Holocene dust deposition in the Ili Basin and its implications for climate variations in Westerlies-dominated Central Asia

Understanding Holocene paleoclimate in arid Central Asia (ACA) is helpful for predicting future climate. However, Holocene climate patterns and their forcing mechanisms across ACA are vigorously debated in the context of global climate change. Here, we present a Holocene loess profile (SGX) from the Ili Basin in the Westerlies-dominated Central Asia. Based on high-resolution, medium-grained (38–63 μm) quartz optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, and grain size and color measurements, we reconstruct the Holocene paleoclimate. OSL geochronology indicate that this SGX loess profile covers the last 11.5 ka, and grain size analyses reveal that the sediments are sandy loess, and the environmentally sensitive fractions are