The lack of long‐term and well‐preserved terrestrial archives from southern China largely impedes our understanding of past variability in the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM). In this study, we developed rainfall/precipitation‐related records by conducting a systematic mineral‐magnetic investigation on Dahu Swamp sediments over the past ~47.0 ka. The integrated magnetic results show that the magnetic minerals in the sediments were mainly catchment derived, likely reflecting hydroclimatic changes associated with EASM strength. In combination with other climatic proxies, our magnetic records reveal a relatively wet climate during the middle‐late Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 and the Holocene and a relatively dry climate during the Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 2, which broadly follow the precession‐induced summer insolation changes in the middle‐low latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The regional heterogeneity of the EASM rainfall evolution might be ascribed to the changes in timing and duration of Mei‐yu Front in China, which were closely associated with the El Niño/Southern Oscillation activities through its effects on the Western Pacific Subtropical High position. Long‐term climatic patterns inferred from Dahu Swamp were broadly similar to those of the Western Pacific Warm Pool region, especially during the mid‐Holocene rainfall optimum period, further supporting that the thermal mean states of the tropical Pacific associated with El Niño/Southern Oscillation modes may influence EASM precipitation. Our results highlight the coupled influence of external insolation forcing and internal low‐latitude processes on the spatial and temporal EASM variability, and understanding these influences could be critical to the prediction of future monsoon behavior under ongoing and future global warming.
Wetlands act as persistent natural carbon sinks over long time scales. Understanding the response of these carbon reservoirs to climate change is critical to assessing potential climate feedbacks. We conducted a study of an 860‐cm‐long sediment core in Dahu Swamp in south China to determine how the carbon accumulation rate (CAR) has varied as a function of palaeohydrology and palaeoclimate over the past 47 000 years. From an orbital time scale, our results show that the CAR in Dahu Swamp is relatively low in the wet periods of Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3) (mean: 46.7 gC m−2 a−1) and MIS 1 (mean: 28.2 gC m−2 a−1), compared to the dry periods of MIS 2 (mean: 59.9 gC m−2 a−1). At centennial and millennial scales, the highest CARs of Dahu Swamp mainly occur in organic‐rich silt or clay (gyttja) layers, which correspond to the relatively dry climate (e.g. c. 48 000–41 000, c. 33 000–32 000, c. 15 800–14 900 and c. 4400–4250 cal. a BP). The CAR of Dahu Swamp is mainly controlled by local hydrological variations that are closely related to the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) intensity, which may be co‐influenced by orbitally induced summer insolation forcing and internal feedback processes (e.g. Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and El Niño/Southern Oscillation). Based on comparison with the CARs in monsoonal regions of China, we consider that precipitation may be the key factor for wetland CAR in EASM areas, whereas temperature is more important in Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau regions under Indian summer monsoon influence. The CAR of Dahu Swamp provides valuable records of wetland carbon accumulation dynamics in subtropical monsoon regions, which contradict the traditional patterns in global northern wetlands.
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