Separation of the Asian summer monsoon and local precipitation from stalagmite oxygen isotope records in Eastern China during the last millennium

Abstract

The Asian summer monsoon (ASM) regulates water vapor and heat transport across the East Asian continent and has a significant impact on patterns of regional precipitation. However, assessment of the long-term association between the monsoon and precipitation in different regions remains difficult due to spatial chronological differences and uncertainties in interpretation of climate proxies. This study provides a novel insight into the interpretation of stalagmite oxygen isotopes (δ18O) records and obtained synchronous ASM index series and precipitation variations in Northern China (NC), Central China (CC), and Southwestern China (SWC) over the last 1134 years (850–1983CE). The results show that the ASM index sequence is consistent with the trend evident in the monsoon intensity records from the region upstream of the water vapor source, which represents the response to the inter-hemispheric temperature dominated by effective solar radiation (ESR). Reconstruction precipitation data were in general agreement with the existing paleo-hydrological records of the regions, confirming the reliability and chronological accuracy of the reconstruction. Correlation analysis highlighted the significant regional heterogeneity in the destabilizing relationship between precipitation and the monsoon over the past millennium in Eastern China at sub-centennial scales. Specifically, the precipitation-monsoon relationships in three regions, NC, CC, and SWC, might be related to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the position of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), and solar activity, respectively. Moreover, at the millennial scale, a certain positive correlation between precipitation and ASM in NC and SWC was identified, whereas there was a weaker correlation between precipitation and ASM in CC. This study represents an attempt to further interpret the stalagmite δ18O record, which can be generalized to larger and longer time scales.