A high-resolved record of the Asian Summer Monsoon from Dongge Cave, China for the past 1200 years. (15th August 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhao, Kan; Wang, Yongjin; Edwards, R. Lawrence; Cheng, Hai; Liu, Dianbing; Kong, Xinggong
• Is Part Of: Quaternary science reviews. Volume 122(2015)
• Page Start: 250
• Page End: 257
• Publication Date: 2015-08-15
• Subjects: Asian Summer Monsoon -- Past millennium -- Stalagmite -- δ18O -- Dongge Cave -- China; Geology, Stratigraphic -- Quaternary -- Periodicals; Stratigraphie -- Quaternaire -- Périodiques; 551.79
• DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.05.030
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0277-3791

Abstract

Abstract: Two annually-laminated and 230 Th-dated stalagmite oxygen isotope (δ 18 O) records from Dongge Cave, China, provided a high-resolution Asian Summer Monsoon (ASM) history for the past 1200 years. A close similarity between annual band thickness and stable isotope analyses (δ 13 C and δ 18 O) suggests the calcite δ 18 O is most likely a proxy associated with ASM precipitation. The two duplicated stalagmite δ 18 O records show that the ASM varies at a periodicity of ∼220 years, concordant with a dominant cycle of solar activity. A period of strong ASM activity occurred during the Spörer Minimum (1450–1550 A.D.), followed by a striking drop circa 1580 A.D., potentially consistent with the social unrest in the final decades of China's Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 A.D.). Centennial-scale changes in ASM precipitation over the last millennium match well with changes in tropical Atlantic sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and South American summer monsoon precipitation. Our findings suggest that variations in low-latitude monsoon precipitation are probably driven by shifts in the mean position of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), which is further mediated by solar activity and tropical SSTs. Highlights: Stalagmite-based high-resolved Asian monsoon records over the past 1200 years from China. Consistence of annually-band width and stable isotopic data in recording monsoon variability. A big dry event associated with the social unrest at the end of Ming Dynasty. Impacts of tropic SSTs on Asian monsoon variability overwhelming solar forcing. Inverse relationship of Asian and South American monsoon intensity probably attributed to ITCZ or ENSO.