Palaeo-dust records in sediments and ice cores show that wind-borne mineral aerosol ('dust') is strongly linked with climate state. During glacial climate stages, for example, the world was much dustier, with dust fluxes two to five times greater than in interglacial stages. However, the influence of dust on climate remains a poorly quantified and actively changing element of the Earth's climate system. Dust can influence climate directly, by the scattering and absorption of solar and terrestrial radiation, and indirectly, by modifying cloud properties. Dust transported to the oceans can also affect climate via ocean fertilization in those regions of the world's oceans where macronutrients like nitrate are abundant but primary production and nitrogen fixation are limited by iron scarcity. Dust containing iron, as fine-grained iron oxides/oxyhydroxides and/or within clay minerals, and other essential micronutrients (e.g. silica) may modulate the uptake of carbon in marine ecosystems and, in turn, the atmospheric concentration of CO2. Here, in order to critically examine past fluxes and possible climate impacts of dust in general and iron-bearing dust in particular, we consider present day sources and properties of dust, synthesise available records of dust deposition at the last glacial maximum (LGM); evaluate the evidence for changes in ocean palaeo-productivity associated with, and possibly caused by, changes in aeolian flux to the oceans at the LGM; and consider the radiative forcing effects of increased LGM dust loadings.

Natural dust is often associated with hot, subtropical deserts, but significant dust events have been reported from cold, high latitudes. This review synthesizes current understanding of high‐latitude (≥50°N and ≥40°S) dust source geography and dynamics and provides a prospectus for future research on the topic. Although the fundamental processes controlling aeolian dust emissions in high latitudes are essentially the same as in temperate regions, there are additional processes specific to or enhanced in cold regions. These include low temperatures, humidity, strong winds, permafrost and niveo‐aeolian processes all of which can affect the efficiency of dust emission and distribution of sediments. Dust deposition at high latitudes can provide nutrients to the marine system, specifically by contributing iron to high‐nutrient, low‐chlorophyll oceans; it also affects ice albedo and melt rates. There have been no attempts to quantify systematically the expanse, characteristics, or dynamics of high‐latitude dust sources. To address this, we identify and compare the main sources and drivers of dust emissions in the Northern (Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Iceland) and Southern (Antarctica, New Zealand, and Patagonia) Hemispheres. The scarcity of year‐round observations and limitations of satellite remote sensing data at high latitudes are discussed. It is estimated that under contemporary conditions high‐latitude sources cover >500,000 km2 and contribute at least 80–100 Tg yr−1 of dust to the Earth system (~5% of the global dust budget); both are projected to increase under future climate change scenarios.

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The origin of dust deposited in East Antarctica is not fully understood yet. This study demonstrates that, contrary to Nd, Sr isotopes are strongly fractionated in the finest‐sized material representing potential dust sources in South America. Analysis of Nd isotopes suggests that Argentine loess, Southern Ocean sediments and Antarctic dust, may all have a related origin or can represent comparable mechanisms of eolian sediment transport and deposition. This analysis also concludes that the Patagonian signature can explain a high proportion of the isotopic composition of dust trapped in Antarctic ice during glacial periods. The Puna‐Altiplano plateau emerges as the second possible important sediment contributor explaining the crustal‐like signature found in East Antarctic dust and should be considered as a potential source area when Quaternary paleoclimate is reconstructed from Argentine loess, Antarctic dust and South Atlantic sediment records.

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Patagonia is considered to be the most important source of dust from South America that is deposited in surrounding areas, and we present here a systematic Sr and Nd isotopic study of sediment currently being exported. Eolian and suspended riverine sediments from Patagonia have a homogeneous chemical and isotopic composition that results from the mixing of by-products from explosive Andean volcanism, derived from the extensive Jurassic silicic Province of Chon Aike and pyroclastic materials from the basic to intermediate southern Andean Quaternary arc, which are easily denudated and dispersed. The main Andean uplift and the glaciations that began in the Late Tertiary account for the extensive distribution of these sediments in the extra-Andean region. The present geochemical signature of Patagonian sediments was produced during the Pleistocene, along with the onset of the southern Andean explosive arc volcanism. Previously published compositions of sediments from other southern South American source regions, assumed to be representative of Patagonia, are distinct from our data. Considering the alleged importance of Patagonia as a dust source for different depositional environments in southern latitudes, it is surprising to verify that the chemical and isotopic signatures of Patagonian-sourced sediments are different from those of sediments from the Southern Ocean, the Pampean Region or the Antarctic ice. Sediments from these areas have a crustal-like geochemical signature reflecting a mixed origin with sediment from other southern South American sources, whereas Patagonian sediments likely represent the basic to intermediate end-member composition.

Diatoms can access mineral iron from dust if it is reduced, and reduced particulate iron is common in glacial dust sources.