Two atmospheric circulation patterns, the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) and mid-latitude Westerlies control precipitation and thus glacier variability in the Himalaya. However, the role of the ISM and westerlies in controlling climate and thus past glacier variability in the Himalaya is poorly understood because of the paucity of the ice core records. In this article, we present a new Holocene paleorecord disentangling the presence of the ISM and mid-latitude westerlies and their effect on glacier fluctuations during the Holocene. Our new record is based on high-resolution multi-proxy analyses (δ¹⁸Oporewater, deuterium-excess, grain size analysis, permeability, and environmental magnetism) of lake sediments retrieved from Chandratal Lake, Western Himalaya. Our study provides new evidence that improves the current understanding of the forcing factor behind glacier advances and retreat in the Western Himalaya and identifies the 8.2 ka cold event using the aforementioned proxies. The results indicate that the ISM dominated precipitation ~ 21% of the time, whereas the mid-latitude westerlies dominated precipitation ~ 79% of the time during the last 11 ka cal BP. This is the first study that portrays the moisture sources by using the above proxies from the Himalayan region as an alternative of ice core records.

两种大气环流模式，印度夏季风 (ISM) 和中纬度西风带控制着喜马拉雅山的降水和冰川变化。然而，由于冰芯记录的缺乏，人们对 ISM 和西风带在控制气候以及喜马拉雅山过去冰川变化方面的作用知之甚少。在本文中，我们提出了一个新的全新世古记录，阐明了 ISM 和中纬度西风带的存在及其对全新世冰川波动的影响。我们的新记录基于高分辨率多代理分析 (δ ¹⁸从喜马拉雅西部 Chandratal 湖回收的湖泊沉积物的 Oporewater、氘过量、粒度分析、渗透率和环境磁性）。我们的研究提供了新的证据，可以提高目前对喜马拉雅西部冰川进退的强迫因素的理解，并使用上述代理确定 8.2 ka 冷事件。结果表明，在过去的 11 ka cal BP 期间，ISM 主导降水的时间约为 21%，而中纬度西风带主导降水的时间约为 79%。这是第一项通过使用喜马拉雅地区的上述代理作为冰芯记录的替代来描绘水分来源的研究。