A very strong summer monsoon event during 30–40 kaBP in the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau and its relation to precessional cycle

Guliya ice core records, high lake-level records in the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and at its north side as well as vegetation succession records indicated that during the period of 30–40 kaBP, namely the later age of the megainterstadial of last glacial period, or the marine oxygen isotope stage 3, the climate of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau was exceptionally warm and humid, the temperature was 2–4°C higher than today and the precipitation was 40% to over 100% higher than the current average, all these suggested the existence of an exceedingly strong summer monsoon event. It has been inferred that the occurrence of such an event was attributed, on the one hand, to the stronger summer low pressure over the Plateau, which strengthened the attraction to the summer monsoon; on the other hand, to the vigorous evaporation of the tropic ocean surface, which promoted the moisture-rich southwest monsoon to flow over the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. The background responsible for the formation of the very strong summer monsoon was that the period of 30–40 kaBP was just in the strong insolation stage of the 20ka precessional cycle, when the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau received extraordinary strong solar radiation and thus enlarged the thermodynamical contrast between the Plateau and the midsouth part of the Indian Ocean.     

Progress in studies of the climate of humid period and the impacts of changing precession in early-mid Holocene

Studies on the climate of humid period and the impacts of changing precession in the early-mid Holocene are reviewed in this paper. High-resolution proxy data indicated that the African Humid Period, strong summer monsoon from the Arabian Sea to South Asia, northward migration of ITCZ （Intertropical Convergence Zone） over the northern South America, and the humid period of China appeared in 10.5-5.5 kaBP, 10.0--6.0 kaBP, 10.5-5.4 kaBP, and 11.0-8.0 kaBP, respectively. Modeling studies proved that summer insolation over the Northern Hemisphere increased following the changes of precession in the early Holocene, which increased the land-sea temperature contrasts, intensified the summer monsoon circulation over the area under the influence of summer monsoon. However, in the Northern Hemisphere, and finally induced a humid climate modeling results underestimated the increase of precipitation and the degree of northward extension of monsoon rain belt compared with palaeo-environmental data. These discrepancies between the modeling results and the palaeo-environmental data may be associated with the changes of North Atlantic circulation, sea ice and vegetation covers. Moreover, climate of the humid period was not stable, in which several droughts were inlaid on centennial scale. In this review, perspectives for further studies of the climate change of the humid period in the early-mid Holocene are also proposed. demy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier Limited and Science in China Press. All rights reserved.     

Changes in South Asian monsoon: New high-resolution paleoclimatic records from Tibet, China

High-resolution pollen records from 6 small lakes in the Tibetan Plateau provided the details of evolution of South Asian monsoon since the Last Glacial Maximum. Prior to 16 kaBP, the region was a desert-steppe characterized by cold and dry climates, the January temperature was 7 -10℃lower than that of present and the annual precipitation only accounted for 40% of the present. The temperature and precipitation increased gradually and trees began to live in the region after 12 kaBP, but during the interval from 9.2 to 6.3 kaBP, forest and forest-meadow appeared occasionally. From 8 to 5 kaBP, both January and July temperature was 2-3℃ higher and annual precipitation was also about 200 mm higher than that of the present. After 5 kaBP, temperature and precipitation decreased linearly and steppe vegetation began to degenerate.     

A 60 000-year loess-paleosol record of millennial-scale summer monsoon instability from Lanzhou, China

The 28-m high-resolution Shajinping loess section in Lanzhou on the Chinese western Loess Plateau records a detailed history of millennial Asian summer monsoon change since the earlier last glaciation. Summer monsoon proxies of soil magnetic susceptibility, carbonate content and soil color show that Asian summer monsoon experienced a series of rapid episodic pulse enhancements spanning only ca. 1-2 ka and have sub-Milankovitch cycles of progressive weakening in low frequency domain since ca. 60 kaBP. Soil formation responds to these by deepening colors, accumulating organic matter, increasing biological channels and leaching certain carbonates. The pedogenic degree generally increases with the degree of enhancement of summer monsoon. These may reflect the impact of the last glacial fast climatic change in the North Atlantic region on Asian summer monsoon.     

Extension of drylands in northern China around 250 kaBP linked with the uplift of the southeast margin of Tibetan Plateau

Study on two loess sections, one located at Wuwei near the Tengger Desert in northwestern China, another located near Ganzi at the southeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau in southwest China, reveals a coeval drying step occurred at ~250 kaBP. It is expressed by the increase in eolian grain-size at Wuwei, and by a drastic extension of C4 plants and a decrease of loess chemical weathering intensity at Ganzi. Examination of the available eolian data indicates that the event has also been clearly documented in the loess sections near the deserts in northern China, and in the eolian records from the North Pacific. On the contrary, the signal is rather weak for the central and southern Loess Plateau regions as well as for Central Asia, where the climates are influenced by the southeast Asian monsoon and the westerlies, respectively. Since the climate at Ganzi is under strong control of the southwest Asian monsoon, we interpret this drying ste p as a result of decreased influence of the southwest summer monsoon. This decre ase in monsoon moisture is attributable to the uplift of the Hengduan Mountains, the southeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau at～250 ka ago.     

青藏高原对亚洲季风平均环流影响的数值试验

利用垂直方向具有９层σ面、水平方向菱形截断波数为１５的全球大气环流谱模式和有、无青藏高原大地形两种情况下１０年积分的模拟结果，研究了青藏高原大地形对亚洲季风平均环流的影响。结果表明：有、无青藏高原大地形，亚洲冬、夏季季风平均环流均存在很大的差异。去除地形，使夏季高层的南亚高压、低层的大陆热低压、副热带高压及冬季的大陆冷高压在位置或强度上发生了改变；地形的有、无决定着冬季东亚大槽的强度；索马里越赤道气流有地形时明显较无地形时强；地形的有无还影响着降水强度和雨带的分布。另外，副热带高压中心及雨带的季节性移动与高原大地形的存在与否亦有很大的关系     

Evidence of a humid mid-Holocene in the western part of Chinese Loess Plateau

Field works show that the wetland/swamp layers were distributed ubiquitously in the western part of the Chinese Loess Plateau. Universality of the wetland/swampy layer and the consistency of the age reveal that the layer was developed under the humid climatic condition. Dated between 9 and 3.8 kaBP, the wetland/swampy layer is full of aquatic mollusks and has the highest tree and shrub pollen,indicating a humid mid-Holocene. Variations of grain size suggest that winter monsoon weakened during 9-3.8 kaBP while climate change to humid and vegetation cover increased from 9 kaBP onward. After 5.9 kaBP, the humidity declined gradually. In 3.8 kaBP, summer monsoon sharply retreated, and the climate changed to dry.     

Millennial-scale climate change since the last glaciation recorded by grain sizes of loess deposits on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau

Whether climatic changes in high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere since the last glaciation have effects on the Tibetan Plateau monsoon, and the variation characteristics of the Plateau monsoon itself are still not solved but of great significance. The 22-m high-resolution Ioess-paleosol sequence in the Hezuo Basin on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau demonstrates that the Plateau winter monsoon experienced a millennial variation similar to high latitude Northern Hemisphere, with cold events clearly correlated with Heinrich events but less for the warm events (Dansgarrd-Oeschger events). It may indicate that the climate system at high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere had played an important role in both the Plateau monsoon and the high-level westerlies. On 10^4 year scale, there are two distinct anomalous changes, which are not found in the records from high latitude northern hemisphere, revealed by the loess grain size in the Hezuo Basin. One is that there was a considerable grain size increase at -36 kaBP, suggesting an abrupt enhancement of the Plateau winter monsoon at that time; the other is that, during 43--36 kaBP, the grain size decreased distinctly, indicating a notable weakening of the Plateau winter monsoon around that period. Both of the two anomalies suggest that the Tibetan climate may have been controlled by some other factors, besides the high latitude climatic changes in the Northern Hemisphere.     

Comparison of paleoclimatic characteristics between monsoon and westerly areas, China

For past decades there have been many studies on the climate features during the last interglacial and glacial periods. A comparison between the loess record of western China with that of monsoon areas shows some regional differences. ( i) Generally, the climate of the Yili region since the late Pleistocene was dry, with fluctuations. Late Pleistocene climate change in the study area can be divided into 5 stages, corresponding to 5 marine isotopic stages (MIS 1-MISS), (ii) Evidence from grain size composition, magnetic susceptibility, carbonate content, pollen assemblage and geochemistry shows that the climate during the last glacial period was instable. During MIS4 the westerly winds were strong and the humidity was relatively high. Compared with the early stage, MIS2 was dry. In MIS3, westerly winds were relatively weak; pedogenesis prevailed, forming paleo-sols. (iii) In contrast to the Loess Plateau the deposition rate of dust at the early stage was higher than at the late stage of the last galical in the Yili region. The strongest wind event occurred at about 24 kaBP instead of 18 kaBP. (iv) Variations in the grain size indicate that the westerly winds decreased since the deglaciation, but dust accumulation continued until the late Holocene. High carbonate contents, low ratio of Rb/Sr and lack of soil development imply that the climate was dry during the early and middle Holocene. Since the late Holocene the climate became relatively wet and the soil was developed.     

Preliminary reconstruction of spatial precipitation patterns and atmospheric circulations in China during the late Quaternary

Quantitative estimates of the precipitation on different lake sites at the three time phases, i.e. 30, 18, and 6 kaBP by using the combined hydrological and energy budget model, make it possible to reconstruct the large changes in spatial precipitation patterns since the late Quaternary. The results have shown that, very strong precipitation occurred in western China at 30 kaBP, suggesting extremely enhanced summer Indian monsoon. Precipitation was high in southwestern China at 18 kaBP, especially the southern part of southwestern China, due to the southward shift of the westerlies and a low pressure cell occurred over northern India. The precipitation at 6 kaBP shows the complicated patterns for different regions of China, suggesting different climate dynamics. The comparison of the independent lake level/ area-based reconstruction of precipitation and the palaeo-climate simulations is an effective way for the validation ofeach method to reconstruct the palaeo-precipitation quantitatively, and for understanding the dynamic mechanisms of climatic change.     

Changes in the content of eolian iron during the past 900 ka and the implications

In this study, total Fe2O3 content (Fet) in two parallel sections from the central Loess Plateau (Xifeng and Changwu) is analyzed to address the variations of eolian iron in the past 900 ka. The obtained timeseries indicate that Fet Vvalues in some glacial intervals are comparable to that of interglacial periods and its oscillations do not generally correspond to the long-term glacial-interglacial changes. Rather,it exhibits higher frequency fluctuations without detectable 100 ka period, but with a strong 20 ka period and a clear 40ka period. The combination of 20 ka and 40 ka periods suggest that eolian iron content was relatively independent of glacial-interglacial changes, but more strongly influenced by the insolation changes in the northern hemisphere. Higher iron content was observed for the S5-1 soil that is correlative to marine δ^18O stage 13. In marine records, this stage is characterized by higher δ^13C values, suggesting that the event is of global significance.     

华北夏季降水年代际变化与东亚夏季风、大气环流异常

利用华北夏季降水资料和NCEP/NCAR再分析资料,对华北夏季降水、东亚夏季风年代际变化特征及大气环流异常进行研究,发现一些有意义的结果:华北夏季降水变化存在明显的8a、18a周期,东亚夏季风变化18a、28a周期性比较明显,二者年代际变化特征明显,但华北夏季降水变化和东亚夏季风变化的周期不完全一致.华北夏季降水量变化在60年代中期发生了突变,东亚夏季风变化在70年代中期发生了突变.华北夏季降水与东亚夏季风变化存在很好的相关关系,强夏季风年,华北夏季降水一般偏多,弱夏季风年,华北夏季降水一般偏少,但又不完全一致.东亚夏季风减弱是造成华北夏季降水减少的一个重要因素,但不是唯一因素,华北夏季降水减少还与环流异常密切相关.在地面上,青臧高原地区、华北地区气温下降造成华北低压系统活动减少,不利于降水.在850 hPa层上,东亚中纬度的西南季风和副热带高压南部的偏东风、西北部的西南风异常减弱,使得西南气流输送水汽很多难以到达30°N以北的地区,而副热带高压西部外围偏东南、偏南气流输送到华北地区的水汽也大量减少,水汽不足造成华北夏季降水偏少.在500 hPa高度场上,80年代欧亚遥相关型表现与50年代相反,变为欧洲( )、乌拉尔山(-)、中亚( )形势,这种环流使得乌拉尔山高压脊减弱,贝加尔湖至青藏高原高空槽变浅,纬向环流表现突出,不利于冷暖空气南北交换.同时在500 hPa气温场上,80年代,西伯利亚至青藏高原西北部的冷槽明显东移南压到蒙古至华北地区,锋区位于华北以东以南位置,使得华北地区冷暖空气交汇减少,降水也因此减少.华北夏季降水减少是由于东亚夏季风减弱和大气环流异常造成的.     

A mid－Holocene drought interval as evidenced by lake desiccation in the Alashan Plateau,Inner Mongolia,China

The mid-Holocene in China is traditionally thought to be a warm and humid period with a strong sum-mer monsoon, and is often termed the Holocene Climatic Optimum or Megathermal Period. Here we present lakegeomorphologic and lithologicai evidence from the Alashan Plateau, part of the Mongolian Plateau, that indicates stronglake desiccation during the mid-Holocene. High resolution pollen data from Zhuyeze Lake, at the present summermonsoon margin, is also presented. These data show that present lakes and wetlands in the Juyanze Lake basin west of the Badain Jaran desert, in the Zhuyeze Lake basin between the Badain Jaran and Tengger deserts, and in lakes in the eastern Tengger desert, dried or experienced low lake levelsin the mid-Holocene around 5000-7000 cal yr BP. Pollen data further indicate that the vegetation cover declined in both the local areas and in the Qilian Mountains, suggesting the climate was drier than that associated with the presentAsian summer monsoon. This mid-Holocene drought interval was present throughout a quite large region of the south In-ner Mongolian Plateau. The period was also probably colder,at least in the high Asian plateaus and mountains.     

三门峡王官与武威沙沟黄土记录中的末次间冰期向末次冰期转换期的暖性回返事件

河南三门峡王官剖面与甘肃武威沙沟剖面捕捉到了末次间冰期向末次冰期转换时期发生于72 ka前后持续时间约为2 ka的一暖性回返事件,两剖面的冬、夏季风替代指标对该暖性回返事件的反应在时间上大致同步(其时间段约为71～73 ka,在71.4～72.1 ka前后该暖性回返事件最强盛),暗示该暖性回返事件在东亚季风区可能是一普遍存在的气候突变事件.鉴于该暖性回返事件在全球其他地区的海洋、陆地、冰芯记录中也有较普遍的反映,我们认为该事件很可能是一次发生于气候转型期的全球普遍存在的暖性突变事件.     

青藏高原冬季积雪异常对东、南亚夏季风影响的初步数值模拟研究

利用一个耦合了简化的简单生物圈模式的大气环流谱模式（ＳＳｉＢ－ＧＣＭ），初步探讨了青藏高原冬季积雪异常对东、南亚夏季风环流和降水的影响及其机理。结果表明，高原地区冬季积雪增加将使随后的夏季东、南亚季风明显减弱，主要表现为东、南亚季风区降水减少，索马里急流、印度季风槽和印度西南气流减弱。另外，还提出欧亚大陆雪盖与整个高原雪盖和高原东部雪盖对东、南亚夏季风影响的敏感性问题。与欧亚大陆雪盖相比，高原雪盖是影响东、南亚季风的更敏感区，冬季高原以外雪盖增加，有可能使亚洲季风增强；当高原东部雪盖增加时，高原以东地区及印支半岛降水减少，印度东部、南部和孟加拉湾西北部降水反而增加     

Global and China temperature changes associated with the inter-decadal variations of East Asian summer monsoon advances

The modern atmospheric observation and literatural historical drought-flood records were used to extract the inter-decadal signals of dry-wet modes in eastern China and reveal the possible relationship of global and China temperature changes associated with the East Asian summer monsoon advances.A climate pattern of "wet-north and dry-south" in eastern China and cool period in China and globe are associated with the strong summer monsoon that can advance further to the northernmost part in the East Asian monsoon region.On the contrary,a climate pattern of "dry-north and wet-south" in eastern China and a warm period in China and globe are associated with the weaker summer monsoon that only reaches the southern part in the region.An interdecadal oscillation with the timescale about 60 years was found dominating in both the dry-wet mode index series of the East Asian summer monsoon and the global temperature series after the secular climate states and long-term trend over inter-centennial timescales have been removed.     

Eolian sand deposition and its environmental significance in the northeastern margin of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau

The dry climate which appeared about 8#x2013;7 Ma ago in South Asia has been interpreted as results of the intensification of Asian monsoon caused by the uplift of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau at its maximum altitude around that time. Whether it is or not, it is a critical problem. A total of 55 samples were taken from the Tertiary red earth and Quaternary lacustrine deposits and loess in the Linxia Basin which is located in the northeastern margin of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, for the analysis of quartz types and contents using electron probe microanalyzer. The results indicate that the eolian sands have existed since 15Ma and reached its maximum content at 8 and 6#x2013;5 Ma, respectively. This means that the climate was very dry during 8-5 Ma period in western China, which was regarded as the result of global climatic change at that time. Mean size of quartz sand grains was about 0.4 mm during 15#x2013;3.6/2.6 Ma period and dropped to 0.1–0.07 mm dramatically after 3.6–2.6 Ma. This demonstrates that the local eolian deposition was decreased significantly and even disappeared since Late Pliocene and was replaced by dust deposits from distal source, suggesting the uplift of Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and the change of air circulation after 3.6–2.6 Ma.     

The 1997-1998 warm event in the South China Sea

A strong warm event happens during spring 1997 to spring 1999 in the South China Sea. Its intensity and duration show that it is the strongest event on the record over the past decades. It also corresponds with the severe flood over the valley of the Yangtze River and a couple of marine environmental events. This note addressed the evolution process by using several data sets, such as sea surface temperature, height and wind stress in addition to subsurface temperature. The onset of the warm event almost teleconnects with the El Ni?o event in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Summer monsoon is stronger and winter monsoon is weaker in 1997 so that there are persistent westerly anomalies in the South China Sea. During the development phase, the warm advection caused by southerly anomalies is the major factor while the adjustment of the thermocline is not obvious. Subsequently, the southerly anomalies decay and even northerly anomalies appear in the summer of 1998 resulting from the weaker than normal summer monsoon in 1998 in the South China Sea. The thermocline develops deeper than normal, which causes the downwelling pattern and the start of the maintaining phase of the warm event. Temperature anomalies in the southern South China Sea begin to decay in the winter of 1998-1999 and this warm event ends in the May of 1999.     

A high-resolution stalagmite O-C isotope record from Nanjing and its rapid response to climatic events

Here we discussed rapid response of the cave temperature and vegetation to the four Dansgaard-Oeschger cold and warm cycles during 50-40 kaBP based on results of oxygen and carbon stable isotopic compositions from a stalagmite in Tangshan, Nanjing. It is found that the amount of C₃ vegetation relative to C₄-type declines during the D-O warm events, indicating the decrease of the effective meteoric precipitation. Compared with O-isotope records of the Greenland ice core, the stalagmite record displays a very similar pattern to Greenland ice core record over the decade-century time scale, suggesting that the changes of the East Asian monsoon climate are in accordance with the high-latitude polar climate in the short-term time scale. The age of the ice-rafted H5 event in the stalagmite record, however, preceded that of Greenland ice cores by 2 ka. This out of phase between the remote areas cannot be yet proven because the two time scales were determined from different dating methods.     

A method for estimating the contribution of evaporative vapor from Nam Co to local atmospheric vapor based on stable isotopes of water bodies

During the summer monsoon season,the moisture of precipitation events in southern and central regions of the Tibetan Plateau is mainly moisture from the Indian Ocean transported by the Indian monsoon and terrestrial vapor derived from the surface of the Tibetan Plateau.However,the respective contributions of these two types of moisture are not clear.From June to September,the excess deuterium values of precipitation and river water in the Nam Co basin are higher than those for the southern Tibetan Plateau.This reflects the mixing of evaporation from Nam Co and local atmospheric vapor.On the basis of theory for estimating the contribution of evaporative vapor from surface water bodies to atmospheric vapor and relative stable isotopes in water bodies (precipitation,river water,atmospheric moisture and lake water),this study preliminarily estimates that the average contribution of evaporation from the Lake Nam Co to local atmospheric vapor has varied from 28.4% to 31.1% during the summer monsoon season in recent years.