The climate reconstruction in Shandong Peninsula, northern China, during the last millennium based on stalagmite laminae together with a comparison to &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;δ&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt;&amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;18&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt;O

Qing Wang,Chuan-Chou Shen,Hong Chi,Houyun Zhou,Changshan Wang,Qianqian Ma,Ke Cheng

doi:10.5194/cp-12-871-2016

The climate reconstruction in Shandong Peninsula, northern China, during the last millennium based on stalagmite laminae together with a comparison to &lt;i&gt;δ&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;O

Qing Wang, Chuan-Chou Shen + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-871-2016

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Abstract

Abstract. Stalagmite ky1, with a length of 75 mm and the upper part (from top to 42.769 mm depth) consisting of 678 laminae, was collected from Kaiyuan Cave in the coastal area of Shandong Peninsula, northern China, located in a warm temperate zone in the East Asia monsoon area. Based on high-precision dating with the U–230Th technique and continuous counting of laminae, the 1st and 678th laminae have been confirmed to be AD 1894 ± 20 and 1217 ± 20 from top to bottom, respectively. By the measurement of laminae thickness and δ18O ratios, we haved obtained the time series data of thickness of laminae and δ18O ratios from AD 1217 ± 20 to 1894 ± 20, analyzed the climatic–environmental meaning of variations in the thickness of laminae, which have a good correspondence with the cumulative departure curve of the drought–waterlog index in the historical period. The results show that, in the ∼ 678 years from AD 1217 ± 20 to 1894 ± 20, both the thickness of the laminae and the degree of fluctuation in the thickness of the laminae of stalagmite ky1 have obvious stages of variation and are completely synchronized with the contemporaneous intensity of the summer monsoons and precipitation as time changed. There is a negative correlation between the thickness of the laminae and the summer monsoon intensity and precipitation. There is a positive correlation between the degree of fluctuation in the thickness of the laminae and both the intensity of the summer monsoons and the precipitation. Therefore, for the Kaiyuan Cave in the coastal area of both the warm temperate zone and the East Asia monsoon area, the variations in the thickness of the laminae are not only related to the change in the climatic factors themselves but also related to the degree of climatic stability. In the coastal area belonging to the warm temperate zone and the East Asia monsoon area, the climate change between the LIA (Little Ice Age) and the MWP (Medieval Warm Period), in addition to less precipitation and low temperatures (a type of dry and cold climate), also shows an obviously decreasing trend in the degree of climatic stability.

Highlights

Wang et al.: The climate reconstruction in Shandong Peninsula, northern China and environment interpretations relative to thickness of laminae based on different stalagmites from different climatic regions
The stalagmite laminae were confirmed as annual laminae in the earliest studies (Baker et al, 1993), the structure of the laminae reflected the intensity of the ancient rainfall (Baker et al, 1999), and there was a positive correlation between the growth rate of stalagmites and precipitation (Brook et al, 1999)
There was a negative correlation between the growth rate of stalagmites and precipitation (Proctor et al, 2000, 2002), there was a responsive relationship between the growth rate of the stalagmites and the winter temperature (Frisia et al, 2003), and the growth rate of the stalagmites was influenced by the vegetation density on the top of the cave (Baldini et al, 2005)

Summary

Introduction

Calcareous speleothems, which have advantages for precisely dating and high-resolution sampling, are becoming one of the best geological record carriers for major climate changes (Burns et al, 2003; Cheng et al, 2009; Dykoski et al, 2005; Genty et al, 2003; Fairchild et al, 2006; Wang et al, 2001, 2008; Qin et al, 1999; Yuan et al, 2004) and highresolution reconstruction of the paleoclimate and paleoenvironment (Committee on Surface Temperature Reconstructions for the Last 2000 Years and National Research Council, 2006; Fleitmann et al, 2003; Hou et al, 2003; McDermott et al, 2001; Paulsen et al, 2003; Tan et al, 2003; Tan, 2007; Wang et al, 2005; Zhang et al, 2008). There was a negative correlation between the growth rate of stalagmites and precipitation (Proctor et al, 2000, 2002), there was a responsive relationship between the growth rate of the stalagmites and the winter temperature (Frisia et al, 2003), and the growth rate of the stalagmites was influenced by the vegetation density on the top of the cave (Baldini et al, 2005). The investigation of stalagmite laminae in the middle reach of the Yangtze River indicates that the thickness of stalagmite laminae may be regarded as a substitute index for the summer monsoon intensity in East Asia (Liu et al, 2005). There was a response relationship between the growth rate of the stalagmites and the temperature in summer; the thickness of the laminae may be regarded as a substitute index for East Asia monsoon intensity (Tan et al, 2004). The growth rate and the observed temperature have a significant positive correlation (Tan et al, 2013)

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