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Synchronism of Holocene East Asian monsoon variations and North Atlantic drift-ice tracers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Stephen C. Porter*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Zhou Weijian
Affiliation:
Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 10 Fenghui South Road, Xi'an High-Tech Zone, Xi'an 710054, People's Republic of China
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail address:scporter@u.washington.edu (S.C. Porter).

Abstract

Eighteen radiocarbon-dated eolian and paleosol profiles within a 1500-km-long belt along the arid to semi-arid transition zone of north-central China record variations in the extent and strength of the East Asian summer monsoon during the Holocene. Dated paleosols and peat layers represent intervals when the zone was dominated by a mild, moist summer monsoon climate that favored pedogenesis and peat accumulation. Brief intervals of enhanced eolian activity that resulted in the deposition of loess and eolian sand were times when strengthened winter monsoon conditions produced a colder, drier climate. The monsoon variations correlate closely with variations in North Atlantic drift-ice tracers that represent episodic advection of drift ice and cold polar surface water southward and eastward into warmer subpolar water. The correspondence of these records over the full span of Holocene time implies a close relationship between North Atlantic climate and the monsoon climate of central China.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
University of Washington

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