Eolian flux in the Chinese Loess Plateau was reconstructed by measuring the dry bulk density and CaCO (sub 3) content of the late Cenozoic loess-paleosol-red clay sequences in the Lingtai profile. Comparison of eolian flux variation between the Lingtai profile and ODP sites 885/886 in the North Pacific shows a significant wet-dry variability in addition to a gradual drying trend in the dust source regions of interior Asia. Especially, the increase in eolian flux from both continental and pelagic eolian sediments indicates a sharp drying of the dust source regions between 3.6 and 2.6 Ma BP, which may be due to the tectonic uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, which reduced the moisture input to interior Asia. The average eolian flux was higher after 2.6 Ma BP, which may be related to Quaternary climatic fluctuations after the commencement of major Northern Hemisphere glaciations. The eolian fluxes of the Lingtai profile and Core V21-146 in the northwest Pacific show a synchronous variation on the 104-105 year timescale, indicating that flux variations from both continental and marine records are closely correlated to the Quaternary climatic fluctuation forced by ice volume changes on a global scale.