Coupling of the Asian monsoon and Antarctic climates on multiple timescales and implications for termination

Abstract Recurrent and intense climate changes during glacial periods are registered in geological records globally. A strong bipolar coupling has been revealed on the millennial timescale, while the north-south counterparts on finer timescales is less clear due to the locality of the Greenland ice core. Our high-resolution stalagmite record, which represents the East Asian summer monsoon circulation intensity, resembles the Antarctic temperature on millennial to sub-centennial timescales during the last glacial. This possibly indicates a teleconnection between monsoon and Antarctica via the Southern Ocean or the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Furthermore, monsoonal event sequence from Heinrich 4 to Dansgaard-Oeschger 8 cycle is highly analogous to that during Termination 1 and the Marine Isotope Stage 4/3 transition at trend, amplitude and internal structures. Within the context of correlative records, we suggest that the maximum ice volume and the positive feedbacks related with CO2 buildup are critical for the terminations, rather than millennial-scale events.