Dust transport to the tropical/subtropical northwestern Pacific over the past 600 kyr was investigated using radiogenic isotopes (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ε_Nd), together with the clay mineral composition, of eolian dust preserved in a sediment core obtained from the Philippine Sea (12°30′N, 134°60′E). These data revealed the influence of two prevailing dust sources, namely, the Asian deserts and nearby volcanic arcs (e.g., the Luzon Arc), with average contributions of around 70% and 30%, respectively, from each. The clay mineral composition of the core resembled dust from the central Asian deserts (CADs; e.g., the Taklimakan Desert) as in the north‐central Pacific, but published aerosol data collected near the study site during winter/spring have the mineralogical signature of dust originating from the East Asian deserts (EADs). These data indicate that the relative contribution of EAD dust increases with the northeasterly surface winds associated with the East Asian Winter Monsoon (EAWM) during winter/spring, but the Prevailing Westerlies and Trade Winds that carry dust from the CADs is the dominant transport agent in the overall dust budget of the study site. The results of this study contradict the prevailing view that direct dust transport by the EAWM winds in spring dominates the annual flux of eolian dust in the northwest Pacific.

The critical metal contents of four types of seabed mineral resources, including a deep-sea sediment deposit, are evaluated as potential rare earth element (REE) resources. The deep-sea resources have relatively low total rare earth oxide (TREO) contents, a narrow range of TREO grades (0.049–0.185%), and show characteristics that are consistent with those of land-based ion adsorption REE deposits. The relative REO distributions of the deep-seabed resources are also consistent with those of ion adsorption REE deposits on land. REEs that are not part of a crystal lattice of host minerals within deep-sea mineral deposits are favorable for mining, as there is no requirement for crushing and/or pulverizing during ore processing. Furthermore, low concentrations of Th and U reduce the risk of adverse environmental impacts. Despite the low TREO grades of the deep-seabed mineral deposits, a significant TREO yield from polymetallic nodules and REE-bearing deep-sea sediments from the Korean tenements has been estimated (1 Mt and 8 Mt, respectively). Compared with land-based REE deposits, deep-sea mineral deposits can be considered as low-grade mineral deposits with a large tonnage. The REEs and critical metals from deep-sea mineral deposits are important by-products and co-products of the main commodities (e.g., Co and Ni), and may increase the economic feasibility of their extraction.

Approximately 34 million years ago across the Eocene–Oligocene transition (EOT), Earth’s climate tipped from a largely unglaciated state into one that sustained large ice sheets on Antarctica. Antarctic glaciation is attributed to a threshold response to slow decline in atmospheric CO₂ but our understanding of the feedback processes triggered and of climate change on the other contents is limited. Here we present new geochemical records of terrigenous dust accumulating on the sea floor across the EOT from a site in the central equatorial Pacific. We report a change in dust chemistry from an Asian affinity to a Central-South American provenance that occurs geologically synchronously with the initiation of stepwise global cooling, glaciation of Antarctica and aridification on the northern continents. We infer that the inter-tropical convergence zone of intense precipitation extended to our site during late Eocene, at least four degrees latitude further south than today, but that it migrated northwards in step with global cooling and initiation of Antarctic glaciation. Our findings point to an atmospheric teleconnection between extratropical cooling and rainfall climate in the tropics and the mid-latitude belt of the westerlies operating across the most pivotal transition in climate state of the Cenozoic Era.

Deep‐sea sediments enriched in rare earth elements and yttrium (REY) are attracting scientific and exploration attention as a new REY resource. In the Clarion‐Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCFZ) of the northeastern Pacific, sedimentary units with high REY contents (average REY content >700 ppm) occur sporadically at only a few decimeters beneath the sediment surface covered with polymetallic nodules. Here we report the results of bulk chemical and sequential extraction analyses of sediment cores containing these units, collected from the southeastern part of the CCFZ. Correlations between element contents and shale‐normalized REY patterns suggest that the REY are associated primarily with calcium phosphates. Sequential extraction to determine the contribution from different sedimentary components confirms that calcium phosphates contain >70% of trivalent REY in REY‐enriched units. Despite the study location being favorable for nodule formation and subject to distal hydrothermal plume fallout, only subordinate amounts of REY are hosted by Mn‐ and Fe‐(oxyhydr)oxides. Hydrothermal Fe‐(oxyhydr)oxides may have played a more important role in accumulating REY, as evidence suggest that large amounts of Fe‐(oxyhydr)oxides have been transformed into Fe‐rich smectite during early diagenesis of REY‐enriched units.

This paper investigates the causes of a brief, but prominent, cooling episode (1.1–0.8 Ma) that occurred in the equatorial upwelling region of the Atlantic and Pacific during the mid‐Pleistocene transition (MPT) using temporal changes in dust provenance, regional hydrology, and surface productivity recorded in a deep‐sea sediment core from the central equatorial Pacific. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ɛ_Nd values of the inorganic silicate fraction indicate deposition of dust from Australia and Central/South America before 0.8 Ma, but a gradual increase in Asian dust deposition after 0.8 Ma. The change in dust provenance was accompanied by an increased dust flux and a decrease in surface productivity and salinity. These changes can be explained by the southward movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and North Equatorial Counter Current (NECC) and the direct influence of these features on the site after 0.8 Ma. Our results, together with previously published Atlantic data, suggest the northward position of the ITCZ between 1.1 and 0.9 Ma, and the southward position thereafter. The meridional movement of the ITCZ is in phase with the cooling and warming trend in upwelling regions in the equatorial Pacific and Atlantic, which suggests strengthening of southeast trades relative to its northern counterpart between 1.1 and 0.9 Ma as a plausible cause of this brief cooling event. The southward movement of the ITCZ from 0.9 to 0.8 Ma indicates more significant cooling in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) than in the Southern Hemisphere, which is supportive of the interpretation that the NH ice sheet expanded significantly and stabilized after 0.9 Ma.