Ice-volume and insolation influences on hydroclimate changes in central eastern China during the antepenultimate glacial period

The rainfall changes in East Asian summer monsoon(EASM)regions on the orbital timescale remain controversial due to the lack of reliable rainfall records.Here,we present new multiproxy records(δ^(18)O,δ^(13)C,Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca)of a230Thdated stalagmite from Hulu Cave in central eastern China.Multiproxy records reconstruct a regional hydroclimate history from 340 to 261 kyr BP(thousand years before present),approximately covering the antepenultimate glacial period.Theδ^(18)O record is dominated by the precessional cycles,suggesting that EASM responds to changes in Northern Hemisphere summer insolation(NHSI)on the orbital timescale.Significant correlations amongst theδ^(13)C,Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca suggest that a common factor,i.e.,the local hydrological cycle,controlled their variability,and their leading principal component can be used as a proxy linked to regional rainfall.This composite record bears a good similarity to those from the Chinese Loess Plateau,showing a gradually decreasing rainfall during the antepenultimate glacial period,consistent with changes in global ice volume.Superimposed on the long-term trend,three relative wetter intervals were responding to the higher NHSI periods,suggesting that EASM rainfall variability was induced by integrated effects of global ice volume and NHSI.The increased ice sheets and lower NHSI resulted in an increased meridional temperature gradient and southward shift of the westerlies,which shortened the duration of Meiyu and midsummer rainfall.The differences between the rainfall record and the stalagmiteδ^(18)O record indicate that the latter represents the overall EASM intensity linked to monsoon circulation,but does not directly reflect the rainfall changes at the cave sites.

Ferromagnetism at 230 K in(Ba_(0.7)K_(0.3))(Zn_(0.85)Mn_(0.15))_2As_2 diluted magnetic semiconductor

We report the ferromagnetism with Cure temperature Tcat 230 K in a new diluted magnetic semiconductor(DMS)(Ba0.7K0.3)(Zn0.85Mn0.15)2As2isostructural to ferropnictide 122 superconductors synthesized via low temperature sintering.Spin is doped by isovalence substitution of Mn2+for Zn2+,while charge is introduced by heterovalence substitution of K1+for Ba2+in(Ba0.7K0.3)(Zn0.85Mn0.15)2As2DMS,being different from(Ga,Mn)As where both spin&charge are induced simultaneously by heterovalence substation of Mn2+for Ga3+.The(Ba0.7K0.3)(Zn0.85Mn0.15)2As2DMS shows spontaneous magnetization following T3/2dependence expected for a homogeneous ferromagnet with saturation moment 1.0μB for each Mn atom.

ENSO-Like Pacing of the Asian Summer Monsoon during the Early Holocene

We present a230Th-dated stalagmite oxygen isotope(δ^18O)record from Loushanguan Cave in the Yangtze River valley,China.The^δ18O record,if viewed as a proxy of the Asian summer monsoon(ASM)intensity,provides an ASM history for the early Holocene with clear centennial-scale variability.A significant approximately 200-yr cycle between 10.2 and 9.1 ka BP(before present,where"present"is defined as the year AD 1950),as revealed by spectral power analyses,is of global significance and is probably forced by the Suess or de Vries cycle of solar activity.Here,we explore a physical mechanism to explain the relationship between the solar activity and the ASM.A strong coherence between the ASM and El Ni?o–Southern Oscillation(ENSO)has been observed by performing crosswavelet analyses on this cycle.Our study suggests that a strong(weak)ASM state corresponds to a warm(cold)ENSO,which is consistent with modern meteorological observations but contrasts with previous studies on regions far from the Meiyu rainbelt.We argue that the centennial fluctuations of the ASM are a fundamental characteristic forced by the solar activity,with the ENSO variability as a mediator.The relationship between ENSO and the ASM displayed spatial heterogeneity on the centennial scale during the early Holocene,which is a more direct analogue to the observed modern interannual variability of the ASM.

Superconducting properties of “111” type LiFeAs iron arsenide single crystals

LiFeAs single crystal has been grown with superconducting transition temperature Tc comparable to that of polycrystals.A magnetic transition is found at about 160 K,which suggests the correlation of superconductivity with spin wave density.

Summer Monsoon Rainfall Variability in Central China over the Past 4700 Years and Its Possible Link to Solar Activity

Based on 467 pairs ofδ^(18)O andδ^(13)C records and 8230 Th dates from a stalagmite(BF4)from Xiniu Cave,central China,we present a reconstruction of 9-yr resolution monsoon rainfall record for the past 4700 years.Ourδ^(18)O record shows good coherence with East Asian summer monsoon(EASM)rainfall proxies from adjacent regions during the overlapping intervals,suggesting thatδ^(18)O signal in BF4 can be interpreted as a monsoon rainfall proxy.Theδ^(13) C variations are related to changes in local processes at the cave site,and regional rainfall and temperature changes.Based on theδ18 O record,a series of dry periods can be identified at 4500-4200,3500-3200,2800-2500,1900-1600,1400-1200,700-500,and 400-200 yr BP,while a series of wet periods can be identified at 4200-3600,2400-2200,3200-2800,1100-900,600-400,and 200-100 yr BP.Power spectrum analysis on ourδ^(18) O record reveals significant cycles at 470 and 80 yr,coinciding with the typical solar periodic variations.This result suggests that changes in solar activity play a dominant role in driving centennial-decadal monsoon rainfall variation in central China.Due to minor changes in solar irradiance(less than 1.5 W m^(-2))over the past 4700 years,our record was further compared to the El Nino-Southern Oscillation(ENSO)and Pacific Decadal Oscillation(PDO)proxies,confirming that solar forcing on monsoon rainfall changes might be amplified by the ENSO and PDO variations.From 600 to 150 yr BP(the Little Ice Age,LIA),a positive shift of 2‰can be revealed in both theδ^(18)O andδ^(13)C records,indicating a cold/dry climatic pattern.By comparing ourδ^(18)O andδ^(13)C records with historical documents,we suggest that the climatic deteriorations between 450 and 250 yr BP may have caused serious social unrest at the end of the Ming Dynasty.