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The Salawusu River Valley cuts through the Mu Us Desert in north central China, and lies at the interface of the East Asian Summer and Winter Monsoonal regions. Exposed at numerous locations in the valley side are extensive late Quaternary deposits, consisting of interbedded aeolian sands, fluvio-lacustrine units and palaeosols. Due to the importance of the location in potentially elucidating both summer and winter monsoonal regimes, and the quality of the sedimentary record, the region has a rich history of study, and yet even within the Holocene sequence, many conflicting interpretations have arisen based on studies on different sections. This paper aims to synthesize and explore these differences by exploring the lateral continuity of the Holocene sequences along a ~ 45 km reach of the valley, and presenting new, detailed physical and geochemical analyses of three sections, focusing on the lacustrine Holocene Dagouwan Formation. The absence of the lacustrine unit at several locations confirms that rather than representing a single lake, the Dagouwan Formation instead represents a series of palaeolakes, probably at least partially hydrologically isolated from each other by aeolian sands. All begin with sand-dominated deposits during the early−/mid-Holocene, which is interpreted as the result of abundant sand-supply to the north and west, under the influence of an enhanced East Asian Winter Monsoon, and all switch to silt-dominated, more carbonate-rich deposits during the mid−/late-Holocene, which is attributed to an enhanced East Asian Summer Monsoon bringing loessic silts from the Chinese Loess Plateau to the east and south. The timing of this change, perhaps as late as 5.5 ka, supports the idea of a relatively enhancement late mid-Holocene of the summer monsoonal circulation in the region. However, despite the proximity of the sections and consistent analytical approaches, marked differences between the sections occur in all proxies studied. The timing and rate of the switch from sand- to silt-dominated lacustrine deposition varies between the sites by as much as 2000 years within just a few kilometres of each other, and at some sites the switch was gradual, whereas at others it was very rapid. Similar dramatic variations are also seen with organic carbon content, carbonate content, C:N ratio, and especially the δ13C isotopic ratio. These point to the lake basins behaving very differently, and emphasize that consideration must be given to the local geomorphology and palaeolimnological evolution of individual sections. • Differences in lacustrine Holocene monsoon records in northern China are explored. • The occurrence of the lakes is geomorphologically, not climatologically, controlled. • Different sections of similar units represent different lakes with varied histories. • Consistent changes in sediment suggest mid-Holocene decline of winter monsoon. • Study of individual sections or proxies cannot be used to infer regional climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Holocene hydrological regime on the Heixiazi Island is critical for understanding the evolution of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) for the island's climate-sensitive location on the northern fringe of the EASM domain. In this paper, a marsh depression on the central island was selected to reconstruct the locally hydrological variation and to discuss its indications for the Holocene EASM evolution. This work is based on multi-proxy (magnetic susceptibility, grain size, loss-on-ignition, and carbonate content) analyses of 22 modern sedimentary samples with a water-level gradient of 0–66 cm and 100 cored sedimentary samples covering last ~ 9.0 ka BP. The proxies' hydrological significance was previously interpreted by the 22 modern samples using linear regression equations to construct their relationships to water-level changes. Among these proxies, the magnetic susceptibility, carbonate content, as well as the Md and sand fraction of grain size exhibit high-level relationships against the water-level changes with R2 > 0.6. Thus, these four proxies' linear-regression equations were selected and used on the 100 cored samples, and the Holocene water-level changes in the studied depression were quantitatively reconstructed. It shows that two relatively high water-level stages with strengthened EASM occurred during 8.0–4.5 ka BP and 3.0–1.4 ka BP, which were alternated by three low water-level stages with declined EASM during ~ 9.0–8.0 ka BP, 4.5–3.0 ka BP, and 1.4–0 ka BP, respectively. Among these fluctuations, the highest water-level stage with most strengthened EASM which is defined as the Holocene Monsoon Maximum occurred during 6.4–4.5 ka BP. Such a new evolution pattern of the EASM can be further supported by a large variety of records from monsoon-margin regions. We suggest the Holocene EASM evolution was generally associated with the thermal conditions in both the inner Eurasia landmass and the West Pacific Ocean, with an exception of the weak EASM before 8.0 ka BP due to the enhanced Siberia High with the dominance of the Eurasia ice sheet in the early Holocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive and integrative view of East Asian monsoon evolution during the Holocene is still under debate, and additional high-resolution proxy records from climatically sensitive locations are requisite to solve this complex issue. In this paper, we present three well-dated mud/peat cores from a paleo-pingo depression in the Sanjiang Plain, a climatically sensitive region to monsoon variation, to reveal the paleoenvironmental history of the wetland and discuss the regional impacts from monsoon evolution. A paleolake developed in the study area before 5.5 ka BP, and a peatland initiated thereafter consequent upon the gradual shrinking of the paleolake. This transition lasted until 4.5 ka BP, when the paleolake changed entirely to a wetland. Considering the prevalent monsoon climate in the Sanjiang Plain, we suggest that the lake-to-wetland transition from 5.5 to 4.5 ka BP indicates a rapid decline of the East Asian summer monsoon in addition to autogenic basin infilling processes. Such a remarkable monsoon weakening event has been documented across northern China, and we associate this with ocean–atmosphere interactions throughout low-latitude regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deserts and sandylands that are located in the semi-arid and arid regions in the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere are usually regarded as environmentally sensitive change belts which respond to global climatic change. In northern China, activation or immobilization of sand dunes is mainly influenced by humid and dry variation and is related to stronger or weaker Asian monsoons. In this paper, the history of Holocene millennial-scale climatic and environmental change is reconstructed by the systematic analysis of the geochemical element contents and parameters, along with the OSL and C chronologies, from the different lithologies of the palaeosol-aeolian sand sequence in the south-eastern Mu Us Desert, northern China. Our results indicate that the region was dominated by a dry climate with intensive aeolian activity before 7.2 ka BP, and there was an optimal humid climate and fixed desert in 7.2-4.6 ka. Afterwards, the dune fields became mobile again as the effective humidity declined. Additionally, six dry events were discovered with times of ~7.2, 7.0-6.8, 6.6-5.7, 4.6-4.1, 3.7-3.5, and 3.3-2.5 ka, which were not only coincident with the intervals of millennial-scale weaker Asian summer monsoons, but also accordant with the cold events evidenced in the ice cores and deep-sea deposits of the high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. In general, the Holocene climatic and environmental changes had the characteristics of the 'monsoonal mode' and 'abrupt millennial-scale oscillation' in the Mu Us Desert. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, more and more record-breaking extreme weather/climate events have been reported from the Asian monsoon region, which have caused tremendous loss of property and lives. In this paper, we analyzed the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) variability during the Holocene and evaluated future climate extremes in monsoonal China from a paleoclimatic view. We found a significant regime transition to more chaotic fluctuations, with enhanced decadal variability of the ASM since 6.6 ka BP. We suggested the gradual intensification of ENSO was responsible for enhancing the ASM variability since the late mid-Holocene. If the observed relationship of monsoon mean intensity, ENSO and decadal variability of the ASM in the past 11.2 ka continue to exist, enhanced decadal variability of ASM in the future warming world will be expected. As a result, the intensification of daily precipitation extremes, superimposed on enhanced decadal variability of ASM, might make the record-breaking extremes more frequent in the future, increasing the risk of climate-related disasters in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reconstructs the evolutionary history of the Pearl River delta over the last 9000 years and investigates land-sea interaction in a large deltaic complex which formed under the influence of Asian monsoon climate. Specifically, this research examines the delta evolution in the context of three driving mechanisms: (1) rising sea level that influences the available accommodation space, (2) fluvial discharge as influenced by monsoon climate and (3) human activities that alter sedimentation within the deltaic system. Results reveal that the formation of deltaic sequences was initiated as a consequence of rapid sea-level rise between 9000 and 7000 cal. yr BP. The rate of sea-level rise slowed down markedly around 7000 cal. yr BP and sedimentation switched from transgressive to regressive. Initially, both the progradation of the delta plains near the apex and aggradation of delta front sedimentation in the central and lower parts of the receiving basin were fast owing to strong monsoonal-driven runoff. The progradation rate gradually slowed down between 6800 and 2000 cal. yr BP as monsoonal-driven runoff weakened. Rapid shoreline advances during the last 2000 years were the result of significantly increased human activities, a practice that trapped sediments in the encircled tidal flats along the front of delta plains. The evolutionary history of the Pearl River delta demonstrates the interplay between the three driving mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schematic figure showing climate driving mechanisms on wetland hydrological and vegetational evolution. The relatively strong East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) with high precipitation tends to generate a higher water-level condition with more hygrophilous herbaceous plants while blocking the deposition of coarse grain-size fractions (a), and vise versa for weak EASM stages (b). [Display omitted] • The late-Holocene hydrological and vegetational regimes were reconstructed. • An ecological lake-to-wetland transition occurred at ~4.5 ka BP. • The wetlands evolution was largely controlled by monsoonal precipitation. The responding mechanism of wetland ecosystem to climate change is currently unclear due to a lack of long-term records incorporating multiple ecological factors. This paper presents a well-dated and multi-proxy cored record from a natural freshwater wetland developed in a paleo-pingo-related depression on the Sanjiang Plain. The study aims to reconstruct the wetland water-level and vegetational regimes during the past ~6.0 ka BP and discuss the wetland evolution response to the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) circulation. The results show that a shallow-water lake with hygrophilous herbs developed in the depression with a strong EASM during ~6.0–4.5 ka BP. The paleolake was succeeded by a wetland with a lowered mean water level and an increase in tree cover controlled by the weakened EASM during the past 4.5 ka BP. Such an ecological lake-to-wetland transition corresponds well to the sharp decline of the EASM around 4.5 ka BP which has been well documented in various geological records across the EASM domain. During the wetland developing stage over the past 4.5 ka BP, the water-level and vegetational changes in the studied depression were also closely related to the EASM variations. The strengthened EASM usually generated higher water levels with more hygrophilous herbs around 4.0 ka BP, 3.5 ka BP, 3.0 ka BP, 2.0 ka BP, and 1.3 ka BP. Considering the prevalent EASM climate serving as the predominant water supply for the wetlands on the modern Sanjiang Plain, we suggest the EASM circulation has played a critical role in driving the wetland ecological evolution during the mid-to-late Holocene Epoch. The past 0.4 ka BP is an exception as the local Trees/Herbs ratio visibly increased with the declined water level, while the monsoonal precipitation shows no equivalent shift. The wetland evolution at this stage was attributed to human interference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the use of Resilience Theory to provide an improved theoretical framework for the analysis of socio-ecological interactions over decadal—millennial timescales. It identifies landscape system behaviour through analysis of proxy records for land use, erosion and monsoon intensity over the past 3000 years in the Erhai lake-catchment system, Yunnan, SW China. Analysis of the records shows the possibility of alternative steady states in the landscape, as expressed by the relationship between land use and erosion. In particular, a period of agricultural expansion ~1400 cal. yr BP triggered rapid gully erosion that led to the formation of an eroded landscape state that has existed since ~800 cal. yr BP to the present day. Comparison of detrended time-series data suggests that over 3000 years erosion and land use should be considered 'slow' processes relative to the 'faster' monsoon intensity and flooding. In the past, the effects of high monsoon variance on flooding have been suppressed by paddy farming and the maintenance of terraced field systems. Mapping the Adaptive Cycle on to the millennial record of land use and erosion suggests that the modern landscape may be approaching a 'conservation' phase characterized by minimum resilience. Such 'historical profiling' of modern landscapes offers a new dimension for hypothesis testing, for the development and testing of simulation models and for the creation of appropriate management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]