China 640,000 Year Speleothem Oxygen Isotope Data Cheng, H.; Edwards, R.L.; Sinha, A.; Spötl, C.; Yi, L.; Chen, S.; Kelly, M.J.; Kathayat, G.; Wang, X.; Li, X.; Kong, X.; Wang, Y.; Ning, Y.F.; Zhang, H. Cheng, H. Edwards, R.L. Sinha, A. Spötl, C. Yi, L. Chen, S. Kelly, M.J. Kathayat, G. Wang, X. Li, X. Kong, X. Wang, Y. Ning, Y.F. Zhang, H. Monsoon earth science/paleoclimate/speleothems (depth,null,null,millimeter,null,speleothems,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/speleothems (delta 18O,calcium carbonate,null,per mil VPDB,null,speleothems,composited,isotope ratio mass spectrometry,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/speleothems (delta 18O,calcium carbonate,null,per mil VPDB,null,speleothems,raw,isotope ratio mass spectrometry,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/speleothems (delta 18O,calcium carbonate,null,per mil VPDB,null,speleothems,composited|detrended|normalized,isotope ratio mass spectrometry,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/speleothems (sample identification,null,null,null,null,speleothems,null,null,N,stalagmite ID) earth science/paleoclimate/speleothems (age,null,null,calendar kiloyear before present,null,speleothems,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/speleothems (Hulu Cave>LATITUDE 32.5>LONGITUDE 119.16) (Dongge Cave>LATITUDE 25.28>LONGITUDE 108.08) (Sanbao Cave>LATITUDE 31.667>LONGITUDE 110.433) Oxygen isotope records from Chinese caves characterize changes in both the Asian monsoon and global climate. Here, using our new speleothem data, we extend the Chinese record to cover the full uranium/thorium dating range, that is, the past 640,000 years. The record's length and temporal precision allow us to test the idea that insolation changes caused by the Earth's precession drove the terminations of each of the last seven ice ages as well as the millennia-long intervals of reduced monsoon rainfall associated with each of the terminations. On the basis of our record's timing, the terminations are separated by four or five precession cycles, supporting the idea that the '100,000-year' ice age cycle is an average of discrete numbers of precession cycles. Furthermore, the suborbital component of monsoon rainfall variability exhibits power in both the precession and obliquity bands, and is nearly in anti-phase with summer boreal insolation. These observations indicate that insolation, in part, sets the pace of the occurrence of millennial-scale events, including those associated with terminations and 'unfinished terminations'. STUDY NOTES: New and previously published stalagmite oxygen isotope (d18O) data from 4 Chinese caves, covering the past 640,000 years NCDC-Paleoclimatology https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data - Bauer Bruce Investigator : Cheng, H. Investigator : Edwards, R.L. Investigator : Sinha, A. Investigator : Spötl, C. Investigator : Yi, L. Investigator : Chen, S. Investigator : Kelly, M.J. Investigator : Kathayat, G. Investigator : Wang, X. Investigator : Li, X. Investigator : Kong, X. Investigator : Wang, Y. Investigator : Ning, Y.F. Investigator : Zhang, H. 2016-08-30 ONLINE Files online, ASCII https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/20450 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/asia/china/cheng2016composite.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/asia/china/cheng2016detrend.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/asia/china/cheng2016d18o.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/asia/china/cheng2016composite.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/asia/china/cheng2016detrend.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/asia/china/cheng2016d18o.txt English https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/20450 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/asia/china/cheng2016composite.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/asia/china/cheng2016detrend.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/speleothem/asia/china/cheng2016d18o.txt Hai Cheng, R. Lawrence Edwards, Ashish Sinha, Christoph Spötl, Liang Yi, Shitao Chen, Megan Kelly, Gayatri Kathayat, Xianfeng Wang, Xianglei Li, Xinggong Kong, Yongjin Wang, Youfeng Ning, Haiwei Zhang2016The Asian monsoon over the past 640,000 years and ice age terminationsNature5347609640-64610.1038/nature18591http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v534/n7609/full/nature18591.html START YEAR: 641300 cal yr BP * END YEAR: -17 cal yr BP 108.08 25.28 119.16 32.5