We present a continuous C-O isotope series that shows the detailed variability of East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) since 11.0 ka BP. The series is based on two stalagmites, namely, DSY1 and LM2, which were, respectively, obtained from Dongshiya and Laomu caves. The δ18O profiles of stalagmite excurse negatively in early Holocene and gradually become positive after around 6.9 ka BP, tracking the change in Northern Hemisphere summer insolation. Moreover, the ‘early-Holocene maximum’ supported by stalagmite δ18O records differs from the ‘mid-Holocene maximum’ indicated by geological archives, such as lake sediments and loess. This difference may be caused by different definition indicators of monsoon intensity. Stalagmite δ18O is relative to EASM intensity, but irrelative to precipitation in the East Asian monsoon region. The time intervals of EASM maximum and Holocene climatic optimum are desynchronized, which is confirmed by the variation in the stalagmite δ13C series. Stalagmite δ13C and δ18O have different variation tendencies. The tendency of δ13C in early mid-Holocene was generally light, but it was discontinuity and disrupted by rapid positive shift between 8.2 and 7.7 ka BP. We conclude that a rapid shift of about 8 ka BP is a turning point, before and after which δ13 C acquires different controlling factors. Stalagmite δ13 C showed no signs of positive excurse in late Holocene but it exhibited another characteristic, namely, millennial time scale oscillations. The few changes in stalagmite δ13 C is attributed to weakened insolation during summer in the northern hemisphere, which leads to low evaporation rate, thereby modulating effective humidity change. The edge of the seasonal monsoonal front in northern China during monsoon recession is sensitive to the rain belt and causes the δ13 C of the stalagmite to fluctuate greatly. This phenomenon shows that the climate in the study area is unstable in the late Holocene
AnZSPorterSCKutzbachJEet al. (2000) Asynchronous Holocene optimum of the East Asian monsoon. Quaternary Science Reviews19(8): 743–762.
2.
BakerAItoESmartPLet al. (1997) Elevated and variable values of 13C in speleothems in a British cave system. Chemical Geology136: 263–270.
3.
BakerAJSodemannHBaldiniJUet al. (2015) Seasonality of westerly moisture transport in the East Asian summer monsoon and its implications for interpreting precipitation δ18O. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres120(12): 5850–5862.
4.
BakerRGGonzalezLARaymoMet al. (1998) Comparison of multiple proxy records of Holocene environments in the Midwestern United States. Geology26: 1131–1134.
5.
BarberDCDykeAHillaire-MarcelCet al. (1999) Forcing of the cold event of 8,200 years ago by catastrophic drainage of Laurentide lakes. Nature400: 344–348.
6.
BergerA (1978) Long-term variations of caloric insolation resulting from the Earth’s orbital elements. Quaternary Research9: 139–167.
7.
BondGKromerBBeerJet al. (2001) Persistent solar influence on North Atlantic climate during the Holocene. Science294(5549): 2130–2136.
8.
BondGShowersWChesebyMet al. (1997) A pervasive millennial-scale cycle in North Atlantic Holocene and glacial climates. Science278: 1257–1266.
9.
BreitenbachSFMLechleitnerFAMeyerHet al. (2015) Cave ventilation and rainfall signals in dripwater in a monsoonal setting – A monitoring study from NE India. Chemical Geology402: 111–124.
10.
BreitenbachSFMRehfeldKGoswamiBet al. (2012) Constructing proxy records from age models (COPRA). Climate of the Past Discussions8: 1765–1779.
11.
CaiBGEdwardsRLChengHet al. (2008) A dry episode during the Younger Dryas and centennial-scale weak monsoon events during the early Holocene: A high-resolution stalagmite record from southeast of the Loess Plateau, China. Geophysical Research Letters35(2). DOI: 10.1029/2007GL030986.
12.
CaiYTanLChengHet al. (2010) The variation of summer monsoon precipitation in central China since the last deglaciation. Earth and Planetary Science Letters291(1–4): 21–31.
13.
CaiYJChiangJCBreitenbachSFet al. (2017) Holocene moisture changes in western China, Central Asia, inferred from stalagmites. Quaternary Science Reviews158: 15–28.
14.
CaleyTRocheDMRenssenH (2014) Orbital Asian summer monsoon dynamics revealed using an isotope-enabled global climate model. Nature Communications5: 53–71.
15.
CarlsonAELeGrandeANOppoDWet al. (2008) Rapid early Holocene deglaciation of the Laurentide ice sheet. Nature Geoscience1(9): 620–624.
16.
ChenFHXuQHChenJHet al. (2015) East Asian summer monsoon precipitation variability since the last deglaciation. Scientific Reports5: 11186.
17.
ChenFHYuZCYangML. (2008) Holocene moisture evolution in arid central Asia and its out-of-phase relationship with Asian monsoon history. Quaternary Science Reviews27: 351–364.
18.
ChenJHRaoZGLiuJBet al. (2016) On the timing of the East Asian summer monsoon maximum during the Holocene – Does the speleothem oxygen isotope record reflect monsoon rainfall variability?Science China Earth Sciences59: 2328–2338.
19.
ChenZWuRChenW (2014) Impacts of autumn Arctic sea ice concentration changes on the East Asian winter monsoon variability. Journal of Climate27: 5433–5450.
20.
ChengHEdwardsRLBroeckerWSet al. (2009) Ice age terminations. Science326: 248–252.
21.
ChengHEdwardsRLShenCCet al. (2013) Improvements in 230Th dating, 230Th and 234U half-life values, and U–Th isotopic measurements by multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Earth and Planetary Science Letters371: 82–91.
22.
ChengHEdwardsRLSinhaAet al. (2016) The Asian monsoon over the past 640,000 years and ice age terminations. Nature534: 640–646.
23.
ClemensSCPrellWLSunY (2010) Orbital-scale timing and mechanisms driving Late Pleistocene Indo–Asian summer monsoons: Reinterpreting cave speleothem δ18O. Paleoceanography25(4). DOI: 10.1029/2010PA001926.
24.
CosfordJQingHEglingtonBet al. (2008) East Asian monsoon variability since the Mid-Holocene recorded in a high-resolution, absolute-dated aragonite speleothem from eastern China. Earth and Planetary Science Letters275(3): 296–307.
25.
DallmeyerAClaussenMWangYet al. (2013) Spatial variability of Holocene changes in the annual precipitation pattern: A model-data synthesis for the Asian monsoon region. Climate Dynamics40: 2919–2936.
26.
DayemKEMolnarPBattistiDSet al. (2010) Lessons learned from oxygen isotopes in modern precipitation applied to interpretation of speleothem records of paleoclimate from eastern Asia. Earth and Planetary Science Letters295: 219–230.
27.
DeiningerMFohlmeisterJScholzDet al. (2012) Isotope disequilibrium effects: The influence of evaporation and ventilation effects on the carbon and oxygen isotope composition of speleothems – A model approach. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta96: 57–79.
28.
DennistonRFAsmeromYLachnietMet al. (2013) A Last Glacial Maximum through middle Holocene stalagmite record of coastal Western Australia climate. Quaternary Science Reviews77: 101–112.
29.
DentonGHAlleyRBComerGCet al. (2005) The role of seasonality in abrupt climate change. Quaternary Science Reviews24: 1159–1182.
30.
DentonGHAndersonRFToggweilerJRet al. (2010) The last glacial termination. Science328: 1652–1656.
31.
DeplazesGLückgeAPetersonLCet al. (2013) Links between tropical rainfall and North Atlantic climate during the last glacial period. Nature Geoscience6(3): 213–217.
32.
DingZLDerbyshireEYangSLet al. (2005) Stepwise expansion of desert environment across northern China in the past 3.5 Ma and implications for monsoon evolution. Earth and Planetary Science Letters237: 45–55.
33.
DingZLYuZWRutterNWet al. (1994) Towards an orbital time-scale for Chinese loess deposits. Quaternary Science Review13: 39–70.
34.
DongJGShenCCKongXGet al. (2015) Reconciliation of hydroclimate sequences from the Chinese Loess Plateau and low-latitude East Asian summer monsoon regions over the past 14,500 years. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology435: 127–135.
35.
DongJGWangYJChengHet al. (2010) A high-resolution stalagmite record of the Holocene East Asian monsoon from Mt Shennongjia, central China. The Holocene20: 257–264.
36.
DoraleJAEdwardsRLItoEet al. (1998) Climate and vegetation history of the midcontinent from 75 to 25 ka: A speleothem record from Crevice Cave, Missouri, USA. Science282: 1871–1874.
37.
DreybrodtWScholzD (2011) Climatic dependence of stable carbon and oxygen isotope signals recorded in speleothems: From soil water to speleothem calcite. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta75: 734–752.
38.
DykoskiCEdwardsRChengHet al. (2005) A high-resolution, absolute-dated Holocene and deglacial Asian monsoon record from Dongge Cave, China. Earth and Planetary Science Letters233: 71–86.
39.
FleitmannDBurnsSJMudelseeMet al. (2003) Holocene forcing of the Indian monsoon recorded in a stalagmite from Southern Oman. Science300: 1737–1739.
40.
FrappierA (2013) Masking of interannual climate proxy signals by residual tropical cyclone rainwater: Evidence and challenges for low-latitude speleothem paleoclimatology. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems14(9): 3632–3647.
41.
FrappierASahagianDGonzálezLAet al. (2002) El Nino events recorded by stalagmite carbon isotopes. Science298: 565–565.
42.
GentyDMassaultM (1999) Carbon transfer dynamics from bomb-14C and δ13C time series of a laminated stalagmite from SW France – Modelling and comparison with other stalagmite records. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta63: 1537–1548.
43.
GentyDBakerAMassaultMet al. (2001) Dead carbon in stalagmites: Carbonate bedrock paleodissolution vs. ageing of soil organic matter. Implications for 13C variations in speleothems. Geochimica rt Cosmochimica Acta65: 3443–3457.
44.
GentyDBlamartDGhalebBet al. (2006) Timing and dynamics of the last deglaciation from European and North African d13C stalagmite profiles- comparison with Chinese and South Hemisphere stalagmites. Quaternary Science Reviews25(17): 2118–2142.
45.
GentyDBlamartDOuahdiRet al. (2003) Precise dating of Dansgaard–Oeschger climate oscillations in western Europe from stalagmite data. Nature421: 833–837.
46.
HaugGHHughenKASigmanDMet al. (2001) Southward migration of the intertropical convergence zone through the Holocene. Science293: 1304–1308.
47.
HendyCH (1971) The isotopic geochemistry of speleothems – I. The calculation of the effects of different modes of formation on the isotopic composition of speleothems and their applicability as palaeoclimatic indicators. Geochim et Cosmochim. Acta35: 801–824.
48.
HongYTJiangHBLiuTSet al. (2000) Response of climate to solar forcing recorded in a 6000-year δ18O time-series of Chinese peat cellulose. The Holocene10: 1–7.
49.
HouJZHuangYSZhaoJTet al. (2016) Large Holocene summer temperature oscillations and impact on the peopling of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Geophysical Research Letters43: 1323–1330.
50.
HuCYHendersonGMHuangJHet al. (2008) Quantification of Holocene Asian monsoon rainfall from spatially separated cave records. Earth and Planetary Science Letters226: 221–232.
51.
HuangCCZhouJPangJet al. (2000) A regional aridity phase and its possible cultural impact during the Holocene Megathermal in the Guanzhong Basin, China. The Holocene10: 135–142.
52.
HuangWWangYChengHet al. (2016) Multi-scale Holocene Asian monsoon variability deduced from a twin-stalagmite record in southwestern China. Quaternary Research86: 34–44.
53.
JaffeyAHFlynnKFGlendeninLE. (1971) Precision measurement of half-lives and specific activities of 235U and 238U. Physical Review C4(5): 1889–1906.
54.
JiJFShenJBalsamWet al. (2005) Asian monsoon oscillations in the northeastern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau since the late glacial as interpreted from visible reflectance of Qinghai Lake sediments. Earth and Planetary Science Letters233: 61–70.
55.
JiangDTianZLangX (2013) Mid-Holocene net precipitation changes over China: Model-data comparison. Quaternary Science Reviews82: 104–120.
56.
JiangXYHeYShenCet al. (2012) Stalagmite-inferred Holocene precipitation in northern Guizhou Province, China, and asynchronous termination of the Climatic Optimum in the Asian monsoon territory. Chinese Science Bulletin57: 795–801.
57.
JohnstonVEBorsatoASpotlCet al. (2013) Stable isotopes in caves over altitudinal gradients: Fractionation behaviour and inferences for speleothem sensitivity to climate change. Climate of the Past9: 99–118.
58.
KalnayEKanamitsuMKistlerR. (1996) The NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society77: 437–471.
59.
KangSGLuYCWangXL (2011) Closely-spaced recuperated OSL dating of the last interglacial paleosol in the southeastern margin of the Chinese Loess Plateau. Quaternary Geochronology6: 480–490.
60.
KangSGWangXLLuYC (2013) Quartz OSL chronology and dust accumulation rate changes since the Last Glacial at Weinan on the southeastern Chinese Loess Plateau. Boreas42: 815–829.
61.
KimS-TO’NeilJR (1997) Equilibrium and nonequilibrium oxygen isotope effects in synthetic carbonates. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta61: 3461–3475.
62.
KongXGWangYJWuJYet al. (2005) Complicated response of stalagmite δ13C to climate change during the last glaciation from Hulu Cave, Nanjing, China. Science in China Series D: Earth Sciences48: 2174–2181.
63.
KutzbachJE (1981) Monsoon climate of the early Holocene: Climate experiment with the Earth’s orbital parameters for 9000 years ago. Science214: 59–61.
64.
KutzbachJEGutterPJBehlingPJet al. (1993) Simulated climatic changes: Results of the COHMAP climate-model experiments. In: WrightHEJrKutzbackJEWebbT IIIet al. (eds) Global Climates since the Last Glacial Maximum. Minneapolis, MN; London: University of Minnesota Press, pp. 24–93.
65.
LecavalierBSFisherDAMilneGAet al. (2017) High Arctic Holocene temperature record from the Agassiz ice cap and Greenland ice sheet evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences114: 5952–5957.
66.
LeGrandeANSchmidtGA (2009) Sources of Holocene variability of oxygen isotopes in paleoclimate archives. Climate of the Past Discuss5: 1133–1162.
67.
LiHCTsaiCHZhaoMet al. (2015) The first high-resolution stalagmite record from Taiwan: Climate and environmental changes during the past 1300 years. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences114: 574–587.
68.
LiJPZengQC (2002) A unified monsoon index. Geophysical Research Letters29: 115-1–115-4.
69.
LiQWuHYuYet al. (2014) Reconstructed moisture evolution of the deserts in northern China since the Last Glacial Maximum and its implications for the East Asian Summer Monsoon. Global and Planetary Change121: 101–112.
70.
LindénMMöllerPBjörckSet al. (2006) Holocene shore displacement and deglaciation chronology in Norrbotten, Sweden. Boreas35(1): 1–22.
71.
LiuDBWangYJChengHet al. (2013) Centennial-scale Asian monsoon variability during the mid-Younger Dryas from Qingtian Cave, central China. Quaternary Research80(2): 199–206.
72.
LiuDBWangYJChengHet al. (2016) Strong coupling of centennial–scale changes of Asian monsoon and soil processes derived from stalagmite δ18O and δ13Crecords, southern China. Quaternary Research85: 333–346.
73.
LiuJBChenJHZhangXJet al. (2015) Holocene East Asian summer monsoon records in northern China and their inconsistency with Chinese stalagmite δ18O records. Earth-Science Reviews148: 194–208.
74.
LiuZYWenXYBradyECet al. (2014) Chinese cave records and the East Asia Summer Monsoon. Quaternary Science Reviews83: 115–128.
75.
LuHYiSLiuZet al. (2013) Variation of East Asian monsoon precipitation during the past 21 k.y. and potential CO2 forcing. Geology41(9): 1023–1026.
76.
LuoWJWangSJXieXNet al. (2013) Stable carbon isotope variations in cave percolation waters and their implications in four caves of Guizhou, China. Acta Geologica Sinica87: 1396–1411.
77.
MaherBAThompsonR (2012) Oxygen isotopes from Chinese caves: Records not of monsoon rainfall but of circulation regime. Journal of Quaternary Science27: 615–624.
78.
MatteyDLowryDDuffetJet al. (2008) A 53 year seasonally resolved oxygen and carbon isotope record from a modern Gibraltar speleothem: Reconstructed drip water and relationship to local precipitation. Earth and Planetary Science Letters269: 80–95.
79.
MudelseeM (2000) Ramp function regression: A tool for quantifying climate transitions. Computers & Geosciences26: 293–307.
80.
PaulsenDELiHCKuTL (2003) Climate variability in central China over the last 1270 years revealed by high-resolution stalagmite records. Quaternary Science Reviews22: 691–701.
81.
PausataFSBattistiDSNisanciogluKHet al. (2011) Chinese stalagmite δ18O controlled by changes in the Indian monsoon during a simulated Heinrich event. Nature Geoscience4: 474–480.
82.
RidleyHEAsmeromYBaldiniJULet al. (2015) Aerosol forcing of the position of the intertropical convergence zone since AD 1550. Nature Geoscience8: 195–200.
83.
ShenCCEdwardsRLChengHet al. (2002) Uranium and thorium isotopic and concentration measurements by magnetic sector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Chemical Geology185: 165–178.
84.
ShenJLiuXQWangSMet al. (2005) Palaeoclimatic changes in the Qinghai Lake area during the last 18,000 years. Quaternary International136: 131–140.
85.
ShiYFKongZC (1992) Climate fluctuation and important events in China during the Holocene climatic optimum. Science in China Series B: Chemistry22(12): 1300–1308 (in Chinese with English abstract).
86.
StagerJCMayewskiPA (1997) Abrupt early to mid-Holocene climate transition registered at the equator and the poles. Science276: 1834–1836.
87.
SunAZFengZD (2013) Holocene climatic reconstructions from the fossil pollen record at Qigai Nuur in the southern Mongolian Plateau. The Holocene23: 1391–1402.
88.
SunYBKutzbachJAnZet al. (2015) Astronomical and glacial forcing of East Asian summer monsoon variability. Quaternary Science Reviews115: 132–142.
89.
SunYBWangXLLiuQSet al. (2010) Impacts of post-depositional processes on rapid monsoon signals recorded by the last glacial loess deposits of northern China. Earth and Planetary Science Letters289: 171–179.
90.
TanM (2009) Circulation effect: Climatic significance of the short term variability of the oxygen isotopes in stalagmites from monsoonal China – Dialogue between Paleoclimate records and modern climate research. Quaternary Sciences29(5): 85l–862 (in Chinese with English abstract).
91.
TanMNanSN (2010) Primary investigation on interannual changes in the circulation effect of precipitation oxygen isotopes in Monsoon China. Quaternary Sciences30: 620–622 (in Chinese with English abstract).
92.
TanMLiuTSHouJZet al. (2003) Cyclic rapid warming on centennial-scale revealed by a 2650-year stalagmite record of warm season temperature. Geophysical Research Letters30. DOI: 10.1029/2003GL017352.
93.
WangBDingQH (2008) Global monsoon: Dominant mode of annual variation in the tropics. Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans44: 165–183.
94.
WangSGongDZhuJ (2001) Twentieth-century climatic warming in China in the context of the Holocene. The Holocene11: 313–321.
95.
WangWFengZD (2013) Holocene moisture evolution across the Mongolian Plateau and its surrounding areas: A synthesis of climatic records. Earth-Science Reviews122: 38–57.
96.
WangYShenJXuXNet al. (2011) Environmental changes during the past 13500 cal. a BP deduced from lacustrine sediment records of Lake Qinghai, China. Chinese Journal of Geochemistry30: 479–489.
97.
WangYJ (2001) A high-resolution absolute-dated late pleistocene monsoon record from Hulu Cave, China. Science294: 2345–2348.
98.
WangYJChengHEdwardsRLet al. (2005) The Holocene Asian monsoon: Links to solar changes and North Atlantic climate. Science308: 854–857.
99.
WangYJChengHEdwardsRLet al. (2008) Millennial- and orbital-scale changes in the East Asian monsoon over the past 224,000 years. Nature451: 1090–1093.
100.
WenRXiaoJFanJet al. (2017) Pollen evidence for a mid-Holocene East Asian summer monsoon maximum in northern China. Quaternary Science Reviews176: 29–35.
101.
WuJYWangYJChengHet al. (2012) Stable isotope and trace element investigation of two contemporaneous annually-laminated stalagmites from northeastern China surrounding the ‘8.2 ka event’. Climate of the Past Discussions8: 1497–1507.
102.
WuWXLiuTS (2004) Possible role of the ‘Holocene Event 3’ on the collapse of Neolithic Cultures around the Central Plain of China. Quaternary International117: 153–166.
103.
XiaDSJiaJJLiGH. (2014) Out-of-phase evolution between summer and winter East Asian monsoons during the Holocene as recorded by Chinese loess deposits. Quaternary Research81: 500–507.
104.
XiaoJLXuQHNakamuraTet al. (2004) Holocene vegetation variation in the Daihai Lake region of north-central China: A direct indication of the Asian monsoon climatic history. Quaternary Science Reviews23: 1669–1679.
105.
XieSEvershedRPHuangXet al. (2013) Concordant monsoon-driven postglacial hydrological changes in peat and stalagmite records and their impacts on prehistoric cultures in central China. Geology41(8): 827–830.
106.
YangXLLiuJBLiangFYet al. (2014) Holocene stalagmite δ18O records in the East Asian monsoon region and their correlation with those in the Indian monsoon region. The Holocene24(12): 1657–1664.
107.
YangYYuanDXChengHet al. (2010) Precise dating of abrupt shifts in the Asian Monsoon during the last deglaciation based on stalagmite data from Yamen Cave, Guizhou Province, China. Science China Earth Sciences53: 633–641.
108.
YuanDXChengHEdwardsRLet al. (2004) Timing, duration, and transitions of the last interglacial Asian monsoon. Science304: 575–578.
109.
ZhangPZChengHEdwardsRLet al. (2008) A test of climate, sun, and culture relationships from an 1810-year Chinese cave record. Science322: 940–942.
110.
ZhangYHYangYYangXLet al. (2015) Early Holocene monsoon evolution of High-resolution stalagmite δ18O records: In Henan Laomu Cave. Acta Sedimentologica Sinica33(1): 134–141 (in Chinese with English abstract).
111.
ZhaoYYuZC (2012) Vegetation response to Holocene climate change in East Asian monsoon-margin region. Earth-Science Reviews113(1–2): 1–10.
112.
ZhengWWuBHeJet al. (2013) The East Asian summer monsoon at mid-Holocene: Results from PMIP3 simulations. Climate of the Past9(1): 453–466.
113.
ZhouHYZhaoJXWangQet al. (2011) Speleothem-derived Asian summer monsoon variations in Central China, 54–46 ka. Journal of Quaternary Science26(8): 781–790.
114.
ZhouTJGongDYLiJet al. (2009) Detecting and understanding the multi-decadal variability of the East Asian Summer Monsoon – Recent progress and state of affairs. Meteorologische Zeitschrift18(4): 455–467.
115.
ZhuCMaCYuSYet al. (2010) A detailed pollen record of vegetation and climate changes in Central China during the past 16,000 years. Boreas39(1): 69–76.
