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Zhengyao Lu

Researcher

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Response of heterogeneous rainfall variability in East Asia to Hadley circulation reorganization during the late Quaternary

Author

  • Debo Zhao
  • Shiming Wan
  • Zhengyao Lu
  • Lina Zhai
  • Xuguang Feng
  • Xuefa Shi
  • Anchun Li

Summary, in English

The Quaternary East Asian summer rainfall evolution reconstructed with the Chinese speleothem δ18O records shows the consistency throughout the region of East Asia, and has long been considered equivalent to the monsoon intensity. Its variation and teleconnection with global climate were usually interpreted by the meridional shift of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). However, many other proxy records, climate simulations and meteorological observations suggest the inconsistent rainfall patterns in the different regions of East Asia on multi-timescales. Such spatial heterogeneity in Quaternary East Asian summer rainfall indicates that the hydroclimate in this region is not fully paced by the migration of the ITCZ. Here, we report a sediment record of rainfall evolution during the last 400 ka in the northern East China Sea, and this record, in combination with a transient climate model simulation, indicates an out-of-phase relationship between rainfall over middle-southeastern East Asia and northern and southwestern East Asia on the precession band, with high boreal summer insolation corresponding to the increased rainfall intensity in the northern and southwestern East Asia, however, decreased rainfall intensity in the middle East Asia. We attribute this regional heterogeneity in East Asian rainfall to the reorganization of the Hadley circulation, including shifts in the ascending branch (ITCZ) and descending branch (subtropical westerly jet), in response to changes in the hemispheric meridional temperature gradient. Our results highlight the crucial role of the Hadley circulation in the East Asian hydroclimate and have important implications for future climate projections.

Department/s

  • Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
  • MERGE: ModElling the Regional and Global Earth system

Publishing year

2020-11-01

Language

English

Publication/Series

Quaternary Science Reviews

Volume

247

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Elsevier

Topic

  • Climate Research

Keywords

  • East Asian rainfall
  • East China Sea
  • Grain size
  • ITCZ
  • Sediment flux
  • Subtropical westerly jet

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0277-3791