Direct measurements of deglacial monsoon strength in a Chinese stalagmite

Ian J. Orland; R. Lawrence Edwards; Hai Cheng; Reinhard Kozdon; Mellissa Cross; John W. Valley

doi:10.1130/G36612.1

Article navigation

Research Article| June 01, 2015

Direct measurements of deglacial monsoon strength in a Chinese stalagmite

Ian J. Orland;

Ian J. Orland *

1

Department of Earth Sciences, University of Minnesota, 310 Pillsbury Drive SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA

2

WiscSIMS (Wisconsin Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer Laboratory), Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin, 1215 West Dayton Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA

*

E-mail: [email protected]

Search for other works by this author on:

GSW

Google Scholar

R. Lawrence Edwards;

R. Lawrence Edwards

1

Department of Earth Sciences, University of Minnesota, 310 Pillsbury Drive SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA

Search for other works by this author on:

GSW

Google Scholar

Hai Cheng;

Hai Cheng

1

Department of Earth Sciences, University of Minnesota, 310 Pillsbury Drive SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA

3

Institute of Global Environmental Change, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China

Search for other works by this author on:

GSW

Google Scholar

Reinhard Kozdon;

Reinhard Kozdon

2

WiscSIMS (Wisconsin Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer Laboratory), Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin, 1215 West Dayton Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA

4

Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, 71 Dudley Road, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901, USA

Search for other works by this author on:

GSW

Google Scholar

Mellissa Cross;

Mellissa Cross

1

Department of Earth Sciences, University of Minnesota, 310 Pillsbury Drive SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA

Search for other works by this author on:

GSW

Google Scholar

John W. Valley

2

WiscSIMS (Wisconsin Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer Laboratory), Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin, 1215 West Dayton Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA

Search for other works by this author on:

GSW

Google Scholar

Author and Article Information

Ian J. Orland *

1

Department of Earth Sciences, University of Minnesota, 310 Pillsbury Drive SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA

2

WiscSIMS (Wisconsin Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer Laboratory), Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin, 1215 West Dayton Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA

R. Lawrence Edwards

1

Department of Earth Sciences, University of Minnesota, 310 Pillsbury Drive SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA

Hai Cheng

1

Department of Earth Sciences, University of Minnesota, 310 Pillsbury Drive SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA

3

Institute of Global Environmental Change, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China

Reinhard Kozdon

2

WiscSIMS (Wisconsin Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer Laboratory), Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin, 1215 West Dayton Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA

4

Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, 71 Dudley Road, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901, USA

Mellissa Cross

1

Department of Earth Sciences, University of Minnesota, 310 Pillsbury Drive SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA

John W. Valley

2

WiscSIMS (Wisconsin Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer Laboratory), Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin, 1215 West Dayton Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA

*

E-mail: [email protected]

Publisher: Geological Society of America

Received: 12 Jan 2015

Revision Received: 09 Apr 2015

Accepted: 15 Apr 2015

First Online: 09 Mar 2017

Online ISSN: 1943-2682

Print ISSN: 0091-7613

Geology (2015) 43 (6): 555–558.

https://doi.org/10.1130/G36612.1

Abstract

Chinese speleothems (cave deposits) preserve a remarkable paleoclimate record in their oxygen isotope ratios (δ¹⁸O); the precise interpretation of this record has been the subject of stimulating discussion. Most studies link the δ¹⁸O variability in Chinese speleothems to regional summer monsoon rainfall and/or rainfall integrated between tropical sources and cave sites. Discussion has centered on mechanisms behind this link as well as the location and seasonality of hypothesized rainfall changes. Until now, these hypotheses were not directly tested in speleothems because conventional drill sampling techniques are insufficient for measuring speleothem δ¹⁸O at seasonal resolution. Here we use an ion microprobe to analyze seasonal δ¹⁸O variability in an annually banded stalagmite from Kulishu Cave (northeastern China) that grew during the last deglaciation. The new seasonal resolution data show that the stalagmite δ¹⁸O values record two aspects of regional monsoon dynamics: (1) changes in the isotopic fractionation of water vapor sourced from both the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and (2) the annual proportion of summer monsoon rainfall, which was systematically greater during the Holocene and Bølling-Allerød than during the Younger Dryas. Both relate to regional rainfall; the isotopic fractionation changes also relate to rainfall integrated from tropical sources.