Dune fi elds and loess deposits of the Great Plains of North America contain stratigraphic records of eolian activity that can be used to extend the short observational record of drought. We present a 10,000 yr reconstruction of dune activity and dust production in the central Great Plains region, based on 95 optically stimulated luminescence ages. The integration of data from both eolian sand and loess is an important new aspect of this record. Clusters of ages defi ne episodes of extensive eolian activity, which we interpret as a response to frequent severe drought, at 1.0-0.7 ka and 2.3-4.5 ka (with peaks centered on 2.5 and 3.8 ka); sustained eolian activity occurred from 9.6 to 6.5 ka. Parts of this record may be consistent with hypotheses linking Holocene drought to sea surface temperature anomalies in the Pacifi c or Atlantic oceans, or to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation phenomenon, but the record as a whole is diffi cult to reconcile with any of these hypotheses.

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The Eurasian snow cover anomaly in spring has been considered as one of the important factors affecting Asian summer monsoon variability. Using the long time series of Eurasian spring (March-April) snow cover (ESSC) reconstructed by Brown (2000. Journal of Climate 13: 2339) and snow cover (1973-98) and depth (1979-87) data from satellite observation, the influences of ESSC on the all-India monsoon (June-September) rainfall (AIMR) and the summer rainfall over all parts of Asia are examined. It is found that the statistical relation between AIMR and ESSC changes over a multi-decadal time scale. The negative correlation between them has increased markedly since the mid 1970s. The region where the summer rainfall has the strongest and most stable negative correlation with the preceding ESSC is located in northern Mongolia, south of Lake Baikal. The correlation between the summer rainfall and ESSC increases after the data are treated with a low-pass filter, showing that the impact of snow cover may be seen more clearly with the removal of the effect of El Niño-southern oscillation. Comparative analyses for contrasting years with excessive and deficient snow cover show that the anomalies of ESSC occur mainly in northwestern Eurasia. In the years of excessive ESSC anomalies, cooling and a cyclonic circulation anomaly in the lower troposphere appear over the northern part of Eurasia, leading to a Rossby-wave-train-like circulation response, then a weakened East Asia summer monsoon and deficient rainfall with an anticyclonic circulation anomaly south of Lake Baikal. Anomalies with opposite signs occur in the years of deficient snow cover.