A Modeling Study of the Tripole Pattern of East China Precipitation Over the Past 425 ka

Abstract

Abstract The traditional paleoclimatological view suggests that monsoonal China was overall wetter when the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) was strong. However, this view is at odds with the understanding of modern climate, which demonstrates an analogous “tripole precipitation pattern” in monsoonal China. Little is known about the spatial pattern of paleo‐precipitation in monsoonal China, particularly during the past glacial‐interglacial cycles. Here, we provide evidence for a potential tripole precipitation pattern in monsoonal China over the past 425 ka using climate modeling, and compare the results with paleoclimate records available from China. Our simulations illustrate that more (less) precipitation in North China and South China, and less (more) precipitation in the Central‐East China during strong (weak) EASM periods associated with high (low) boreal summer insolation. Our results agree with the present understanding of modern East Asian climate, and furthermore confirm that the boreal summer insolation is the dominant forcing for the intensity of EASM and the response of subtropical high pressures is fundamental in modulating the precipitation pattern in monsoonal China on orbital timescales. This temporal and spatial variability of precipitation, as revealed in our simulations, shows the potential high complexities in hydroclimatic conditions in monsoonal China throughout the past glacial‐interglacial cycles. Nevertheless, whether the tripole precipitation pattern in monsoonal China over the past 425 ka is robust enough still should be tested, preferable by taking advantage of existing and new well‐dated and explicit indicative precipitation archives in Central‐East China.