Shifts of dust source regions over central Asia and the Tibetan Plateau: Connections with the Arctic oscillation and the westerly jet

An analysis of dust storms and blowing sand records at 681 stations in China during 1961–2000 and in Mongolia during 1980–2000 reveals that the dust source regions in central Asia and the Tibetan Plateau have monthly and interannual northward shifts from the Tibetan Plateau to Mongolia. The monthly shift is closely related to the location of the 200 hPa westerly jet and to the location and intensity of the 500 hPa westerly jet over central Asia and the Tibetan Plateau. The causes for interannual shifts vary by region. The westerly jet appears to drive the shift on the Tibetan Plateau; the intensity of the central Asian mid-latitude westerly, the Arctic oscillation (AO) and the East Asian winter monsoon may be the drivers in the Hexi Corridor region to the north of the Tibetan Plateau; and the AO and the location of the westerly jet in the Mongolian region. All these causes are closely related to the AO variations, which may provide a connection between climatic changes in East Asia and the North Atlantic, and the long-distance transport of dust. This connection could explain the shifts of dust source regions at interannual and millennial timescales and the roughly synchronous climate changes recorded in the Chinese loess and deep-sea sediments in the North Atlantic Ocean.