Hydroclimatic contrasts over Asian monsoon areas and linkages to tropical Pacific SSTs.
Knowledge of spatial and temporal hydroclimatic differences is critical in understanding climatic mechanisms. Here we show striking hydroclimatic contrasts between northern and southern parts of the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau (ETP), and those between East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and Indian summer monsoon (ISM) areas during the past ~2,000 years. During the Medieval Period, and the last 100 to 200 years, the southern ETP (S-ETP) area was generally dry (on average), while the northern ETP (N-ETP) area was wet. During the Little Ice Age (LIA), hydroclimate over S-ETP areas was wet, while that over N-ETP area was dry (on average). Such hydroclimatic contrasts can be broadly extended to ISM and EASM areas. We contend that changes in sea surface temperatures (SSTs) of the tropical Pacific Ocean could have played important roles in producing these hydroclimatic contrasts, by forcing the north-south movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and intensification/slowdown of Walker circulation. The results of sensitivity experiments also support such a proposition.
State key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China.|Department of Environment Science and Technology, School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
Hai
H
Xu
State key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China.
Jianghu
J
Lan
State key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China.
Enguo
E
Sheng
State key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China.
Bin
B
Liu
State key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China.
Keke
K
Yu
State key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China.
Yuanda
Y
Ye
State key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China.
Zhengguo
Z
Shi
State key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China.
Peng
P
Cheng
State key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China.
Xulong
X
Wang
Laboratory of Human Evolution and Archeological Science, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Xinying
X
Zhou
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA.
Kevin M
KM
Yeager