Interstadial diversity of East Asian summer monsoon linked to changes of the Northern Westerlies

During the last glacial period, the iconic Greenland ice-core records provide evidence of interstadial warmings with various durations ranging from a century to millennia. However, whether differences in interstadial duration are mirrored by distinct hydroclimate responses in the tropics remains unclear. Here we present four speleothem δ<sup>18</sup>O records from the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) and East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) regions, spanning both short and long interstadials during the last glacial period. Greenland and ISM records show broadly similar isotopic responses across events, however, the EASM records exhibit markedly different δ<sup>18</sup>O depletions between short and long interstadials. Using an isotope-enabled climate model, we attribute these differences to a further northward shift of the Northern Westerlies during short interstadials, driven by intensified high-latitude warming. This shift promoted the northwestward expansion of Western Pacific Subtropical High and hence the delivery of isotopically enriched near-sourced vapor to eastern China, dampening δ<sup>18</sup>O depletion during stadial-to-interstadial transitions. Our findings highlight a previously unrecognized sensitivity of EASM precipitation δ<sup>18</sup>O to nuanced meridional shifts in the Northern Westerlies in contrast to the uniform responses of the ISM during interstadials.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2025-08-25
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-63057-2
Citations
4
Primary Topic
Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
5.20

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article

Interstadial diversity of East Asian summer monsoon linked to changes of the Northern Westerlies

Youfeng Ning, Yuao Zhang, R. Lawrence Edwards, Xiyu Dong et al.
4 citations
Nature Communications
Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
5.20
article

Interstadial diversity of East Asian summer monsoon linked to changes of the Northern Westerlies

Youfeng Ning, Yuao Zhang, R. Lawrence Edwards, Xiyu Dong, Yanjun Cai, Christoph Spötl, Rui Zhang, Hai Cheng, Gayatri Kathayat, Nicolás M. Stríkis, Ashish Sinha, Xu Zhang, Xiaowen Niu, Shouyi Huang, Sune Olander Rasmussen, Anders Svensson, Yao Xu, Dianbing Liu, Baoyun Zong, Francisco W. Cruz, Xianfeng Wang, Martin Werner, Carlos Pérez‐Mejías, Jian Wang, Haiwei Zhang, Youwei Li, Hanying Li, Pengzhen Duan
article en
4 citations

Abstract

During the last glacial period, the iconic Greenland ice-core records provide evidence of interstadial warmings with various durations ranging from a century to millennia. However, whether differences in interstadial duration are mirrored by distinct hydroclimate responses in the tropics remains unclear. Here we present four speleothem δ<sup>18</sup>O records from the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) and East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) regions, spanning both short and long interstadials during the last glacial period. Greenland and ISM records show broadly similar isotopic responses across events, however, the EASM records exhibit markedly different δ<sup>18</sup>O depletions between short and long interstadials. Using an isotope-enabled climate model, we attribute these differences to a further northward shift of the Northern Westerlies during short interstadials, driven by intensified high-latitude warming. This shift promoted the northwestward expansion of Western Pacific Subtropical High and hence the delivery of isotopically enriched near-sourced vapor to eastern China, dampening δ<sup>18</sup>O depletion during stadial-to-interstadial transitions. Our findings highlight a previously unrecognized sensitivity of EASM precipitation δ<sup>18</sup>O to nuanced meridional shifts in the Northern Westerlies in contrast to the uniform responses of the ISM during interstadials.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 16(1)
Yunnan Normal University (CN), University of Copenhagen (DK), Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung (DE), University of Minnesota (US), British Antarctic Survey (GB), Nanjing Normal University (CN), Nanyang Technological University (SG), Universidade de São Paulo (BR), Universität Innsbruck (AT), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), California State University, Dominguez Hills (US), Earth Observatory of Singapore (SG), Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development (CN), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research (CN), Institute of Earth Environment (CN), Xi'an Jiaotong University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Key Research and Development Program of China, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Openalex Percentile: Top 4%
Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
5.20
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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