Impacts of extremely asymmetrical polar ice sheets on the East Asian summer monsoon during the MIS-13 interglacial

Abstract Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 13 (∼500 ka ago) was a relatively weak interglacial according to the benthic δ18O and Antarctic ice core records. However, proxy records from the Northern Hemisphere indicate that MIS-13 was at least as warm as or even warmer than more recent interglacials, with an extremely strong summer monsoon and possible melting of the Greenland ice sheet. In this study, assuming an asymmetric hemispheric climate, we investigate the response of the East Asian summer monsoon to various Greenland and Antarctic ice sheet sizes using a set of sensitivity experiments with the HadCM3 model through factor separation analysis. Results show that with no Greenland ice sheet and a large Antarctic ice sheet there is an enhancement of summer monsoon precipitation in the East Asian monsoon region of up to ∼7%, in agreement with the direction of change from proxy reconstructions for China. This enhancement is associated with a stronger land–sea thermal contrast, more water vapor transport to East Asia and a northward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. The response to the Greenland ice sheet removal is related to thermodynamic and topographical effects that influence the East Asian monsoon through an orographically induced wave train. The response to the larger Antarctic ice sheet involves stronger upwelling of circumpolar deep water in the Southern Ocean melts the sea ice, leading to a warmer SST. This warming propagates to the North, affecting the East Asian summer monsoon.