Timing, duration, and transitions of the last interglacial Asian monsoon.
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.
Yuan
Daoxian
D
Karst Dynamics Laboratory, Ministry of Land and Resources, 40 Qixing Road, Guilin 541004, China.
Cheng
Hai
H
Edwards
R Lawrence
RL
Dykoski
Carolyn A
CA
Kelly
Megan J
MJ
Zhang
Meiliang
M
Qing
Jiaming
J
Lin
Yushi
Y
Wang
Yongjin
Y
Wu
Jiangyin
J
Dorale
Jeffery A
JA
An
Zhisheng
Z
Cai
Yanjun
Y