A 5-year-resolution absolute-dated oxygen isotope record from Dongge Cave, southern China, provides a continuous history of the Asian monsoon over the past 9000 years. Although the record broadly follows summer insolation, it is punctuated by eight weak monsoon events lasting approximately 1 to 5 centuries. One correlates with the "8200-year" event, another with the collapse of the Chinese Neolithic culture, and most with North Atlantic ice-rafting events. Cross-correlation of the decadal- to centennial-scale monsoon record with the atmospheric carbon-14 record shows that some, but not all, of the monsoon variability at these frequencies results from changes in solar output.

High-resolution speleothem records from China have provided insights into the factors that control the strength of the East Asian monsoon [1][2][3][4] . Our understanding of these factors remains incomplete, however, owing to gaps in the record of monsoon history over the past two interglacial-glacial cycles. In particular, missing sections have hampered our ability to test ideas about orbital-scale controls on the monsoon [5][6][7] , the causes of millennial-scale events 8,9 and relationships between changes in the monsoon and climate in other regions. Here we present an absolute-dated oxygen isotope record from Sanbao cave, central China, that completes a Chinesecave-based record of the strength of the East Asian monsoon that covers the past 224,000 years. The record is dominated by 23,000-year-long cycles that are synchronous within dating errors with summer insolation at 656 N (ref. 10), supporting the idea that tropical/subtropical monsoons respond dominantly and directly to changes in Northern Hemisphere summer insolation on orbital timescales 5 . The cycles are punctuated by millennial-scale strongsummer-monsoon events (Chinese interstadials 1 ), and the new record allows us to identify the complete series of these events over the past two interglacial-glacial cycles. Their duration decreases and their frequency increases during glacial build-up in both the last and penultimate glacial periods, indicating that ice sheet size affects their character and pacing. The ages of the events are exceptionally well constrained and may thus serve as benchmarks for correlating and calibrating climate records.The last glacial period is characterized by millennial-scale events, first identified in Greenland, including 25 Greenland interstadials (GIS) during the last interglacial-glacial period [11][12][13] . We previously identified a number of Chinese interstadial (CIS) events 2,4 (relatively strong summer millennial-scale East Asian monsoon, EAM, events) and correlated them with analogous GIS events. We also identified CIS events from portions of the penultimate glacial period, and established a nomenclature with last glacial period CIS denoted CIS A1, A2, and so on, from youngest to oldest, and those of the penultimate glacial period denoted CIS B1, B2, and so on 1 . Here we present an EAM record from Sanbao cave, together with our previous Hulu records 1,2 , and characterize the complete CIS series for the last and penultimate interglacial-glacial cycles, including events not previously identified.Sanbao cave is in Hubei province, central China, on the northern slope of Mt Shennongjia, near the southern edge of the Chinese loess plateau (110u 269 E, 31u 409 N, 1,900 m above sea level). Regional climate is dominated by the EAM, a sub-system of the Asian monsoon (AM) (Supplementary Fig. 1), with a mean annual rainfall of 1,900-2,000 mm and a mean temperature of 8-9 uC. During boreal summer (June to September), warm/humid air from the equatorial Pacific penetrates to the northern slope of Mt Shennongjia, delivering mo...

Oxygen isotope records from Chinese caves characterize changes in both the Asian monsoon and global climate. Here, using our new speleothem data, we extend the Chinese record to cover the full uranium/thorium dating range, that is, the past 640,000 years. The record's length and temporal precision allow us to test the idea that insolation changes caused by the Earth's precession drove the terminations of each of the last seven ice ages as well as the millennia-long intervals of reduced monsoon rainfall associated with each of the terminations. On the basis of our record's timing, the terminations are separated by four or five precession cycles, supporting the idea that the '100,000-year' ice age cycle is an average of discrete numbers of precession cycles. Furthermore, the suborbital component of monsoon rainfall variability exhibits power in both the precession and obliquity bands, and is nearly in anti-phase with summer boreal insolation. These observations indicate that insolation, in part, sets the pace of the occurrence of millennial-scale events, including those associated with terminations and 'unfinished terminations'.

It is generally accepted that supported graphene is hydrophobic and that its water contact angle is similar to that of graphite. Here, we show that the water contact angles of freshly prepared supported graphene and graphite surfaces increase when they are exposed to ambient air. By using infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy we demonstrate that airborne hydrocarbons adsorb on graphitic surfaces, and that a concurrent decrease in the water contact angle occurs when these contaminants are partially removed by both thermal annealing and controlled ultraviolet-O3 treatment. Our findings indicate that graphitic surfaces are more hydrophilic than previously believed, and suggest that previously reported data on the wettability of graphitic surfaces may have been affected by unintentional hydrocarbon contamination from ambient air.

230Th-dated oxygen isotope records of stalagmites from Sanbao Cave, China, characterize Asian Monsoon (AM) precipitation through the ends of the third- and fourthmost recent ice ages. As a result, AM records for the past four glacial terminations can now be precisely correlated with those from ice cores and marine sediments, establishing the timing and sequence of major events. In all four cases, observations are consistent with a classic Northern Hemisphere summer insolation intensity trigger for an initial retreat of northern ice sheets. Meltwater and icebergs entering the North Atlantic alter oceanic and atmospheric circulation and associated fluxes of heat and carbon, causing increases in atmospheric CO2 and Antarctic temperatures that drive the termination in the Southern Hemisphere. Increasing CO2 and summer insolation drive recession of northern ice sheets, with probable positive feedbacks between sea level and CO2.

Thorium-230 ages and oxygen isotope ratios of stalagmites from Dongge Cave, China, characterize the Asian Monsoon and low-latitude precipitation over the past 160,000 years. Numerous abrupt changes in 18O/16O values result from changes in tropical and subtropical precipitation driven by insolation and millennial-scale circulation shifts. The Last Interglacial Monsoon lasted 9.7 +/- 1.1 thousand years, beginning with an abrupt (less than 200 years) drop in 18O/16O values 129.3 +/- 0.9 thousand years ago and ending with an abrupt (less than 300 years) rise in 18O/16O values 119.6 +/- 0.6 thousand years ago. The start coincides with insolation rise and measures of full interglacial conditions, indicating that insolation triggered the final rise to full interglacial conditions.

A test of climate, sun, and culture relationships from an 1810-year Chinese cave record.

No abstract