Journal article
Expansion and Contraction of the Indo-Pacific Tropical Rain Belt over the Last Three Millennia
Scientific reports, Vol.6(1), pp.34485-34485
09/29/2016
DOI: 10.1038/srep34485
PMID: 27682252
Abstract
The seasonal north-south migration of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) defines the tropical rain belt (TRB), a region of enormous terrestrial and marine biodiversity and home to 40% of people on Earth. The TRB is dynamic and has been shown to shift south as a coherent system during periods of Northern Hemisphere cooling. However, recent studies of Indo-Pacific hydroclimate suggest that during the Little Ice Age (LIA; AD 1400-1850), the TRB in this region contracted rather than being displaced uniformly southward. This behaviour is not well understood, particularly during climatic fluctuations less pronounced than those of the LIA, the largest centennial-scale cool period of the last millennium. Here we show that the Indo-Pacific TRB expanded and contracted numerous times over multi-decadal to centennial scales during the last 3,000 yr. By integrating precisely-dated stalagmite records of tropical hydroclimate from southern China with a newly enhanced stalagmite time series from northern Australia, our study reveals a previously unidentified coherence between the austral and boreal summer monsoon. State-of-the-art climate model simulations of the last millennium suggest these are linked to changes in the structure of the regional manifestation of the atmosphere's meridional circulation.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Expansion and Contraction of the Indo-Pacific Tropical Rain Belt over the Last Three Millennia
- Creators
- Rhawn F. Denniston - University of Iowa, Earth and Environmental SciencesCaroline C. Ummenhofer - Woods Hole Oceanographic InstitutionAlan D. Wanamaker - Iowa State UniversityMatthew S. Lachniet - University of Nevada, Las VegasGabriele Villarini - University of Iowa, Civil and Environmental EngineeringYemane Asmerom - University of New MexicoVictor J. Polyak - University of New MexicoKristian J. Passaro - Cornell CollegeJohn Cugley - Australian Speleol Federat, Perth, WA, AustraliaDavid Woods - Parks and Wildlife ServiceWilliam F. Humphreys - University of Western Australia
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Scientific reports, Vol.6(1), pp.34485-34485
- Publisher
- NATURE PORTFOLIO
- DOI
- 10.1038/srep34485
- PMID
- 27682252
- ISSN
- 2045-2322
- eISSN
- 2045-2322
- Number of pages
- 9
- Grant note
- 1602455; 1602468; 1602520 / Directorate For Geosciences; Div Atmospheric & Geospace Sciences; National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF - Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) Cornell College AGS-1103413 / US National Science Foundation (NSF) Paleo Perspectives on Climate Change (P2C2) program Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research Penzance and John P. Chase Memorial Endowed Funds at WHOI AGS-1203704; AGS-1602455 / NSF P2C2 program; National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF - Directorate for Geosciences (GEO)
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 09/29/2016
- Academic Unit
- Civil and Environmental Engineering; Earth and Environmental Sciences; IIHR--Hydroscience and Engineering
- Record Identifier
- 9984197177802771
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