Asian summer monsoon precipitation recorded by stalagmite oxygen isotopic composition in the western Loess Plateau during AD1875―2003 and its linkage with ocean-atmosphere system

Based on 5 high-precision 230Th dates and 103 stable oxygen isotope ratios (δ18O) obtained from the top 16 mm of a stalagmite collected from Wanxiang Cave,Wudu,Gansu,variation of monsoonal precipita-tion in the modern Asian Monsoon (AM) marginal zone over the past 100 years was reconstructed. Comparison of the speleothem δ18O record with instrumental precipitation data at Wudu in the past 50 years indicates a high parallelism between the two curves,suggesting that the speleothem δ18O is a good proxy for the AM strength and associated precipitation,controlled by "amount effect" of the pre-cipitation. Variation of the monsoonal precipitation during the past 100 years can be divided into three stages,increasing from AD 1875 to 1900,then decreasing from AD 1901 to 1946,and increasing again thereafter. This variation is quite similar to that of the Drought/Flooding index archived from Chinese historical documents. This speleothem-derived AM record shows a close association with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) between AD 1875 and 1977,with higher monsoonal precipitation corre-sponding to cold PDO phase and vice versa at decadal timescale. The monsoonal precipitation varia-tion is out of phase with the PDO after AD 1977,probably resulting from the decadal climate jump in the north Pacific occurring at around AD 1976/77. These results demonstrate a strong linkage between the AM and associated precipitation and the Pacific Ocean via ocean/atmosphere interaction. This rela-tionship will aid to forecast future hydrological cycle for the AM monsoon region,and to improve forecasting potential of climatic model with observation data from cave.

Implications of stalagmite density for past climate change:An example from stalagmite growth during the last deglaciation from Wanxiang Cave,western Loess Plateau

The density of a stalagmite(WX42A)from Wanxiang Cave,Wudu County,Gansu Province,China,in the western margin of the Asian summer monsoon region,presents regular fluctuations in different deposition periods during the last deglaciation.Over long timescales,high-precision 230Th dating and high-resolution stalagmite density data indicate that the density-time series between 17644 a BP and 12758 a BP is quite similar to the stalagmite δ18O record which reflects Asian monsoon intensity.Strengthening/weakening(lighter/heavier stalagmite δ18O values)of the Asian monsoon is accompanied by increase/decrease in stalagmite density.Over short timescales,decrease in stalagmite density correlates to monsoon-retreat events such as the Inter-AllerФd Cold Period(IACP),Older Dryas(OD)and Inter-BФlling Cold Period(IBCP).Generally,this kind of decrease in stalagmite density reflects precipitation decrease with weakening of the Asian monsoon,which in turn slows cave dripwater rate and decreases crystal nuclei,leading to enlargement of calcite crystals,weakened biological activity and decreased soil pCO2 which increases the abundance of impure detrital materials in stalagmites.However,during the period of large amplitude reduction of precipitation and biological activity which resulted from extreme monsoon-retreat events,temperature variation would dominate fluctuation of stalagmite density.For example,stalagmite density increased suddenly when temperature dropped suddenly in the north Atlantic during Heinrich event 1(H-1).This may be caused by low seepage water temperature,more dissolved calcium carbonate,compact regular crystals forming under higher supersaturation,leading to the stalagmite increased density.Stalagmite density fluctuation sensitively recorded stalagmite growth history and environment,demonstrating that stalagmite density can be used as a proxy for paleoclimatic research.