Correlation between the oxygen isotope record from Dasuopu ice core and the Asian Southwest Monsoon during the last millennium

Abstract

Long high-resolution proxy records are valuable for understanding Asian Southwest Monsoon (ASM) dynamics on decadal to centennial timescales. A millennium long δ18O ice core record from the central Himalayas provides an opportunity to study the ASM variability on decadal to centennial timescales. The Dasuopu ice core δ18O record indicates that a relatively warm period corresponding with the Medieval Warm Period lasted from AD 1140s to 1390s, a notable warming trend is apparent from 1800s to 1990s, and several cool periods occurred between AD 1010-1130s, 1290-1330s, 1400-1460s, 1520s, 1590-1630s, 1740s, and 1770-1790s. Comparisons with other high-resolution monsoon proxy records from the Arabian Sea, south Oman, and southern China reveal a high correspondence between temperature changes in the central Himalayas and the ASM variability during the last 1000 years. A pronounced warming trend since AD 1670 coincides with an abrupt transition from a weak to a strong intensity of the ASM. The thermal conditions in the Himalayas and on the Tibetan Plateau and associated glacial boundary conditions may have been predominantly responsible for variations of the ASM intensity and for a latitudinal movement in the mean position of the ITCZ on decadal to centennial timescales. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.