title: Timing, duration, and transitions of the last interglacial Asian monsoon.
abstract: Thorium-230 ages and oxygen isotope ratios of stalagmites from Dongge Cave, China, characterize the Asian Monsoon and low-latitude precipitation over the past 160,000 years. Numerous abrupt changes in 18O/16O values result from changes in tropical and subtropical precipitation driven by insolation and millennial-scale circulation shifts. The Last Interglacial Monsoon lasted 9.7 +/- 1.1 thousand years, beginning with an abrupt (less than 200 years) drop in 18O/16O values 129.3 +/- 0.9 thousand years ago and ending with an abrupt (less than 300 years) rise in 18O/16O values 119.6 +/- 0.6 thousand years ago. The start coincides with insolation rise and measures of full interglacial conditions, indicating that insolation triggered the final rise to full interglacial conditions.
authors.affiliation: Karst Dynamics Laboratory, Ministry of Land and Resources, 40 Qixing Road, Guilin 541004, China.
authors.forename: Daoxian
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Hai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: R Lawrence
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: Carolyn A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Dykoski
authors.forename: Megan J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: Meiliang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jiaming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qing
authors.forename: Yushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yongjin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jiangyin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Jeffery A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Dorale
authors.forename: Zhisheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Yanjun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cai