Strong coupling of Asian Monsoon and Antarctic climates on sub-orbital timescales.

There is increasing evidence that millennial-scale climate variability played an active role on orbital-scale climate changes, but the mechanism for this remains unclear. A (230)Th-dated stalagmite δ(18)O record between 88 and 22 thousand years (ka) ago from Yongxing Cave in central China characterizes changes in Asian monsoon (AM) strength. After removing the 65°N insolation signal from our record, the δ(18)O residue is strongly anti-phased with Antarctic temperature variability on sub-orbital timescales during the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3.

Evidence for solar cycles in a late Holocene speleothem record from Dongge Cave, China.

The association between solar activity and Asian monsoon (AM) remains unclear. Here we evaluate the possible connection between them based on a precisely-dated, high-resolution speleothem oxygen isotope record from Dongge Cave, southwest China during the past 4.2 thousand years (ka).