Multicentennial-scale coupling of the East Asian monsoon to North Atlantic climates during the Last Glacial Maximum

The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) is the period when global ice volume reached its maximum, the radioactive forcing well-defined and the climate in the quasi-equilibrium state. However, few proxy records have a temporal resolution high enough to capture detailed climate variabilities at this timescale. Here we reconstruct absolutely-dated and high-resolution delta O-18 and delta C-13 records from Shima Cave, central China, covering from 22.4 to 20.2 ka BP, with a temporal resolution of similar to 14 years. Both delta O-18 and delta C-13 records show clear multicentennial-scale variations. Comparison with highly-resolved geological archives from the mid-to-low latitudes shows that multicentennial-scale changes are evident in the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and South American summer monsoon regions, but in antiphased relationship. Altogether six multicentennial-scale strong EASM periods are consistent with warmings in Greenland and northward movement of the jet stream over the Euro-Asia continent, and monsoon weakenings are linked with the ice-rafted debris peaks and Greenland cooling, indicating persistent influence of the North Atlantic climates on the EASM through shifts of the atmospheric circulations during the LGM.