Articles | Volume 18, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-975-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-975-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
06 May 2022
Research article |
| 06 May 2022
| 06 May 2022
Humidity changes and possible forcing mechanisms over the last millennium in arid Central Asia
Shengnan Feng
College of Resource, Environment and Tourism, Capital Normal
University, Beijing 100048, China
College of Resource, Environment and Tourism, Capital Normal
University, Beijing 100048, China
Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment, Institute of
Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Georges Lemaître Centre for Earth and Climate Research, Earth
and Life Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve
1348, Belgium
CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing
100044, China
Xin Mao
College of Resource, Environment and Tourism, Capital Normal
University, Beijing 100048, China
Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Chinese
Academy of Geological Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050061, China
Yun Li
Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Xining 810008, China
Jiaping Wang
College of Resource, Environment and Tourism, Capital Normal
University, Beijing 100048, China
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EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4480, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4480, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Climate of the Past (CP).
Short summary
Short summary
We studied sediments from Nansi Lake in eastern China to understand how moisture conditions changed during the Holocene and how people responded. The region was relatively dry early on, became much wetter in the middle Holocene, and turned drier and more variable later. Across eastern China, the timing of peak humidity shifted from west to east. Archaeological records suggest that prehistoric settlements also shifted eastward as these conditions changed.
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Short summary
We present a continuous humidity history in arid Central Asia over the past millennium based on the ~1.8-year high-resolution multiproxy record from Lake Dalongchi. Our findings emphasize that the Gleissberg solar cycle and quasi-regular period of ENSO amplitude play critical roles in controlling the effective humidity at century and multidecadal timescales, respectively. Our analysis provides new insights for hydroclimate predictions and climate simulations in arid Central Asia in the future.
We present a continuous humidity history in arid Central Asia over the past millennium based on...
