oa East Asian Monsoon Variability Over the Past 32 KA in the Northern South China Sea

Investigations of the paleo-monsoon variability could provide insights into monsoonal dynamics on tectonic, orbital and millennial time scales. However, studies on the reconstruction of long-term climatic and vegetation dynamics around the northern South China Sea (SCS) are relatively limited. Therefore, in this study, we present a multiproxy approach including palynological analysis, geochemistry and biogeochemistry analysis of marine sediments from the northern SCS to conduct a better understanding of the paleoenvironmental significance and associated monsoon variations on a millennial scale over the last 32 ka. The results of various proxies clearly show glacial-interglacial variability with relatively high sedimentation rates, lower temperatures, high productivity, terrestrial herb domination, less humidity and high fire regime during the Last Glacial period in comparison to the Holocene. A pronounced warm trend with low productivity was observed during the last deglaciation period accompanied by vegetation shift to pine forest, minimal fire regime and higher humidity as well as higher eolian input. The overall findings highlight the substantial influence of East Asian monsoon variability over the past 32 ka in the northern SCS and the adjacent continental area. In comparison to the glacial period, the East Asian monsoon became intensive with the onset of the last deglaciation.