Low‐Latitude Forcing of the End of the Last Interglacial Peak: Stalagmite Evidence From North China

Abstract Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e, the last interglacial maximum, featured global temperatures ∼2°C higher than present. However, the timing and structure of MIS 5e termination remain poorly constrained with respect to the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM). Here, we present two coeval stalagmite δ 18 O records from North China spanning 125.0–117.7 ka BP, with inter‐decadal resolution and robust 230 Th dating (±0.3 kyr). The EASM weakening that marks the MIS 5e/5d transition occurred between 121.4 ± 0.4 and 119.8 ± 0.3 ka BP, a period lacking clear evidence for a pronounced Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) slowdown, which challenges the view that abrupt AMOC weakening was the primary driver. Instead, this EASM weakening was likely driven by low‐latitude processes, linked to the reduced Indo‐Pacific Warm Pool upper ocean heat content and southward shift of Intertropical Convergence Zone resulting from the diminished meridional summer insolation gradient. In contrast, a pronounced EASM weakening between 125.0 ± 0.3 and 123.1 ± 0.3 ka BP broadly coincides with a North Atlantic cooling event within MIS 5e associated with freshwater‐induced AMOC slowdown, underscoring climatic instability during the warmer interglacial. Together, these findings demonstrate that fundamentally different mechanisms governed EASM weakening during MIS 5e and its termination.