Abstract
This study examines the variability of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) during the last two millennia using a near-annually resolved speleothem oxygen isotope record from Kadapa cave in peninsular India. Our results show that the monsoon precipitation variations experienced a wet phase during the dark age cold period (DACP; ~250–800 CE) as evidenced from the progressive depletion of the δ18O values; followed by high amplitude variability during the medieval warm period (MWP; ~ 900–1300 CE), and drier monsoon conditions with enriched δ18O values during the edge of the little ice age (LIA; ~ 1500–1850 CE). It is further noted that the monsoon precipitation variability as observed in the Kadapa speleothem record during the last two millennia is corroborated by other speleothem and sediment records from the Indian subcontinent and adjoining oceanic areas. Analyses of reconstructed climate proxies, suggest that the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) during the DACP was stable and located relatively northward with pronounced La Niña conditions prevailing in the tropical Pacific. On the other hand, the high amplitude monsoon precipitation variations during the MWP appear to have resulted from multi-decadal fluctuations in the latitudinal position of the ITCZ, accompanied by enhanced activity of ENSO. Additionally the low monsoon precipitation during the LIA is found to be closely linked to a southward shift of the ITCZ, with precipitation reductions during the edge of LIA associated with volcanic cooling. Enriched and depleted δ18O values are consistent with the instrumental records of weakening and revival of monsoon precipitation during 1850–2000 CE and post-2000 CE, respectively.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agnihotri R, Dutta K (2003) Centennial scale variations in monsoonal rainfall (Indian, east equatorial and Chinese monsoons): Manifestations of solar variability. Curr Sci 85:459–463
Azharuddin S, Govil P, Singh AD et al (2019) Solar insolation driven periodicities in southwest monsoon and its impact on NE Arabian Sea paleoceanography. Geosci Front 10:2251–2263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsf.2019.03.007
Bar-Matthews M, Ayalon A, Gilmour M et al (2003) Sea–land oxygen isotopic relationships from planktonic foraminifera and speleothems in the Eastern Mediterranean region and their implication for paleorainfall during interglacial intervals. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 67:3181–3199. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7037(02)01031-1
Berkelhammer M, Sinha A, Stott L et al (2012) An abrupt shift in the Indian monsoon 4000 years ago. Geophys Monogr Ser 198:75–87. https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GM001207
Björg Ólafsdóttir K, Schulz M, Mudelsee M (2016) REDFIT-X: Cross-spectral analysis of unevenly spaced paleoclimate time series. Comput Geosci 91:11–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2016.03.001
Bookhagen B, Burbank DW (2010) Toward a complete Himalayan hydrological budget: Spatiotemporal distribution of snowmelt and rainfall and their impact on river discharge. 115:1–25. https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JF001426
Borgaonkar HP, Gandhi N, Ram S, Krishnan R (2018) Tree-ring reconstruction of late summer temperatures in northern Sikkim (eastern Himalayas). Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 504:125–135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.05.018
Braconnot P, Crétat J, Marti O et al (2019) Impact of Multiscale Variability on Last 6,000 Years Indian and West African Monsoon Rain. Geophys Res Lett 46:14021–14029. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084797
Breitenbach SFM, Rehfeld K, Goswami B et al (2012) Constructing proxy records from age models (COPRA). Clim Past 8:1765–1779. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-8-1765-2012
Brönnimann S, Franke J, Nussbaumer SU et al (2019) Last phase of the Little Ice Age forced by volcanic eruptions. Nat Geosci 12:650–656. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0402-y
Burdanowitz N, Rixen T, Gaye B, Emeis K-C (2021) Signals of Holocene climate transition amplified by anthropogenic land-use changes in the westerly–Indian monsoon realm. Clim Past 17:1735–1749. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1735-2021
Cai Y, Zhang H, Cheng H et al (2012) The Holocene Indian monsoon variability over the southern Tibetan Plateau and its teleconnections. Earth Planet Sci Lett 335–336:135–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2012.04.035
Cane M, Clement AC (1999) A Role for the tropical Pacific coupled ocean-atmosphere system on Milankovitch and millennial timescales. Part II: Global impacts. In: Geophysical Monograph Series. pp373–383
Clement AC, Cane M (1999) A Role for the tropical Pacific coupled ocean-atmosphere system on Milankovitch and millennial timescales. Part I: A Modeling study of tropical Pacific variability. In: Geophysical Monograph Series. pp363–371
Clement AC, Peterson LC (2008) Mechanisms of abrupt climate change of the last glacial period. Rev Geophys 46:1–39. https://doi.org/10.1029/2006RG000204
Clement AC, Seager R, Cane MA (2000) Suppression of El Niño during the Mid-Holocene by changes in the Earth’s orbit. Paleoceanography 15:731–737. https://doi.org/10.1029/1999PA000466
Crowley TJ, Zielinski G, Vinther B et al (2008) Volcanism and the Little Ice Age. PAGES newsl 16:22–23
Dalla V, Giraitis L, Phillips PCB (2020) Robust Tests for White Noise and Cross-Correlation. SSRN Electron J. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3564701
Dansgaard W (1964) Stable isotopes in precipitation. Tellus 16:436–468. https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusa.v16i4.8993
Delmotte MV, Zhai P, Pirani A, IPCC (2021), 2021: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L.Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T.K.Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and NewYork, NY, USA, pp.3 – 32, doi:https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009157896.001
Dixit Y, Tandon SK (2016) Hydroclimatic variability on the Indian subcontinent in the past millennium: Review and assessment. Earth Sci Rev 161:1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2016.08.001
Dorale JA, Liu Z (2009) Limitations of hendy test criteria in judging the paleoclimatic suitability of speleothems and the need for replication. J Cave Karst Stud 71:73–80
Douville H, Raghavan K, Renwick J et al (2021) Water Cycle Changes. In Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb,M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T.K. Maycock, T.Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)].Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp.1055–1210
doi:10.1017/9781009157896.010
Dreybrodt W (2008) Evolution of the isotopic composition of carbon and oxygen in a calcite precipitating H2O-CO2-CaCO3 solution and the related isotopic composition of calcite in stalagmites. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 72:4712–4724. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2008.07.022
Dutt S, Gupta AK, Clemens SC et al (2015) Abrupt changes in Indian summer monsoon strength during 33,800 to 5500 years B.P. Geophys Res Lett 42:5526–5532. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL064015
Fasullo J (2004) A stratified diagnosis of the Indian monsoon - Eurasian snow cover relationship.Bull Am Meteorol Soc3497–3513
Findlater J (1969) A major low-level air current near the Indian Ocean during the northern summer. Q J R Meteorol Soc 95:362–380. https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.49709540409
Fleitmann D, Burns SJ, Mangini A et al (2007) Holocene ITCZ and Indian monsoon dynamics recorded in stalagmites from Oman and Yemen (Socotra). Quat Sci Rev 26:170–188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2006.04.012
Fleitmann D, Burns SJ, Mudelsee M et al (2003) Holocene forcing of the Indian monsson recorded in a stalgmite from Southern Oman. Sci (80-) 300:1737–1739
Gadgil S (2003) The Indian Monsoon and Its Variability. Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci 31(1):429–467. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.earth.31.100901.141251
Gong D-Y, Luterbacher J (2008) Variability of the low-level cross-equatorial jet of the western Indian Ocean since 1660 as derived from coral proxies. Geophys Res Lett 35:L01705. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL032409
Goswami BN, Kripalani R, Borgaonkar H, Preethi B (2015) Multi-Decadal Variability in Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789814579933. Using Proxy Data
Gupta AK, Anderson DM, Overpeck JT (2003) Abrupt changes in the Asian southwest monsoon during the Holocene and their links to the North Atlantic Ocean. Nature 421:354–357. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01340
Haug GH, Hughen KA, Sigman DM et al (2001) Southward Migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone Through the Holocene. Sci (80-) 293:1304–1308. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1059725
Hendy CH (1971) The isotopic geochemistry of speleothems-I. The calculation of the effects of different modes of formation on the isotopic composition of speleothems and their applicability as palaeoclimatic indicators. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 35:801–824. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(71)90127-X
Higginson MJ, Altabet MA, Wincze L et al (2004) A solar (irradiance) trigger for millennial-scale abrupt changes in the southwest monsoon? Paleoceanography 19:PA3015. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004PA001031
Jin Q, Wang C (2017) A revival of Indian summer monsoon rainfall since 2002. Nat Clim Chang 7:587–594. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3348
Kathayat G, Cheng H, Sinha A et al (2016) Indian monsoon variability on millennial-orbital timescales. Sci Rep 6:1–13. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep24374
Kim H-R, Ha K-J, Moon S et al (2020) Impact of the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool on the Hadley, Walker, and Monsoon Circulations. Atmos (Basel) 11:1030. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11101030
Kumar Kiran P, Singh A (2021) Increase in summer monsoon rainfall over the northeast India during El Niño years since 1600. Clim Dyn 57:851–863. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-05743-7
Krishnamurti TN, Surgi N (1987) Observational aspects of summer monsoon. In: Chang C-P, Krishnamurti TN (eds) Monsoon meteorology. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, pp 3–25
Krishnan R, Sabin TP, Madhura RK et al (2019) Non-monsoonal precipitation response over the Western Himalayas to climate change. Clim Dyn 52:4091–4109. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-018-4357-2
Krishnan R, Sugi M (2003) Pacific decadal oscillation and variability of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall. Clim Dyn 21:233–242. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-003-0330-8
Lachniet MS (2009) Climatic and environmental controls on speleothem oxygen-isotope values Climatic and environmental controls on speleothem oxygen-isotope values. Quat Sci Rev 28:412–432. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2008.10.021
Laskar AH, Yadava MG, Ramesh R et al (2013) A 4 kyr stalagmite oxygen isotopic record of the past Indian Summer Monsoon in the Andaman Islands. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 14:3555–3566. https://doi.org/10.1002/ggge.20203
Li X, Dodson J, Zhou J, Zhou X (2009) Increases of population and expansion of rice agriculture in Asia, and anthropogenic methane emissions since 5000 BP. Quat Int 202:41–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2008.02.009
Liu Z, Kutzbach J, Wu L (2000) Modeling climate shift of El Nino variability in the Holocene. Geophys Res Lett 27:2265–2268. https://doi.org/10.1029/2000GL011452
McCrea JM (1950) On the isotopic chemistry of carbonates and a paleotemperature scale. J Chem Phys 18:849–857. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1747785
Miller GH, Geirsdóttir Á, Zhong Y et al (2012) Abrupt onset of the Little Ice Age triggered by volcanism and sustained by sea-ice / ocean feedbacks. 39:1–5. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL050168
Moy CM, Seltzer GO, Rodbell DT, Anderson DM (2002) Variability of El Niño/Southern Oscillation activity at millennial timescales during the Holocene epoch. Nature 420:162–165. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01194
Neff U, Burns SJ, Mangini A et al (2001) Strong coherence between solar variability and the monsoon in Oman between 9 and 6 kyr ago. Nature 411:290–293. https://doi.org/10.1038/35077048
Polanski S, Fallah B, Befort DJ et al (2014) Regional moisture change over India during the past Millennium: A comparison of multi-proxy reconstructions and climate model simulations. Glob Planet Change 122:176–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2014.08.016
Prasad S, Anoop A, Riedel N et al (2014) Prolonged monsoon droughts and links to Indo-Pacific warm pool: A Holocene record from Lonar Lake, central India. Earth Planet Sci Lett 391:171–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2014.01.043
Rehfeld K, Kurths J (2014) Similarity estimators for irregular and age-uncertain time series. Clim Past 10:107–122. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-107-2014
Rehfeld K, Marwan N, Breitenbach SFM, Kurths J (2013) Late Holocene Asian summer monsoon dynamics from small but complex networks of paleoclimate data. Clim Dyn 41:3–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-012-1448-3
Rehfeld K, Marwan N, Heitzig J, Kurths J (2011) Comparison of correlation analysis techniques for irregularly sampled time series. Nonlinear Process Geophys 18:389–404. https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-18-389-2011
Ruddiman WF, Fuller DQ, Kutzbach JE et al (2016) Late Holocene climate: Natural or anthropogenic? Rev Geophys 54:93–118. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015RG000503
Sachs JP, Sachse D, Smittenberg RH et al (2009) Southward movement of the Pacific intertropical convergence zone AD 1400–1850. Nat Geosci 2:519–525. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo554
Sanwal J, Kotlia BS, Rajendran C et al (2013) Climatic variability in Central Indian Himalaya during the last ~ 1800 years: Evidence from a high resolution speleothem record. Quat Int 304:183–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.03.029
Schneider T, Bischoff T, Haug GH (2014) Migrations and dynamics of the intertropical convergence zone. Nature 513:45–53. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13636
Schwarcz H (2007) CARBONATE STABLE ISOTOPES | Speleothems. Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science. Elsevier, pp 290–300
Shi F, Fang K, Xu C et al (2017) Interannual to centennial variability of the South Asian summer monsoon over the past millennium. Clim Dyn 49:2803–2814. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-016-3493-9
Shi F, Li J, Wilson RJS (2014) A tree-ring reconstruction of the South Asian summer monsoon index over the past millennium. Sci Rep 4:1–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep06739
Sigl M, Winstrup M, McConnell JR et al (2015) Timing and climate forcing of volcanic eruptions for the past 2,500 years. Nature 523:543–549. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14565
Singh GP, Oh JH (2005) Study on snow depth anomaly over Eurasia, Indian rainfall and circulations. J Meteorol Soc Japan 83:237–250. https://doi.org/10.2151/jmsj.83.237
Singh M, Krishnan R, Goswami B et al (2020) Fingerprint of volcanic forcing on the ENSO-Indian monsoon coupling. Sci Adv 6. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba8164
Sinha A, Berkelhammer M, Stott L et al (2011) The leading mode of Indian Summer Monsoon precipitation variability during the last millennium. Geophys Res Lett 38:2–6. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL047713
Sinha A, Cannariato KG, Stott LD et al (2007) A 900-year (600 to 1500 A.D.) record of the Indian summer monsoon precipitation from the core monsoon zone of India. Geophys Res Lett 34:1–5. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL030431
Sinha A, Kathayat G, Cheng H et al (2015) Trends and oscillations in the Indian summer monsoon rainfall over the last two millennia. Nat Commun 6:1–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7309
Sinha N, Gandhi N, Chakraborty S et al (2018) Abrupt climate change at ~ 2800 year BP evidenced by a stalagmite record from peninsular India. Holocene 28:1720–1730. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683618788647
Spötl C, Mangini A (2002) Stalagmite from the Austrian Alps reveals Dansgaard–Oeschger events during isotope stage 3. Earth Planet Sci Lett 203:507–518. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(02)00837-3
Templeton M (2004) Time-Series Analysis of Variable Star Data. Jaavso 32:41–54
von Rad U, Schaaf M, Michels KH et al (1999) A 5000-yr Record of Climate Change in Varved Sediments from the Oxygen Minimum Zone off Pakistan, Northeastern Arabian Sea. Quat Res 51:39–53. https://doi.org/10.1006/qres.1998.2016
Webster PJ, Magaña VO, Palmer TN et al (1998) Monsoons: Processes, predictability, and the prospects for prediction. J Geophys Res Ocean 103:14451–14510. https://doi.org/10.1029/97jc02719
Wilson SS, Joseph PV, Mohanakumar K, Johannessen OM (2018) Interannual and long term variability of low level jetstream of the Asian summer monsoon. Tellus A Dyn Meteorol Oceanogr 70:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/16000870.2018.1445380
Xu C, Sano M, Dimri AP et al (2018) Decreasing Indian summer monsoon on the northern Indian sub-continent during the last 180 years: evidence from five tree-ring cellulose oxygen isotope chronologies. Clim Past 14:653–664. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-653-2018
Xu H, Lan J, Sh E et al (2016) Hydroclimatic contrasts over Asian monsoon areas and linkages to tropical Pacific SSTs. Sci Rep 6:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep33177
Yadava MG, Ramesh R (2005) Monsoon reconstruction from radiocarbon dated tropical Indian speleothems. The Holocene 15:48–59. https://doi.org/10.1191/0959683605h1783rp
Yan H, Sun L, Wang Y et al (2011) A record of the Southern Oscillation Index for the past 2000 years from precipitation proxies. Nat Geosci 4:1–4. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1231
Yang S, Lu M, Wu R (2021) In: Chowdary JS, Parekh A, Gnanaseelan C (eds) Eurasian snow and Asian summer monsoon. Indian Summer Monsoon: El Niño Teleconnections and Beyond. Elsevier, pp 241–261. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822402-1.00017-X.
von Rad U, Schaaf M, Michels KH, et al (1999) A 5000-yr Record of Climate Change in Varved Sediments from the Oxygen Minimum Zone off Pakistan, Northeastern Arabian Sea. Quat Res 51:39–53. https://doi.org/10.1006/qres.1998.2016
Webster PJ, Magaña VO, Palmer TN, et al (1998) Monsoons: Processes, predictability, and the prospects for prediction. J Geophys Res Ocean 103:14451–14510. https://doi.org/10.1029/97jc02719
Wilson SS, Joseph P V., Mohanakumar K, Johannessen OM (2018) Interannual and long term variability of low level jetstream of the Asian summer monsoon. Tellus A Dyn Meteorol Oceanogr 70:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/16000870.2018.1445380
Xu C, Sano M, Dimri AP, et al (2018) Decreasing Indian summer monsoon on the northern Indian sub-continent during the last 180 years: evidence from five tree-ring cellulose oxygen isotope chronologies. Clim Past 14:653–664. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-653-2018
Xu H, Lan J, Sh E, et al (2016) Hydroclimatic contrasts over Asian monsoon areas and linkages to tropical Pacific SSTs. Sci Rep 6:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep33177
Yadava MG, Ramesh R (2005) Monsoon reconstruction from radiocarbon dated tropical Indian speleothems. The Holocene 15:48–59. https://doi.org/10.1191/0959683605h1783rp
Yan H, Sun L, Wang Y, et al (2011) A record of the Southern Oscillation Index for the past 2000 years from precipitation proxies. Nat Geosci 4:1–4. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1231
Yang, S., M. Lu, and R. Wu, 2021: Eurasian snow and Asian summer monsoon. Indian Summer Monsoon: El Niño Teleconnections and Beyond, Eds. J. S. Chowdary, A. Parekh and C. Gnanaseelan, Elsevier, 241–261, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822402-1.00017-X.
Acknowledgements
We thank the Director, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology for support and encouragement, Late Prof. Ramabrahmam Vellore, Kadapa, for his support in collecting the Speleothem sample. We also thank the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad for stable isotope analysis on IRMS, and Dr. G. R. Tripathy, Indian Institute of Science and Education Research for XRD analyses. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/ National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) paleoclimatology program is acknowledged for providing proxy data. The work was supported by the PACMEDY Project under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, India, and Belmont Forum, Paris, France. We thank Mr. Mahesh P. Kalshetti, Mr. Naresh Ganeshi, Mr. Ajinkya Aswale and Dr. Dandi Ramu for their support in graphic illustration with NCL and data analysis in CDO. Thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Reddy, A.P., Gandhi, N., Yadava, M.G. et al. The indian monsoon variability during the last two millennia and links to the tropical equatorial Pacific. Clim Dyn 60, 3645–3660 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-022-06513-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-022-06513-9