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Holocene Monsoon Change and Abrupt Events on the Western Chinese Loess Plateau as Revealed by Accurately Dated Stalagmites
Author(s) -
Tan Liangcheng,
Li Yanzhen,
Wang Xiqian,
Cai Yanjun,
Lin Fangyuan,
Cheng Hai,
Ma Le,
Sinha Ashish,
Edwards R. Lawrence
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2020gl090273
Subject(s) - stalagmite , holocene , geology , monsoon , climatology , east asian monsoon , loess , meltwater , plateau (mathematics) , flood myth , physical geography , period (music) , climate change , paleoclimatology , monsoon of south asia , glacial period , oceanography , geography , geomorphology , archaeology , mathematical analysis , mathematics , physics , acoustics
Here we present, to date, the highest‐resolved (~5 years) and most precisely dated Holocene monsoon climate reconstruction for the western Chinese Loess Plateau based on five replicated stalagmite δ 18 O records from Wuya Cave, eastern Gansu, China. Our record suggests the wettest period occurred between 10,500 and 6,600 a BP in this region. After this period, the amplitude of Asian summer monsoon decadal‐scale variability progressively increased likely in response to increasing ENSO frequency since the middle Holocene. Our study reveals similar asymmetric centennial‐scale double‐plunging structures of the 8.2, 5.5, and 2.8 ka events in the western Chinese Loess Plateau, suggesting a possible role of solar activity whose impact was amplified around 8.2 ka BP by the meltwater flood. In contrast, the 4.2 ka event exhibit gradually declining monsoon rainfall with centennial‐ to decadal‐scale fluctuations.