Lagged variation of moisture conditions in central Asia compared with monsoonal Asia during the last four interglacials

Abstract. Previous research has indicated that variations in moisture conditions in arid central Asia (ACA) were out-of-phase with those of monsoonal Asia during the Holocene. In order to investigate this phenomenon, we compared the pattern of moisture variations in ACA and the region dominated by the East Asia summer monsoon (EASM) during the last four interglacials. The results indicate that moisture variations in ACA lagged those in the EASM region by ~ 6 kyr during MIS 5, by −3 kyr during MIS 7, by 3 kyr during MIS 9, and by 7 kyr during MIS 11. We suggest that this lagged pattern in three out of four interglacials was the result of a zonal climatic teleconnection, westerly wind intensity, and evaporation upstream. Overall, our results shed new light on the climatic variability of central Asia and its origins during the Holocene.