At a millennial timescale, cold events occurred during the following intervals: 30–26 ka BP, Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1; 18–15 ka BP), Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; 23–18 ka BP), Younger Dryas (YD; 11–10 ka BP), and 8.2 ka BP. The same cold events were identified from core SO184-10043, indicating a perfect match with climatic cooling in the Northern Hemisphere. We also observed periodicities of ~ 7.9 ka, 3.0–3.1 ka, 2.2–2.3 ka, and ~ 1.0 ka in our core records. These periodicities are coincident with solar-induced climate changes and support the hypothesis that monsoon evolution in the tropical Indian Ocean during the late Pleistocene coincided with the climate change in the Northern Hemisphere.

Abstract We investigated an alkenone-based sea surface temperature (SST) and the hydrographic change records of the subarctic Northwestern (NW) Pacific from the last glacial to interglacial. The core we investigated is a piston core (LV 63-41-2, 52.56° N, 160.00° E; water depth 1924 m) retrieved from the southern offshore east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, which is a location of high sedimentation rate, with highly dynamic interactions with the cold/warm water masses of the Bering Sea/the NW Pacific. Based on our alkenone analysis with a previously well-established chronology of the core, we found high glacial C37:4 contents suggesting larger freshwater influences prior to the last deglacial in approximately 27–16 ka BP. The most significant features of what we found are alkenone indicative of “warming” intervals with minimum alkenone productions that occurred prior to the stadial Heinrich event 1 and the Younger Dryas. In contrast, for the interval corresponding to the Bølling–Allerød period, our alkenone analysis shows relatively “colder” but maximum alkenone productions. We conclude that this particular subarctic alkenone SST proxy record is mainly masked by non-thermal environmental influences, such as strong shifts of timing and duration of the sea ice retreat and/or salinity changes in surface water at this site, which could cause changes in water stratification that affect nutrient supplies of the upper ocean that modulate growth durations of phytoplankton/coccolithophore productions. Our studies suggest that this subarctic alkenone “SST” proxy record is indicative of the changes of seasonality that control the timing and duration of the blooming seasons of coccolithophores. The alkenone “SST” proxy is also dominantly driven by water stratification effects that, instead of SSTs, reflect most likely a combination of the following local to regional climate and ocean current patterns: (1) the amount of meltwater inputs from high mountain glaciers at Kamchatka; (2) less saline, nutrient-rich Alaskan Stream waters from the Cordilleran Ice Sheet in the Gulf of Alaska; (3) downwelling waters associated with the interactions between the southward Eastern Kamchatka Current and the spinning-up of the North Pacific Subarctic Gyre; and (4) the strength of the Kuroshio Current since the last glacial.

Abstract Lithogenic grain-size, geochemical elements of core sediments from the central Bay of Bengal (BoB) were analyzed to identify sediment provenance and explore the regional “source-sink” processes since 25 ka. Based on the geochemical compositions of core BoB-88, relative contributions of three end-member sources (Himalayan, Myanmar, Indian Peninsula) were calculated and support the general understanding that Himalayan sources were dominant since the last glacial period, which could reach 70% on average in our study. However, sediments from the Indian Peninsula and Myanmar also contributed nonnegligible materials to the central BoB since 25 ka, especially the former shows an obvious increase since 7.5 ka, which was neglected in the previous studies. To trace the sedimentary processes of different provenance terrigenous materials and reveal their response to climate changes, four typical stages with obvious provenance percent variation, including the Last Glacial Maximum period (LGM), Heinrich 1 (H1), Early Holocene Climate Optimum (EHCO), and mid-late Holocene period, were highlighted and discussed. Sea-level change played a dominant role in the glacial-interglacial scale by controlling the transition of deposition center between the shelf/subaquatic delta and the Bengal Fan, especially for sediment from the Himalayan source, exerting influence on contributions from different provenance end-members between the Holocene and the last glacial period. The opposite directions of the southwest and northeast monsoon current in the BoB have a significant influence on the transfer of the Indian Peninsula and Myanmar materials to the studied core, which led to an increase of up to 11% than the average of the Indian Peninsula and a decrease of up to 9% than the average of the Myanmar source during the Holocene. The balance between sea level (limited transport to the deep sea) and ISM (improved erosion production and output to the BoB) during the mid-late Holocene period maintained the stability of Himalayan source percent. Due to the control of the ISM variations, the Himalayan source showed a decrease of up to 20% and 21% than average during the LGM and H1 period, respectively, and an increase of up to 14% than average during the EHCO. The Myanmar source exhibited fluctuations around the average value during the LGM period, but an obvious increase of up to 21% during the H1 period and a decrease up to 8% during the EHCO, while the Indian Peninsula source percent showed little variations during the LGM and H1, but a decrease of up to 6% during the EHCO. Obvious 1/4 processional and millennial periodic changes (5.0 kyr and 1.1 kyr) of contribution proportions from three end-members provide additional evidences for the climate control on the regional source-sink processes and proved the controlled mechanisms of the orbital parameters and possible influence from the solar activity on millennial scales.

Abstract Highly branched isoprenoids (HBIs) in marine sediments have emerged as promising semi‐quantitative proxies to reconstruct seasonal sea ice in polar oceans. In this work, we examine the distribution of sympagic HBIs (IP25 and HBI‐II), pelagic phytoplankton biomarkers (brassicasterol, dinosterol and HBI‐III) as well as terrestrial sterols (campesterol and β‐sitosterol) in the surface sediments of the East Siberian Sea (ESS) to test their reliability as sea‐ice proxies under continental run‐off influence. Our data suggest that dinosterol performs better than brassicasterol to assess sea ice across the ESS shelf, yet the correlation between PDIP25 and spring sea ice is relatively weak but improves when removing sites with salinity

Coastal lagoons are among the most vulnerable and economically significant ecosystems on Earth. Songkhla Lake, connected with the Gulf of Thailand, is the second largest lake in Southeast Asia and supports the development of the fishery, transportation, and tourism industries in southern Thailand. With increasing anthropogenic disturbances, the lake is facing acute ecological problems and further research is needed. Here, we provide 55-year record of grain size, color reflectance, magnetic susceptibility, total organic carbon, total nitrogen, and trace element (As, Hg, Pb, Cr, Ni, Cu, and Zn) concentrations of sediment core SKL8-2 collected from Songkhla Lake. These records reveal a three-stage sedimentary and input history of trace metals under anthropogenic effects: 1) From 1964 to 1982, it was a natural terrigenous input period with a relative reduction environment when the channel connecting Songkhla Lake and the Gulf of Thailand was closed. 2) Trace metal concentrations, organic carbon content, b* value, and magnetic susceptibility changed abruptly in 1982. During 1982–2000, the sources of trace metals were more complex than during 1964–1982 and mainly came from urban wastewater, industrial effluent, and fishery discharge. 3) From 2000 to 2019, contamination signals of Pb, Hg, As, Zn, and Ni emerged in the first decade because of the rapid development and poor sewage treatment around nearby cities.

Early diagenesis processes and the geochemistry of redox-sensitive elements (RSEs) in four sediment cores in an active hydrothermal field in the southern Okinawa Trough (OT) was investigated. Dissolved Fe, Mn, ΣHS–, and several other RSEs (Mo, U, and V) in pore water were measured. We also studied metal distribution in sediments using sequential extraction methods. Very high dissolved Fe concentrations (∼140 μmol L–1) but insignificant dissolved Mn were observed in surficial pore waters in the station adjacent to the hydrothermal vent, where highly reactive Fe, Mo, U in the sediments were also measured. Such an atypical diagenetic sequence found in those cores could be driven by the overwhelmingly high reactive Fe fraction (mostly Fe oxides) delivered from the vents. Consequently, significant upward benthic fluxes of Fe and Mo were estimated for the studied stations. In addition, we performed a principal component analysis (PCA), together with relative ratios of carbonate-related elements (Sr, Ca, Mg), to identify particles’ origins in the hydrothermal field; two endmembers being the hydrothermal source and hydrogenous processes. This comprehensive study on a unique set of samples collected by advanced technology provided valuable data to demonstrate distinctive geochemical features that occur in hydrothermal sediments.

Sea ice in the Okhotsk Sea plays a significant role in global climate change. However, the history and mechanism of changes in sea ice spanning the last glacial cycle remain controversial. In this study, an 8.8 m core (LV55-40-1) was recovered from the southwestern Okhotsk Sea that contains a continuous sea ice record over the past ∼110 kyr. The sand fraction and dropstones were used as ice-rafted debris proxies to reconstruct the history of sea ice variations over the last ∼110 kyr and to determine the underlying causes on orbital and millennial timescales. Sea ice expansions occurred during MIS 5b, MIS 4, mid-MIS 3, and early MIS 1, which were controlled mainly by decreased autumn insolation on an orbital timescale. Superimposed on the orbital-scale changes, millennial-scale variations in sea ice were also observed, with 19 expansion events that coincided with cold Dansgaard-Oeschger stadials. Millennial scale sea ice variations were most likely controlled by both the Arctic oscillation and the East Asian summer monsoon. During periods of negative Arctic oscillation patterns, decreased air temperatures over the Okhotsk Sea caused more active sea ice formation. Such conditions could have been reinforced, by a reduced influence of warm advection at the surface of the Okhotsk Sea caused by decreased discharge from the Amur River that resulted from a weakened East Asian summer monsoon during cold stadials.

Leaching technique was mostly carried out on submarine rock powder to minimize or eliminate secondary effect of seawater interaction on Sr and Pb isotope magmatic signatures. However, the effect of leaching on trace element contents is comparatively poorly established. To investigate such effects, we have compared trace element and Nd-Pb isotopic data for acid leached ∼290 Ma Keping basalts in the Tarim Large Igneous Province (NW China) with unleached data on the same rocks. Rare earth elements (REE), Y, Th and U contents of leached sample grains (0.6–1.0 mm size) are 10–65% lower than those of unleached grains of the same sample, whereas other trace elements are not affected. Sm/Nd, Lu/Hf, U/Pb and Th/Pb ratios are fractionated by acid leaching between leached and unleached sample grains. Nd isotope values are unaffected by leaching, but 208Pb/204Pb and 206Pb/204Pb values of leached samples are significantly lower than those of unleached samples. X-ray diffraction results suggest that removal of secondary epidote during the acid leaching process could result in the fractionation of REE, Y, Th and U contents, and Sm/Nd, Lu/Hf, U/Pb and Th/Pb ratios, and 208Pb/204Pb and 206Pb/204Pb values. These results suggest that when the samples have been leached with strong acid (>1N HCl), their trace element cannot be used to trace the sources and petrogenesis. If leaching is applied to old (e.g., >100 Ma) continental basalts in order to eliminate contamination during sample collection, storage, sawing and crushing, Th/Pb and U/Pb ratios used to calculate the initial Pb isotope values, should be obtained on the same leached samples. Keywords: Tarim Large Igneous Province, Trace element, Nd-Pb isotopes, Alteration, Acid leaching

The Okhotsk Sea is a distinctive marginal sea in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, which is characterized by the prevalence of seasonal sea ice in winter. Sediment is sourced from the around region through sea ice transportation, rivers input, and volcanic eruptions. Surface sediments of the Okhotsk Sea shelf vary greatly in grain size, and the sand content is generally high, which is conducive to source-to-sink studies using ice-rafted detritus (IRD),detrital minerals and single mineral geochemistry methods. In this paper, the 63–125 μm grain size fraction was selected for the detrital minerals analysis of surface sediments (top 0–10 cm) from 58 sediment stations and 15 stations samples has been chosen for garnet chemistry. These stations are mainly located in the south central Okhotsk Sea. The distribution and composition of the heavy minerals are influenced by material derived from the Amur River, the north shelf (Okhotsk-Chukotka volcanic belt), Sakhalin Island, the Kamchatka Peninsula, and the Kuril Islands. The detrital mineral results show that hornblende, epidote and garnet are terrigenous material indicators. High contents of fresh hypersthene can be used as an indicator of volcanic eruption materials. And high content of abraded hypersthene can be used as an indicator of Okhotsk-Chukotka volcanic materials. In the northern Okhotsk Sea, the southward moving sea ice produced in Sakhalin Bay collides with the sea ice produced off the east coast of Sakhalin Island, which causes the sea ice to accumulate to the southeast. This results in the deposited ice-rafted debris having a southeastward facing fan shape, and the geochemical analysis of the garnet supports this conclusion. From west to east, the amount of material from Sakhalin Island gradually decreases, while the amount of material from the Amur River and Chukchi-Kamchatka increases.

Transgression and regression deposits from the shallow continental margin provide information on orbital-scale variations in sea level, climate change, and local tectonics. In this study, we conduct a high-resolution chronological and sedimentological analysis of a 125-m core (NHH01) drilled in the southern Yellow Sea. We developed a high-resolution age model at the orbital timescale over the last ∼1 Myr by the astronomical tuning of the sediment grain size. Sedimentological analysis and environmental proxies reveal that the study area is characterized by cyclic alternations of neritic and littoral/fluvial deposits controlled by glacial–interglacial sea-level changes. These results confirm the earlier assumption that sea-level fluctuations play a dominant role in the sedimentary architecture of the southern Yellow Sea. Moreover, only low-frequency sea-level fluctuations (∼100 kyr) were preserved in the NHH01 sequence; however, additional high-frequency (∼40 kyr) sea-level variations were also present in the sediments of the shallower Bohai Sea. Despite the large spatial difference, this finding implies that the sedimentary environment in the eastern marginal seas of China had been influenced by the sea level as a whole over the last 1 Myr. The comparison of the sedimentary environment with other cores from the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, and coastal region, as well as records from Indonesia and Japan, reveals that a consistent initiation of large-scale marine transgression occurred at ∼0.8–1 Ma. This phenomenon was likely caused by the long duration of glacio-eustatic high sea-level stands following the Middle Pleistocene transition, which is characterized by a shift in glacial cycles from 40 to 100 kyr.

High-resolution records of grain size, major and trace elements, and Sr-Nd isotopes of Core K17 from the western Sunda Shelf were investigated to evaluate the response of weathering and terrigenous input to climatic changes and human activities over the past 7400 years. Sr-Nd isotopic results indicate that the Kelantan River is the main source of sedimentary material in the study core since the mid-Holocene. Chemical weathering levels are represented by the chemical index of alteration (CIA), αAlNa, and K2O/Al2O3 ratios; and geochemical and grain size proxies (including TiO2/CaO, Rb/Sr ratios, and grain size end-member) were used to establish variations of terrigenous input into the study core since 7400 cal yr BP. Based on these records, the evolution of weathering and terrigenous input processes in the western Sunda Shelf can be divided into four stages. During stage 1 (7400–3700 cal yr BP), increasing precipitation and decreasing temperature jointly balanced the relatively stable weathering and terrigenous sediment supply. Dramatically decreasing weathering rates were consistent with less rainfall and lower temperatures during stage 2 (3700–2600 cal yr BP). Heavy rainfall played a more important role than low temperature in controlling weathering and erosion, leading to increasing terrigenous input in stage 3 (2700–1600 cal yr BP). Because of the decoupling between weathering, erosion, and climate in the late Holocene (stage 4, since 1600 cal yr BP), increasing agriculture and related human activities likely dominated weathering and erosion relative to climate changes. Furthermore, the initial time at which human activity overwhelmed natural processes in the southern South China Sea (SCS) is similar to that in the northern SCS. Our results highlight that human activities during the past 1600 years have gradually overwhelmed natural climatic controls on weathering and erosion processes in the western Sunda Shelf.

To help understanding the potential relationship between chemical weathering and Indian summer monsoon (ISM) since the last glacial period a gravity core (BoB-56) was retrieved from the central Bay of Bengal (BoB). The data of chemical weathering indexes (CIA, WIP, and αAlNa) used in this study showed general synchronicity with the regional monsoon precipitation and temperature record on precessional scale, indicating existence of control from the ISM on weathering. Corresponding to alteration of warm/cold period during the last deglaciation, obvious simultaneously alteration of higher/lower values of the chemical weathering and terrestrial input proxies’ record support our hypothesis that the ISM driving chemical weathering on the millennial scale. However, a contradiction occurred during the Holocene period, when the ISM precipitation and temperature rose to a higher level, while the alternative indexes unanimously reflected a weaker chemical weathering conditions. In this study, we discussed the applicability of chemical weathering indexes in the BoB during the Holocene period. Besides the possible weakened monsoon during 6–3 ka, recorded by the stalagmite δ18O and Sea Surface Temperature (SST) reconstruction results in the northeastern Indian Ocean, other factors were responsible for this phenomenon, including the grain size effect and distinction between the mountain high land and floodplain low land. The chemical weathering records, during the last glaciation, indicated the presence of control from the ISM on weathering at precessional and millennial scales. While, during the Holocene, they failed to reflect the actual chemical weathering dynamics of the source area. Indeed, a mixture of physical erosion and chemical weathering seems to be representative of the chemical weathering dynamics in the area. Our findings emphasized on the tight connections between the chemical weathering evolution and global-regional climate conditions around the BoB, implying possible ISM-controlled mechanisms during different time scales.

Investigating the composition and distribution of pelagic marine sediments is fundamental in the field of marine sedimentology. The spatial distributions of surface sediment are unclear due to limited investigation along the Emperor Seamount Chain of the North Pacific. In this study, a suite of sedimentological and geochemical proxies were analyzed, including the sediment grain size, organic carbon, CaCO3, major and rare earth elements of 50 surface sediment samples from the Emperor Seamount Chain, spanning from ∼33°N to ∼52°N. On the basis of sedimentary components, we divide them into three Zones (I, II, and III) spatially with distinct features. Sediments in Zone I (∼33°N–44°N) and Zone III (49.8°N–53°N) are dominated by clayey silt, and mainly consist of sand and silty sand in Zone II. The mean grain size of the sortable silt shows that the hydrodynamic condition in the study area is significantly stronger than that of the abyssal plain, especially at the water depth of 1,000–2,500 m. The CaCO3 contents in sediments above 4,000 m range from 20 to 84% but decrease sharply to less than 1.5% below 4,000 m, confirming that the water depth of 4,000 m is the carbonate compensation depth of the study area. Strong positive correlations between Al2O3 and Fe2O3, TiO2, MgO, and K2O (R > 0.9) in the bulk sediments indicate pronounced contributions of terrigenous materials from surrounding continent mass to the study area. Furthermore, the eolian dust makes contributions to the composition of bulk sediments as confirmed by rare earth elements. There is no significant correlation between grain size and major and minor elements, which indicates that the sedimentary grain size does not exert important effects on terrigenous components. There is significant negative δCe and positive δEu anomalies at all stations. The negative Ce anomaly mainly exists in carbonate-rich sediments, inheriting the signal of seawater. The positive Eu anomaly indicates widespread volcanism contributions to the study area from active volcanic islands arcs around the North Pacific. The relative contributions of terrestrial, volcanic, and biogenic materials vary with latitude and water depth in the study area.

The Sea of Japan (JS) is a unique marginal sea in the western North Pacific that is characterized by four shallow straits. It can provide information about the paleoenvironment, for instance indicating variations in the East Asian Monsoon, Tsushima Warm Current, sea ice coverage, and Westerly Jet. Compared with other marginal seas in the western North Pacific, the JS is currently the only marginal sea without influx from large rivers. It is, therefore, of interest to determine the source of terrigenous sediments over time, particularly in the western JS, which has been less investigated in previous reports. In this study, a suite of multi-proxies including Sr and Nd isotopes and minor elements were measured for fine fractions (

Abstract For the first time, ice‐rafted debris provenance related to the Quaternary glacial discharge and circulation was constrained using radiogenic Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopes from a sedimentary record (Core BN05) from the central Arctic Ocean. The record is composed of glacial/interglacial intervals estimated to span ~0.5 Ma (Marine Isotope Stages [MIS] 1–14). Nd versus Sr isotope data show two end member groups, further elaborated using Pb isotopes. Glacial data mostly point at North American sources with unradiogenic εNd and high 87Sr/86Sr values, including detrital carbonate (dolomite) layers originating from Paleozoic rocks eroded by the Laurentide Ice Sheet. The opposite end member group including estimated MIS6 and MIS4 samples indicates the Siberian Large Igneous Province eroded by the Eurasian Ice Sheet as the major source, possibly with additional inputs from the East Siberian Ice Sheet. The limited evidence for Siberian Ice Sheet provenance may result from the predominant distribution of this glaciation on the continental shelf providing weak, fine‐grained sediments. Glacial‐time western Arctic circulation inferred from isotopic data is mostly similar to the modern Beaufort Gyre but was more streamlined toward the Fram Strait during some glacial events. Interglacial/major interstadial, presumably sea ice transported sediments, shows a mixture of North American and Siberian sources, consistent with historically observed variations in the Transpolar Drift versus Beaufort Gyre circulation. Isotope pattern in major interglacials (e.g., MIS5e, MIS11, and MIS 13) resembles the recent trend of increased sediment ice transport from the East Siberian/Chukchi Sea, possibly in relation to the ongoing Arctic warming.

Climatic changes in the western Pacific marginal seas are influenced by global forcing and regional processes, including monsoons, and ocean circulation. To better understand the process of hydrographic and temperature changes, we applied the UK′37 as our index of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and TEX86 as the index of Subsurface Water Temperature (SWT) for the last 8400 years using the sediment core MZ01 from the continental shelf of the East China Sea (ECS). To focus on centennial and millennial variabilities, the original SST and SWT are filtered with the Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD) of the Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT), with the confidence defined by a new method, the Continuity Superposition Error Calculation Method (CSECM). The SST and SWT both have a quasi-period of 1000–2000 years, exhibiting some teleconnection with the north Atlantic climatic changes. The SWT decreased during approximately 6–4 ka and then increased by ∼4°C to the late Holocene, almost anti-phase with the SST. The stronger Asian winter monsoon and China Coastal Current (CCC), are very likely responsible for the decreased SST in the late Holocene. In contrast, the increased SWT may imply that the stronger CCC has brought more Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW) southward and formed a thicker barrier layer in the ECS, which dampened bottom water heat loss that was transported from the Taiwan Warm Current (TWC), and Western Kuroshio Branch Current (WKBC). This process is tested by the hosing experiment that supports stronger stratification when the north Atlantic cooled. The combined results by UK′37 and TEX86 provide a new insight into the interaction mechanism among the winter monsoon, precipitation and the Kuroshio Current, and also raises caution to take more regional factors into account in the application of TEX86.

Abstract The Yellow River (or Huanghe and also known as China’s Sorrow in ancient times), with the highest sediment load in the world, provides a key link between continental erosion and sediment accumulation in the western Pacific Ocean. However, the exact age of its influence on the marginal sea is highly controversial and uncertain. Here we present high-resolution records of clay minerals and lanthanum to samarium (La/Sm) ratio spanning the past ~1 million years (Myr) from the Bohai and Yellow Seas, the potential sedimentary sinks of the Yellow River. Our results show a climate-driven provenance shift from small, proximal mountain rivers-dominance to the Yellow River-dominance at ~880 ka, a time period consistent with the Mid-Pleistocene orbital shift from 41-kyr to 100-kyr cyclicity. We compare the age of this provenance shift with the available age data for Yellow River headwater integration into the marginal seas and suggest that the persistent influence of the Yellow River on the Chinese marginal seas must have occurred at least ~880 ka ago. To our knowledge, this study provides the first offshore evidence on the drainage history of the Yellow River within an accurate chronology framework.

Coastal sediments not only contain a majority of trace metals, but they also act as a source of dissolved metal ions to the overlying water column. Distinguishing the level of trace metal enrichment from the natural input in sediments is therefore important to determine the distribution and sources of land-derived detritus and pollutants in the coastal region. This study investigates fine (2) for As, Cd, and Pb, suggesting that the sediments were likely enriched by these elements. A comparative study of trace metals concentrations and EF with other coastal regions of China, however, revealed that the study area is in a pristine environmental condition compared to other coastal regions of eastern China. Factor analysis identified three dominant sedimentological and geochemical associations, accounting for ∼70% of total variance, recognize terrigenous input, heavy mineral role and anthropogenic input in controlling the distribution of most elements in the study area.

Studies about the composition and diversity of microbial community in the Rare Earth Elements-rich muds are limited. In this research, we conducted a characterization for the composition and diversity of bacterial and archaeal communities from rare earth elements-rich gravity core sediment at approximately 4800 meters deep in the Indian Ocean by Illumina high-throughput sequencing targeting 16S rRNA genes. The results showed that the most abundant bacteria were Proteobacteria, followed by Firmicutes and Actinobacteria. Amongst Proteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria are present in all sections of this sediment core accounted for a particularly large proportion of bacterial sequences. Candidatus Nitrosopumilus, with a higher relative abundance in our samples, belongs to Thaumarchaeota. This is the first report on the composition and diversity of rare earth elements-rich muds microbial communities in the Indian Ocean deep sea.

Arctic and subarctic regions are sensitive to climate change and, reversely, provide dramatic feedbacks to the global climate. With a focus on discovering paleoclimate and paleoceanographic evolution in the Arctic and Northwest Pacific Oceans during the last 20,000 years, we proposed this German⁻Sino cooperation program according to the announcement “Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) of the Federal Republic of Germany for a German⁻Sino cooperation program in the marine and polar research„. Our proposed program integrates the advantages of the Arctic and Subarctic marine sediment studies in AWI (Alfred Wegener Institute) and FIO (First Institute of Oceanography). For the first time, the collection of sediment cores can cover all climatological key regions in the Arctic and Northwest Pacific Oceans. Furthermore, the climate modeling work at AWI enables a “Data-Model Syntheses„, which are crucial for exploring the underlying mechanisms of observed changes in proxy records.