We used geochemical signals in shells preserved in sediments to create a 1750-year record of hydrological change in the Coorong Lagoon of South Australia. The record is interpreted to reflect the balance of evaporation and precipitation and shows that it has always been a highly evaporated system. The record also shows similarities to other environmental reconstructions from the region. This knowledge can increase our understanding of the potential impacts of environmental change.

Lake Petén Itzá, northern Guatemala, is one of the oldest lakes in the northern Neotropics. In this study, we analyzed geochemical and mineralogical data to decipher the hydrological response of the lake to climate and environmental changes between 59 and 15 cal ka BP. We also compare the response of Petén Itzá with other regional records to discern the possible climate forcings that influenced them. Short-term climate oscillations such as Greenland interstadials and stadials are also detected.

Our high-resolution loess Ca/Ti record displays millennial monsoon oscillations that persist over the last 650 kyr. Wavelet results indicate the ice volume and GHG co-modulation at the 100 kyr band and GHG and local insolation forcing at the precession band for the magnitude of millennial monsoon variability of loess Ca/Ti. The inferred mechanism calls on dynamic linkages to variability in AMOC. At the precession band, combined effects of GHG and insolation lead to increased extreme rainfall.

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.