Little Ice Age Climate near Beijing, China, Inferred from Historical and Stalagmite Records

Abstract

Four data sets yield information about Holocene climatic change in China at different scales of space and time: (a) 120-yr ground temperature and precipitation measurements covering eastern China; (b) two NOAA 10-yr 850 hPa wind records that highlight features of data set a; (c) an 1100-year record of annual calcite accumulation on a stalagmite near Beijing, and (d) Lamb-type average wetness and temperature data from Chinese historical records back to A.D. 1470 and 1450, respectively. Dry–wet fluctuations and cold–warm oscillations are inferred using the long-term stalagmite thickness series. Quasi-70, 140, 450, and 750-yr oscillations have been detected using a wavelet transform technique. A phase relationship between temperature and precipitation oscillations has been identified based on modern observations and historical records. In northern China, relatively lower temperatures correlate with periods when precipitation shifted from above to below normal. Three colder periods during the Little Ice Age (LIA) in China are inferred, centered in the late 14th century (750-yr oscillation), the early 17th century (450-yr), and the 19th century (140-yr). The latest cool period (1950s–1970s) is found at the 70-yr oscillation. Interdecadal drought–flood and cold–warm differences are explained using modern circulation patterns. LIA climate in China was likely controlled by East Asian monsoon circulation anomalies that were affected by variations in continent–ocean thermal contrast.