Temporal and spatial variation of δ18O in China since medieval warm period

High-resolution δO data (yearly) since AD 900 from six caves (Dongge, Furong, Heshang, Wanxiang, Buddha, Shihua) in China was analyzed to detect decadal and centennial variability of wet/dry in the Asian Monsoon region. The empirical mode decomposition method (Huang et al., 1998) was used to obtain trends for the six cave data. The nine-year running average was conducted on the detrened data (ΔδO, called anomaly) to filter out high-frequency fluctuation such as the interannual variability. Mean values of anomaly for each cave were calculated for 5 periods: (1) medieval warm period (MWD, AD 900 –AD 1100), (2) little ice age phase-1 (LIA-1, AD 1250 – AD 1550), (3) little ice age phase-2 (LIA-2, AD 1550 – AD 1850), (4) modern period-1 (MD-1, AD 1850 – AD 1950), and (5) modern period-2 (MD-2, AD 1950-2000). Anomalies in MWP and LIA-2 has opposite signs: negative anomaly (strong monsoon) in MWP and positive anomaly (weak monsoon) in LIA-2 in (Dongge, Wanxiang) cave data otherwise in (Budda, Furong, Heshang, Shihua) cave data. In LIA-1, all the six caves have positive anomalies (weak monsoon). In MD-1 (AD 1850-AD 1950), all the six caves have negative anomalies; and in MD-2 (AD 1950 – AD 2000), all the caves except Buddha have negative anomalies. It implies strong monsoon with global warming trend. Spectral analysis was also conducted on the detrended data of the six caves. The above observational studies show the following results: (1) Monsoon strength has spatial variations; (2) Stronger monsoon occurred under both warm and cold climatic conditions. One should not use the relationship of warm condition ― stronger summer monsoon to interpret monsoonal climates in short time scales (less than centennial scale); and (3) Monsoon strengthening continues.