Based on high-precision 230Th dates and high-resolution oxygen isotope records of a stalagmite collected from Wanxiang Cave,Wudu,together with the references of Chinese historical documents from Wudu and the neighboring areas,the variation of monsoonal precipitation in the modern Asian monsoon marginal zone over the past 500 years was reconstructed.This study indicated that the speleothem δ18O is a good proxy for the Asian monsoon strength and associated precipitation on inter-annual to centennial timescale.Variation of the monsoonal precipitation during the past 500 years can be divided into three stages,decreasing from 1470 A.D.to 1700 A.D.,stable between 1701 A.D.and 1875 A.D.,and increasing thereafter.This variation is quite similar to that of the Drought/Flooding index archived from Chinese historical documents.Monsoonal precipitation shows stepwise pattern in the monsoonal marginal region of China during the transition from the Little Ice Age to the Current Warm Period.The variation of stepwise precipitation suggested that the monsoonal precipitation over the monsoon marginal zone in large-spatial-scale is consistent,and this variation and the Northern Hemisphere temperature,Chinese temperature varied synchronously on interdecadal to centennial timescale.
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