Abstract
A multi-parameter, absolute-dated lacustrine record from the eastern Tibetan Plateau provides a continuous history of the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) over the past ~ 6000 years. The record broadly follows the trend in northern hemisphere summer insolation. However, it diverges during a period of increased moisture and thermal conditions during the past ~ 1300 years, broadly corresponding to the ASM “2-kyr shift”. This shift as referred by Cheng et al. (Nature 534:640–646, 10.1038/nature18591, 2016) may be related to Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation variations, and potentially to increased forcing by greenhouse gases coincident with reduced ENSO activity. The record is punctuated by several weak monsoon intervals. Cross-correlation of the sub-millennial-scale monsoon record with solar activity and ENSO records shows that most of the monsoon variability potentially results from changes in solar irradiation, and has a strong teleconnection with ENSO activity.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
An ZS et al (2011) Glacial-interglacial indian summer monsoon dynamics. Science 333:719–723. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1203752
An ZS et al (2012) Interplay between the Westerlies and Asian monsoon recorded in Lake Qinghai sediments since 32 ka. Sci Rep 2:619. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep00619
An ZS et al (2015) Global monsoon dynamics and climate change. J Earth Environ 6:341–381. https://doi.org/10.7515/JEE201506001(in Chinese with English abstract)
Beck JW et al (2018) A 550,000-year record of East Asian monsoon rainfall from 10Be in loess. Science 360:877–881. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aam5825
Beuning KRM, Talbot MR, Kelts K (1997) A revised 30,000-year paleoclimatic and paleohydrologic history of Lake Albert, East Africa. Palaeogeogr Palaeocl 136:259–279. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-0182(97)00034-5
Bird BW et al (2016) Late-Holocene Indian summer monsoon variability revealed from a 3300-year-long lake sediment record from Nir’pa Co, southeastern Tibet. Holocene 27:541–552. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683616670220
Blaauw M, Christen JA (2011) Flexible paleoclimate age-depth models using an autoregressive gamma process. Bayesian Analy 6:457–474. https://doi.org/10.1214/11-ba618
Blaauw M, Christen JA, Bennett KD, Reimer PJ (2018) Double the dates and go for Bayes—impacts of model choice, dating density and quality on chronologies. Quat Sci Rev 188:58–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.03.032
Broecker WS, Putnam AE (2013) Hydrologic impacts of past shifts of Earth’s thermal equator offer insight into those to be produced by fossil fuel CO2. Proc Natl Acad Sci 110:16710–16715. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1301855110
Chen FH et al (2019) Westerlies Asia and monsoonal Asia: spatiotemporal differences in climate change and possible mechanisms on decadal to sub-orbital timescales. Earth Sci Rev 192:337–354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.03.005
Cheng H et al (2016) The Asian monsoon over the past 640,000 years and ice age terminations. Nature 534:640–646. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature18591
Clement AC, Seager R, Cane MA (2000) Suppression of El Niño during the mid-Holocene by changes in the earth’s orbit. Paleoceanography 15:731–737. https://doi.org/10.1029/1999pa000466
COHMAP Members (1988) Climatic changes of the last 18,000 years: observations and model simulations. Science 241:1043–1052. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.241.4869.1043
Diaz HF, Hoerling MP, Eischeid JK (2001) ENSO variability, teleconnections and climate change. Int J Climatol 21:1845–1862. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.631
Dykoski CA et al (2005) A high-resolution, absolute-dated Holocene and deglacial Asian monsoon record from Dongge Cave, China. Earth Planet Sci Lett 233:71–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2005.01.036
Ehleringer JR, Rundel PW, Nagy KA (1986) Stable isotopes in physiological ecology and food web research. Trends Ecol Evol 1:42–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-5347(86)90072-8
Ehleringer JR, Osmond CB (2000) Stable isotopes. In: Pearcy RW, Ehleringer JR, Mooney HA, Rundel PW (eds) Plant physiological ecology: field methods and instrumentation. Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, pp 281–300. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-9013-1_13
Evans ME, Heller F, Bloemendal J, Thouveny N (1997) Natural magnetic archives of past global change. Surv Geophys 18:183–196. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1006583809200
Fleitmann D, Burns SJ, Mudelsee M, Neff U, Kramers J, Mangini A, Matter A (2003) Holocene forcing of the Indian monsoon recorded in a stalagmite from Southern Oman. Science 300:1737–1739. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1083130
Fu P, Heyman J, Hattestrand C, Stroeven AP, Harbor JM (2012) Glacial geomorphology of the Shaluli Shan area, southeastern Tibetan Plateau. J Maps 8:48–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2012.668762
Fu P, Stroeven AP, Harbor JM, Hattestrand C, Heyman J, Caffee MW, Zhou LP (2013) Paleoglaciation of Shaluli Shan, southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Quat Sci Rev 64:121–135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.12.009
Grinsted A, Moore JC, Jevrejeva S (2004) Application of the cross wavelet transform and wavelet coherence to geophysical time series. Nonlinear Proc Geoph 11:561–566. https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-11-561-2004
Haug GH, Hughen KA, Sigman DM, Peterson LC, Röhl U (2001) Southward migration of the intertropical convergence zone through the Holocene. Science 293:1304–1308. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1059725
Hong YT et al (2005) Inverse phase oscillations between the East Asian and Indian Ocean summer monsoons during the last 12000 years and paleo-El Niño. Earth Planet Sci Lett 231:337–346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2004.12.025
Hoogakker BAA, Chapman MR, McCave IN, Hillaire-Marcel C, Ellison CRW, Hall IR, Telford RJ (2011) Dynamics of North Atlantic deep water masses during the Holocene. Paleoceanography 26:PA4214. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011pa002155
IPCC (2014) Climate change 2014: synthesis report. Contribution of working groups I, II and III to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Core Writing Team, Pachauri RK, Meyer LA (eds) IPCC, Geneva, p 151
Joos F, Spahni R (2008) Rates of change in natural and anthropogenic radiative forcing over the past 20,000 years. Proc Natl Acad Sci 105:1425–1430. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0707386105
Kalnay E et al (1996) The NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 77:437–471. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(1996)077<0437:TNYRP>2.0.CO;2
Kissel C, Van Toer A, Laj C, Cortijo E, Michel E (2013) Variations in the strength of the North Atlantic bottom water during Holocene. Earth Planet Sci Lett 369:248–259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.03.042
Kohn MJ (2010) Carbon isotope compositions of terrestrial C3 plants as indicators of (paleo)ecology and (paleo)climate. Proc Natl Acad Sci 107:19691–19695. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1004933107
Kramer A, Herzschuh U, Mischke S, Zhang CJ (2009) Late Quaternary environmental history of the south-eastern Tibetan Plateau inferred from the Lake Naleng non-pollen palynomorph record. Veg Hist Archaeobot 19:453–468. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-009-0219-5
Kramer A, Herzschuh U, Mischke S, Zhang CJ (2017) Late glacial vegetation and climate oscillations on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau inferred from the Lake Naleng pollen profile. Quat Res 73:324–335. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2009.12.003
Kumar KK, Rajagopalan B, Cane MA (1999) On the weakening relationship between the Indian Monsoon and ENSO. Science 284:2156–2159. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.284.5423.2156
Kumar KK, Rajagopalan B, Hoerling MP, Bates G, Cane M (2006) Unraveling the mystery of Indian Monsoon failure during El Niño. Science 314:115–119. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1131152
Kutzbach JE, Liu XD, Liu ZY, Chen GS (2008) Simulation of the evolutionary response of global summer monsoons to orbital forcing over the past 280,000 years. Clim Dyn 30:567–579. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-007-0308-z
Laskar J, Fienga A, Gastineau M, Manche H (2011) La2010: a new orbital solution for the long-term motion of the Earth. Astron Astrophys 532:A89. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201116836
Levermann A, Schewe J, Petoukhov V, Held H (2009) Basic mechanism for abrupt monsoon transitions. Proc Natl Acad Sci 106:20572–20577. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0901414106
Lu FY, Dodson J, Zhang WC, Yan H (2019) Mid to late Holocene environmental change and human impact: a view from central China. Quat Sci Rev 223:9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.105953
Lu HY et al (2013) Variation of East Asian monsoon precipitation during the past 21 k.y. and potential CO2 forcing. Geology 41:1023–1026. https://doi.org/10.1130/g34488.1
Ming G, Zhou W, Wang H, Cheng P, Shu P, Xian F, Fu Y (2020) Moisture variations in Lacustrine−eolian sequence from the Hunshandake sandy land associated with the East Asian Summer Monsoon changes since the late Pleistocene. Quat Sci Rev 233:106210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106210
Moy CM, Seltzer GO, Rodbell DT, Anderson DM (2002) Variability of El Niño/southern oscillation activity at millennial timescales during the Holocene epoch. Nature 420:162–165. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01194
Putnam AE, Broecker WS (2017) Human-induced changes in the distribution of rainfall. Sci Adv 3:e1600871. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1600871
Qiang XK, Xu XW, Zhao H, Fu CF (2018) Greigite formed in early Pleistocene lacustrine sediments from the Heqing Basin, southwest China, and its paleoenvironmental implications. J Asian Earth Sci 156:256–264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2018.01.033
Reimer PJ et al (2013) IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55:1869–1887. https://doi.org/10.2458/azu_js_rc.55.16947
Rein B, Luckge A, Sirocko F (2004) A major Holocene ENSO anomaly during the Medieval period. Geophys Res Lett 31:4. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004gl020161
Ropelewski CF, Halpert MS (1987) Global and regional scale precipitation patterns associated with the El Niño/southern oscillation. Mon Weather Rev 115:1606–1627
Ruddiman WF (2008) Climate changes during the last 1000 years. In: Marshall C, Raymond V (eds) Earth's climate past and future, 2nd edn. W.H. Freeman and Company, New York, pp 290–308
Schneider T, Bischoff T, Haug GH (2014) Migrations and dynamics of the intertropical convergence zone. Nature 513:45–53. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13636
Schulz M, Mudelsee M (2002) REDFIT: estimating red-noise spectra directly from unevenly spaced paleoclimatic time series. Comput Geosci 28:421–426. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0098-3004(01)00044-9
Shen J (2015) Stable carbon isotope of organic matter. In: Liu YC (ed) Lake deep drilling research in Yunnan Heqing. Science Press, Beijing, pp 230–231 (in Chinese)
Steinhilber F, Beer J, Fröhlich C (2009) Total solar irradiance during the Holocene. Geophys Res Lett 36:L19704. https://doi.org/10.1029/2009gl040142
Steinhilber F et al (2012) 9400 years of cosmic radiation and solar activity from ice cores and tree rings. Proc Natl Acad Sci 109:5967–5971. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1118965109
Stiller M, Kaufman A, Carmi I, Mintz G (2001) Calibration of Lacustrine Sediment ages using the relationship between 14C levels in lake waters and in the atmosphere: the case of Lake Kinneret. Radiocarbon 43:821–830. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033822200041497
Stuiver M, Polach HA (1977) Discussion reporting of 14C data. Radiocarbon 19:355–363. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033822200003672
Stuiver M, Braziunas TF (1989) Atmospheric 14C and century-scale solar oscillations. Nature 338:405–408. https://doi.org/10.1038/338405a0
Stuiver M, Braziunas TF (1993) Sun, ocean, climate and atmospheric 14CO2: an evaluation of causal and spectral relationships. Holocene 3:289–305. https://doi.org/10.1177/095968369300300401
Sun YB, Clemens SC, An ZS, Yu ZW (2006) Astronomical timescale and palaeoclimatic implication of stacked 3.6-Myr monsoon records from the Chinese Loess Plateau. Quat Sci Rev 25:33–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2005.07.005
Sun YB, Liang LJ, Bloemendal J, Li Y, Wu F, Yao ZQ, Liu YG (2016) High-resolution scanning XRF investigation of Chinese loess and its implications for millennial-scale monsoon variability. J Quat Sci 31:191–202. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2856
Wang Y et al (2005) The Holocene Asian monsoon: links to solar changes and North Atlantic climate. Science 308:854–857. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1106296
Wanner H et al (2008) Mid- to late Holocene climate change: an overview. Quat Sci Rev 27:1791–1828. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2008.06.013
Wanner H, Solomina O, Grosjean M, Ritz SP, Jetel M (2011) Structure and origin of Holocene cold events. Quat Sci Rev 30:3109–3123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2011.07.010
Webster PJ (1987) The elementary monsoon. In: Fein JS, Stephens PL (eds) Monsoons. Wiley, New York, pp 3–32
Weldeab S, Lea DW, Schneider RR, Andersen N (2007) 155,000 years of West African monsoon and ocean thermal evolution. Science 316:1303–1307. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1140461
Xu H, Hou ZH, Ai L, Tan LC (2007) Precipitation at Lake Qinghai, NE Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and its relation to Asian summer monsoons on decadal/interdecadal scales during the past 500 years. Palaeogeogr Palaeocl 254:541–549. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.07.007
Yan H et al (2011) South China Sea hydrological changes and Pacific Walker Circulation variations over the last millennium. Nat Commun 2:293. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1297
Zhang HW et al (2019) The Asian Summer Monsoon: teleconnections and forcing mechanisms—a review from Chinese speleothem δ18O records. Quaternary 2:26. https://doi.org/10.3390/quat2030026
Zhang JW et al (2016a) Developing inorganic carbon-based radiocarbon chronologies for Holocene lake sediments in arid NW China. Quat Sci Rev 144:66–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.05.034
Zhang PZ et al (2008) A test of climate, sun, and culture relationships from an 1810-year Chinese cave record. Science 322:940–942. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1163965
Zhang WC et al (2016b) Peatland development and climate changes in the Dajiuhu basin, central China, over the last 14,100 years. Quatern Int 425:273–281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2016.06.039
Zhang WC et al (2018) Hydrological changes in Shuangchi Lake, Hainan Island, tropical China, during the Little Ice Age. Quatern Int 487:54–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2017.09.007
Zhou WJ et al (2006) The 3MV multi-element AMS in Xi’an, China: unique features and preliminary tests. Radiocarbon 48:285–293. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033822200066492
Zhou WJ et al (2010) Postglacial changes in the Asian summer monsoon system: a pollen record from the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Boreas 39:528–539. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3885.2010.00150.x
Zhou WJ et al (2014) 14C Chronostratigraphy for Qinghai Lake in China. Radiocarbon 56:143–155. https://doi.org/10.2458/56.16470
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant no. XDB40010100), and the Open-end Fund Program of State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant no. SKLLQG1715). We acknowledge Prof. Youbin Sun and Dr. Fei Guo for help in core scanning and parameter measurements. We thank Dr. Ling Tang, Dr. Gang Xue and other colleagues for comments on the earlier manuscript and specially thank Dr. Taibei Liu and Dr. Jie Zhou for help in field work.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ming, G., Zhou, W., Cheng, P. et al. Lacustrine record from the eastern Tibetan Plateau associated with Asian summer monsoon changes over the past ~ 6 ka and its links with solar and ENSO activity. Clim Dyn 55, 1075–1086 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-020-05312-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-020-05312-4