High-frequency East Asia monsoon variability during 115000 - 93000 a BP in Northern China

Abstract

The FGS5c-d segment of the Fanjiagouwan section is located in the Salawusu River Valley on the southeast margin of the Mu Us Desert in China. It contains 17 sedimentary cycles consisting of aeolian dune sands and lacustrine facies during 115000 - 93000 a BP. Analyses of grain size and trace geochemical elements in the FGS5c-d segment revealed that the element contents were higher in lacustrine facies than in dune sands, displaying 17 element cycles that were similar to the sedimentary cycles in the FGS5c-d. The correlation between element contents and Mz(Φ)r was > 0.59. Grain size and trace geochemical elements during MIS5c-d indicate that 17 warm-humid and cold-arid climate cycles occurred in the FGS5c-d segment. This suggests that millennium-scale climate changes occurred in the alternations of the East Asian winter and summer monsoons during 115000 - 93000 a BP in the deserts of China and that these changes are the regional response to the global climate changes during that period.