Reconstruction of monsoon evolution in southernmost Sumatra over the past 35 kyr and its response to northern hemisphere climate changes

Abstract

Abstract Reconstruction of monsoon evolution in the tropical Indian Ocean and evaluation of its influence on large-scale ocean circulation and sea-air interaction processes can help us understand climate driving mechanisms. Herein, we used a gravity core SO184-10043 to present the marine sedimentary record from the southernmost Sumatra, spanning the past 35 kyr. The age model is well constrained by 12 accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates determined in mixed planktic foraminifera. We also measured sediment grain size and major and trace elements to reconstruct the variations in hydrodynamic conditions and chemical weathering intensity. These data were then used to reveal the evolution of the northwest (Indonesian) monsoon system over the past 35 kyr. The results showed that both monsoon current and chemical weathering coincided with summer insolation in the Northern Hemisphere and responded to glacial-interglacial climate changes in the northern Atlantic. Higher grain-size values of sensitive components, increased chemical index of alteration (CIA), and Ba/Sr ratios, together with lower CaO/MgO ratios, reflect a stronger monsoon current and chemical weathering during the late marine isotope stage 3 and Holocene. Higher intensity of chemical weathering might be attributed to a stronger northwest monsoon carrying warm and moist air from the Asian continent to Indonesian waters. Lower values of sensitive components, CIA, and Ba/Sr, along with higher CaO/MgO values, reveal a weaker monsoon current and lower intensity of chemical weathering during the last glaciation-deglaciation phase, which was controlled by a weaker monsoon system. At a millennial timescale, cold events occurred during the following intervals: 30–26 ka BP, Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1; 18–15 ka BP), Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; 23–18 ka BP), Younger Dryas (YD; 11–10 ka BP), and 8.2 ka BP. The same cold events were identified from core SO184-10043, indicating a perfect match with climatic cooling in the Northern Hemisphere. We also observed periodicities of ~ 7.9 ka, 3.0–3.1 ka, 2.2–2.3 ka, and ~ 1.0 ka in our core records. These periodicities are coincident with solar-induced climate changes and support the hypothesis that monsoon evolution in the tropical Indian Ocean during the late Pleistocene coincided with the climate change in the Northern Hemisphere.

Keywords

• Late Pleistocene
• Hydrodynamic conditions
• Chemical weathering
• Indian monsoon
• Paleoclimate
• Sumatra