Abrupt climate change of East Asian Monsoon at 130 kaBP inferred from a high resolution stalagmite δ18O record

230Th ages and oxygen isotope data of a stalagmite from Shanbao Cave in Hubei Province characterize the East Asian Monsoon precipitation from 133 to 127 ka. The decadal-scale high-resolution δ18O record reveals a detailed transitional process from the Penultimate Glaciation to the Last Interglaciation. As established with230Th dates, the age of the Termination II is determined to be 129.5±1.0 kaBP, which supports the Northern Hemisphere insolation as the triggers for the ice-age cycles. In our δ18O record, the glacial/ interglacial fluctuation reaches about 4‰, almost the same level as in other Asian Monsoon cave stalagmite δ18O records. The transition of the glacial/interglacial period in our record can be recognized as four stepwise stages, among which, a rapid rise of monsoon precipitation follows the stage of “Termination II pause”. The rapid rise is synchronous with the abrupt change of global methane concentration, which reflects that an increase in both Asian Monsoon precipitation and tropical wetland plays an important role in the global climate changes.