Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Links between the East Asian monsoon and North Atlantic climate during the 8,200 year event

Nature Geoscience volume 6, pages 117–120 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

An abrupt cooling event in the North Atlantic region 8,200 years ago affected climate throughout the Northern Hemisphere1,2,3. The event is well constrained in Greenland ice cores3, but lack of resolution in records from other regions has challenged our understanding of the timing and nature of the associated teleconnections. Speleothem records from East Asia have suggested monsoonal changes associated with the 8,200 year event, but the nature of these changes remains controversial1,2. Here we assess changes in East Asian precipitation during the event from a sub-annually resolved stalagmite record from central China. Using δ18O and Mg/Ca measurements of the speleothem carbonate, we show that climate dried significantly about 8,200 years ago. Based on our annual-layer-counted chronology, we show that the dry event lasted 150 years, with a central period of pronounced aridity that lasted 70 years. The duration and evolution of the event is indistinguishable from that observed in the Greenland ice cores. We therefore conclude that an effective and rapid atmospheric teleconnection exists between the North Atlantic and the monsoon system in warm climates similar to today’s.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Existing stalagmite δ18O records from central China for the 8.2 kyr period.
Figure 2: Holocene δ18O and Mg/Ca records from the HS-4 stalagmite.
Figure 3: The new high-resolution Heshang 8.2 kyr record plotted against depth and age.
Figure 4: Comparison of Greenland3 and Central China (this study) δ18O records.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Cheng, H. et al. Timing and structure of the 8.2 kyr BP event inferred from δ18O records of stalagmites from China, Oman, and Brazil. Geology 37, 1007–1010 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Pausata, F. S. R., Battisti, D. S., Nisancioglu, K. H. & Bitz, C. M. Chinese stalagmite δ18O controlled by changes in the Indian monsoon during a simulated Heinrich event. Nature Geosci. 4, 474–480 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Thomas, E. R. et al. The 8.2 kyr event from Greenland ice cores. Quat. Sci. Rev. 26, 70–81 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Alley, R. B. et al. Holocene climatic instability: A prominant, widespread event 8200 yr ago. Geology 25, 483–486 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Kleiven, H. F. et al. Reduced North Atlantic deep water coeval with the Glacial Lake Agassiz freshwater outburst. Science 319, 60–64 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Alley, R. B. & Agustsdottir, A. M. The 8k event: Cause and consequences of a major Holocene abrupt climate change. Quat. Sci. Rev. 24, 1123–1149 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Rohling, E. J. & Palike, H. Centennial-scale climate cooling with a sudden cold event around 8,200 years ago. Nature 434, 975–979 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Morrill, C., Overpeck, J. & Cole, J. E. A synthesis of abrupt changes in the Asian summer monsoon since the last deglaciation. Holocene 13, 465–476 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Morrill, C., Wagner, A. J., Otto-Bliesner, B. & Rosenbloom, N. Evidence for significant climate impacts in monsoonal Asia at 8.2 kyr from multiple proxies and model simulations. J. Earth Environ. 2, 426–441 (2011).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Hu, C. et al. Quantification of Holocene Asian monsoon rainfall from spatially separated cave records. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 266, 221–232 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Wang, Y. L. et al. A high-resolution absolute-dated late Pleistocene monsoon record from Hulu Cave, China. Science 294, 2345–2348 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Dykoski, C. A. et al. A high-resolution, absolute-dated Holocene and deglacial Asian monsoon record from Dongge Cave, China. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 233, 71–86 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Wang, Y. J. et al. The Holocene Asian monsoon: Links to solar changes and North Atlantic climate. Science 308, 854–857 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Dong, J. G. et al. A high-resolution stalagmite record of the Holocene East Asian monsoon from Mt Shennongjia, central China. Holocene 20, 257–264 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Johnson, K. R., Hu, C. Y., Belshaw, N. S. & Henderson, G. M. Seasonal trace element and stable isotope variations in a Chinese speleothem: The potential for high-resolution paleomonsoon reconstruction. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 244, 394–407 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Hu, C. Y., Henderson, G. M., Huang, J. H., Chen, Z. H. & Johnson, K. R. Report of a three-year monitoring programme at Heshang Cave, Central China. Int. J. Speleol. 37, 143–151 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Henderson, G. M., Hu, C. Y. & Johnson, K. R. Controls on trace elements in stalagmites derived from in situ growth in a Chinese cave 18th Annu. V M Goldschmidt Conf. A366 (2008).

  18. Lachniet, M. S. Climatic and environmental controls on speleothem oxygen-isotope values. Quat. Sci. Rev. 28, 412–432 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. LeGrande, A. N. & Schmidt, G. A. Ensemble, water isotope-enabled, coupled general circulation modelling insights into the 8.2 kyr event. Paleoceanography 23, Pa3207 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. LeGrande, A. N. & Schmidt, G. A. Sources of Holocene variability of oxygen isotopes in paleoclimate archives. Clim. Past 5, 441–455 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Fairchild, I. J. & Treble, P. C. Trace elements in speleothems as recorders of environmental change. Quat. Sci. Rev. 28, 449–468 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Johnson, K. R. & Ingram, B. L. Spatial and temporal variability in the stable isotope systematics of modern precipitation in China: Implications for palaeoclimate reconstuctions. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 220, 365–378 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Dreybrodt, W. & Romanov, D. Regular stalagmites: The theory behind their shape. Acta Carsol. 37, 175–184 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Baker, A. et al. Testing theoretically predicted stalagmite growth rate with Recent annually laminated samples: Implications for past stalagmite deposition. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 62, 393–404 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Kobashi, T., Severinghaus, J. P., Brook, E. J., Barnola, J. M. & Grachev, A. M. Precise timing and characterization of abrupt climate change 8200 years ago from air trapped in polar ice. Quat. Sci. Rev. 26, 1212–1222 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Goodman, P. J. Thermohaline adjustment and advection in an OGCM. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 31, 1477–1497 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Dong, B. W. & Sutton, R. T. Adjustment of the coupled ocean–atmosphere system to a sudden change in the Thermohaline Circulation. Geophys. Res. Lett. 29, L01728 (2002).

    Google Scholar 

  28. Barnett, T. P., Dumenil, L., Schlese, U. & Roeckner, E. The effect of Eurasian snow cover on global climate. Science 239, 504–507 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Chiang, J. C. H. & Bitz, C. M. Influence of high latitude ice cover on the marine Intertropical Convergence Zone. Clim. Dyn. 25, 477–496 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Broccoli, A. J., Dahl, K. A. & Stouffer, R. J. Response of the ITCZ to Northern Hemisphere cooling. Geophys. Res. Lett. 33, L01702 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was funded by NERC Grant NE/ G003416/1, by the Gary Comer Abrupt Climate Change Fellowship, and by National Basic Research Program of China (2011CB808800), and NSFC grants (40972219). We thank S. Blockley for advice on use of OxCal.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, People's Republic of China

    Y-H. Liu, C-Y. Hu & S-C. Xie

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX23AN, UK

    G. M. Henderson, A. J. Mason & N. Charnley

  3. Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, California 92697, USA

    K. R. Johnson

Authors
  1. Y-H. Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. G. M. Henderson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. C-Y. Hu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. A. J. Mason
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. N. Charnley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. K. R. Johnson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. S-C. Xie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

C-Y.H. initiated work in Heshang Cave and recovered the HS-4 sample; G.M.H. conceived the high-resolution study of the 8.2 kyr event; Y-H.L. led the milling, measurement and interpretation, and contributed to all aspects of the study; A.J.M. led the U-Th measurements, and N.C. the electron probe measurement; the manuscript was written by Y-H.L. and G.M.H. with contributions from all authors.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Y-H. Liu or G. M. Henderson.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (PDF 2800 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Liu, YH., Henderson, G., Hu, CY. et al. Links between the East Asian monsoon and North Atlantic climate during the 8,200 year event. Nature Geosci 6, 117–120 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1708

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1708

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing