Late Holocene anti-phase change in the East Asian summer and winter monsoons

• Published in: Quaternary Science Reviews
• Main Authors: Kang, Shugang, Wang, Xulong, Roberts, Helen M., Duller, Geoff A. T., Cheng, Peng, Lu, Yanchou, An, Zhisheng
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Holocene; Chinese Loess; Quartz Osl; East Asian Summer Monsoon; East Asian Winter Monsoon; Insolation; Solar Activity; Science & Technology; Physical Sciences; CHINESE LOESS PLATEAU; INTERTROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE; NORTH-ATLANTIC CLIMATE; MAGNETIC-SUSCEPTIBILITY; PRECIPITATION VARIABILITY; GRAIN-SIZE; COSMIC-RAY; RECORD; LUMINESCENCE; QUARTZ; Physical Geography; Geology; Geography; Physical; Geosciences; Multidisciplinary; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://ir.ieecas.cn/handle/361006/5150; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.03.028

Changes in East Asian summer and winter monsoon intensity have played a pivotal role in the prosperity and decline of society in the past, and will be important for future climate scenarios. However, the phasing of changes in the intensity of East Asian summer and winter monsoons on millennial and centennial timescales during the Holocene is unclear, limiting our ability to understand the factors driving past and future changes in the monsoon system. Here, we present a high resolution (up to multidecadal) loess record for the last 3.3 ka from the southern Chinese Loess Plateau that clearly demonstrates the relationship between changes in the intensity of the East Asian summer and winter monsoons, particularly at multicentennial scales. At multimillennial scales, the East Asian summer monsoon shows a steady weakening, while the East Asian winter monsoon intensifies continuously. At multicentennial scales, a prominent similar to 700-800 yr cycle in the East Asian summer and winter monsoon intensity is observed, and here too the two monsoons are anti-phase. We conclude that multimillennial changes are driven by Northern Hemisphere summer insolation, while multicentennial changes can be correlated with solar activity and changing strength of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.