Abstract

Proxy-based reconstructions and modeling of Holocene spatiotemporal precipitation patterns for China and Mongolia have hitherto yielded contradictory results indicating that the basic mechanisms behind the East Asian Summer Monsoon and its interaction with the westerly jet stream remain poorly understood. We present quantitative reconstructions of Holocene precipitation derived from 101 fossil pollen records and analyse them with the help of a minimal empirical model. We show that the westerly jet-stream axis shifted gradually southward and became less tilted since the middle Holocene. This was tracked by the summer monsoon rain band resulting in an early-Holocene precipitation maximum over most of western China, a mid-Holocene maximum in north-central and northeastern China, and a late-Holocene maximum in southeastern China. Our results suggest that a correct simulation of the orientation and position of the westerly jet stream is crucial to the reliable prediction of precipitation patterns in China and Mongolia.

The basic mechanisms behind the East Asian Summer Monsoon remain poorly understood. Using proxy-based reconstructions and simulations, here the authors show that changes in the orientation and position of the westerly jet stream resulted in regionally asynchronous Holocene precipitation maxima.

Details

Title
Position and orientation of the westerly jet determined Holocene rainfall patterns in China
Author
Herzschuh Ulrike 1 ; Cao Xianyong 2 ; Laepple, Thomas 3 ; Dallmeyer, Anne 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Telford, Richard J 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Ni Jian 6 ; Chen Fahu 7 ; Kong Zhaochen 8 ; Liu Guangxiu 9 ; Liu, Kam-Biu 10 ; Liu, Xingqi 11 ; Stebich Martina 12 ; Tang Lingyu 13 ; Tian Fang 14 ; Wang, Yongbo 15 ; Wischnewski Juliane 16 ; Xu, Qinghai 17 ; Yan, Shun 18 ; Yang Zhenjing 19 ; Yu, Ge 20 ; Zhang, Yun 8 ; Zhao, Yan 21 ; Zheng Zhuo 22 

1  Polar Terrestrial Environmental Systems, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association, Potsdam, Germany; University Potsdam, Institute of Environmental Sciences and Geography, Potsdam, Germany (GRID:grid.11348.3f) (ISNI:0000 0001 0942 1117); University Potsdam, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, Potsdam, Germany (GRID:grid.11348.3f) (ISNI:0000 0001 0942 1117) 
2  Polar Terrestrial Environmental Systems, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association, Potsdam, Germany (GRID:grid.11348.3f); Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology (LAE), CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China (GRID:grid.458451.9) (ISNI:0000 0004 0644 4980) 
3  Polar Terrestrial Environmental Systems, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association, Potsdam, Germany (GRID:grid.458451.9) 
4  Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany (GRID:grid.450268.d) (ISNI:0000 0001 0721 4552) 
5  University of Bergen, and Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Department of Biological Sciences, Bergen, Norway (GRID:grid.7914.b) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 7443) 
6  Polar Terrestrial Environmental Systems, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association, Potsdam, Germany (GRID:grid.7914.b); Zhejiang Normal University, College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Jinhua, China (GRID:grid.453534.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2219 2654) 
7  Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology (LAE), CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China (GRID:grid.458451.9) (ISNI:0000 0004 0644 4980); Lanzhou University, Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou, China (GRID:grid.32566.34) (ISNI:0000 0000 8571 0482) 
8  State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China (GRID:grid.435133.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 0596 3367) 
9  Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China (GRID:grid.496923.3) (ISNI:0000 0000 9805 287X) 
10  Louisiana State University, Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Baton Rouge, USA (GRID:grid.64337.35) (ISNI:0000 0001 0662 7451) 
11  Capital Normal University, Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource Environment and GIS, College of Resource Environment and Tourism, Beijing, China (GRID:grid.253663.7) (ISNI:0000 0004 0368 505X) 
12  Senckenberg Research Station of Quaternary Palaeontology, Weimar, Germany (GRID:grid.253663.7) 
13  Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China (GRID:grid.458479.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 1798 0826) 
14  Polar Terrestrial Environmental Systems, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association, Potsdam, Germany (GRID:grid.458479.3) 
15  Polar Terrestrial Environmental Systems, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association, Potsdam, Germany (GRID:grid.458479.3); Capital Normal University, Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource Environment and GIS, College of Resource Environment and Tourism, Beijing, China (GRID:grid.253663.7) (ISNI:0000 0004 0368 505X) 
16  Polar Terrestrial Environmental Systems, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association, Potsdam, Germany (GRID:grid.253663.7); Aarhus University, Arctic Research Centre & Centre for Environmental Humanities, Aarhus, Denmark (GRID:grid.7048.b) (ISNI:0000 0001 1956 2722) 
17  Hebei Normal University, College of Resources and Environment Sciences, Shijiazhuang, China (GRID:grid.256884.5) (ISNI:0000 0004 0605 1239) 
18  Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China (GRID:grid.458469.2) (ISNI:0000 0001 0038 6319) 
19  Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Shijiazhuang, China (GRID:grid.418538.3) (ISNI:0000 0001 0286 4257); Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China (GRID:grid.496923.3) (ISNI:0000 0000 9805 287X) 
20  State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China (GRID:grid.458478.2) (ISNI:0000 0004 1799 2325) 
21  Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China (GRID:grid.424975.9) (ISNI:0000 0000 8615 8685); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China (GRID:grid.410726.6) (ISNI:0000 0004 1797 8419) 
22  Sun Yat-sen University, School of Earth Science and Engineering, Guangzhou, China (GRID:grid.12981.33) (ISNI:0000 0001 2360 039X) 
Publication year
2019
Publication date
2019
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20411723
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09866-8
ProQuest document ID
2232663260
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2019. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.