Little Ice Age wetting of interior Asian deserts and the rise of the Mongol Empire

Putnam, Aaron E.; Putnam, David E.; Andreu‐Hayles, Laia; Cook, Edward R.; Palmer, Jonathan; Clark, Elizabeth; Wang, Chunzeng; Chen, Feng; Denton, George H.; Boyle, Douglas P.; Bassett, Scott; Birkel, S. D.; Martin-Fernández, Javier; Hajdas, Irka; Southon, John; Garner, Christopher B.; Cheng, Hai; Broecker, Wallace S.

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.10.033

Cited by 60 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Consistently, new Kesang data in the Late Holocene also show more negative excursions in both δ 18 O and δ 13 C values during the DACP than during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) time (Supplementary Fig. 14), in line with the observations of a wetter74647 and lower cave δ 18 O value LIA (Y.J. Cai, personal communication, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Climate variations of Central Asia on orbital to millennial timescales

Cheng

Spötl

Breitenbach

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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147

114

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The extent to which climate variability in Central Asia is causally linked to large-scale changes in the Asian monsoon on varying timescales remains a longstanding question. Here we present precisely dated high-resolution speleothem oxygen-carbon isotope and trace element records of Central Asia’s hydroclimate variability from Tonnel’naya cave, Uzbekistan, and Kesang cave, western China. On orbital timescales, the supra-regional climate variance, inferred from our oxygen isotope records, exhibits a precessional rhythm, punctuated by millennial-scale abrupt climate events, suggesting a close coupling with the Asian monsoon. However, the local hydroclimatic variability at both cave sites, inferred from carbon isotope and trace element records, shows climate variations that are distinctly different from their supra-regional modes. Particularly, hydroclimatic changes in both Tonnel’naya and Kesang areas during the Holocene lag behind the supra-regional climate variability by several thousand years. These observations may reconcile the apparent out-of-phase hydroclimatic variability, inferred from the Holocene lake proxy records, between Westerly Central Asia and Monsoon Asia.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Climate variations of Central Asia on orbital to millennial timescales

Cheng

Spötl

Breitenbach

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

Self Cite

147

114

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“…Increased precipitation (indicated by higher snow accumulation rates) and relatively low temperature intervals reflected in speleothem δ 18 O c and in the  18 O of Guliya ice core during the Little Ice Age strongly suggest a wetter climate. This wetter climate has also been documented recently in the sediments from Lop Nur (Liu et al, 2013) and in geo-biological records from the Tarim Basin (Putnam et al, 2016).…”

Section: Holocene Climate Change Recorded In Kesang Cave and Comparissupporting

confidence: 70%

Holocene moisture changes in western China, Central Asia, inferred from stalagmites

Cai

Chiang

Breitenbach

et al. 2017

Quaternary Science Reviews

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122

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Central Asia lies at the convergence between the Mediterranean and Asian monsoon climates, and there is a complex interaction between the westerlies with the monsoon to form the climate of that region and its variability. The region is highly vulnerable to changes in rainfall, highlighting the need to understand the underlying controls. We present a stalagmite-based δ 18 O record from Kesang Cave in western China, using MC-ICP-MS U-series dating and stable isotope analysis. Stalagmite calcite δ 18 O largely documents changes in the δ 18 O of precipitation. δ 18 O in stalagmites was low during the early and middle Holocene (10.0-3.0 ka BP), and shifted to higher values between 3.0 and 2.0 ka BP. After 2.0 ka BP, δ 18 O fluctuates with distinct centennial-scale variations. Drawing from results of state-of-the-art atmospheric general circulation model simulations for the preindustrial period and 9 ka BP, we propose that changes in moisture source regions and the wetter climate both contributed to the isotopic depletion of precipitation during the early and middle Holocene. Multiple records from surrounding regions indicate a generally wetter climate during the early and mid-Holocene, supporting our © 2016. This manuscript version is made available under the Elsevier user license http://www.elsevier.com/open-access/userlicense/1.0/ interpretation on the speleothem δ 18 O. Changes in precipitation seasonality do not appear to be a viable explanation for the observed changes, nor increased penetration of monsoonal moisture tothe study site. We speculate that the climatic regime shifted around 3.0-2.0 ka BP towards a drier climate, resulting in temperature having dominant control on precipitation δ 18 O. The demise of three settlements around 500AD at the margin of Tarim Basin coincided with a period of decreased precipitation and increased temperature that likely affected local water resources, underscoring the potential impact of climate on human habitation in this region.

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“…One group has been advocating the point that the climate changes in the Asian Arid Zone (AAZ) including the Mongolian Plateau have followed a 'warm-dry/cool-wet' mode (e.g. Chen et al 2010Chen et al , 2015Shinneman et al 2010;Tian et al 2013;Fallah et al 2016;Putnam et al 2016). The other group has been insisting on a 'warm-wet/cool-dry' mode (e.g.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Pollen‐recorded bioclimatic variations of the last ~2000 years retrieved from Bayan Nuur in the western Mongolian Plateau

Yang

Ran

Sun

2019

Boreas

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The palaeoclimatic variations during the past ~2000 years in western Mongolia were reconstructed using a high‐resolution pollen sequence obtained from Bayan Nuur. The pollen‐based mean annual precipitation (MAP) from Bayan Nuur and the tree ring‐based temperature anomalies from the nearby Altai Mountains exhibit a ‘warm‐dry’ Roman Warm Period (RWP; ~1900 to ~1500 cal. a BP), a ‘cool‐wet’ Dark Age Cold Period (DACP; ~1500 to ~1150 cal. a BP), a ‘warm‐dry’ Medieval Warm Period (MWP; ~1150 to ~800 cal. a BP) and a ‘cool‐wet’ Little Ice Age (LIA; ~800 to ~100 cal. a BP). Nevertheless, the Current Warm Period (CWP; since ~100 cal. a BP) is an exception that fits a ‘warm‐wet’ mode. A more detailed comparison between the pollen‐based MAP curve and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index curve suggests that the higher‐precipitation episodes generally corresponded with more negative NAO episodes. The chronological correspondence between the higher‐precipitation episodes and the more negative NAO episodes means that more Atlantic storm tracks originated from the southern part of the North Atlantic Ocean and also from the Mediterranean Sea during negative NAO episodes. It implies that the precipitation variations during the past two millennia have been modulated primarily by NAO variations and negatively phased NAO settings contributed to more winter precipitation in Bayan Nuur basin.

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Little Ice Age wetting of interior Asian deserts and the rise of the Mongol Empire

Cited by 60 publications

References 60 publications

Climate variations of Central Asia on orbital to millennial timescales

Climate variations of Central Asia on orbital to millennial timescales

Holocene moisture changes in western China, Central Asia, inferred from stalagmites

Pollen‐recorded bioclimatic variations of the last ~2000 years retrieved from Bayan Nuur in the western Mongolian Plateau

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