Continuous 150 k.y. monsoon record from Lake Eyre, Australia; insolation-forcing implications and unexpected Holocene failure

Our reconstructed history of Lake Eyre provides the first continuous continental proxy record of Australian monsoon intensity over the past 150 k.y. This continental record's broad correspondence to the marine isotope record demonstrates that this very large catchment, with its hydrology depend...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geology (Boulder) 2004-10, Vol.32 (10), p.885-888
Main Authors: Magee, John W, Miller, Gifford H, Spooner, Nigel A, Questiaux, Daniele
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
arid environment
Australasia
Australia
Cenozoic
Climate change
ephemeral lakes
Geology
Holocene
insolation
Isotopes
lacustrine environment
Lake Eyre
lake sediments
lake-level changes
Lakes
Milankovitch theory
moisture
monsoons
paleoclimatology
paleogeography
paleolimnology
playas
Quaternary
Quaternary geology
Rain
seasonal variations
sediments
South Australia
terrestrial environment
upper Quaternary
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Summary:Our reconstructed history of Lake Eyre provides the first continuous continental proxy record of Australian monsoon intensity over the past 150 k.y. This continental record's broad correspondence to the marine isotope record demonstrates that this very large catchment, with its hydrology dependent on a planetary-scale climate element, responds to Milankovitch-scale climate forcing. Abrupt transitions from dry phases to wet phases (ca. 125 and 12 ka) coincide with Northern Hemisphere winter insolation minima rather than Southern Hemisphere summer insolation maxima, indicating that Northern Hemisphere insolation exerts a dominant control over the intensity of the Australian monsoon. Stratigraphic and dating uncertainties of other wet phases preclude conclusive correlation to specific insolation signals but, within the uncertainties, are consistent with Northern Hemisphere forcing. Regardless of the hemispheric forcing, the low intensity of the early Holocene Australian monsoon--by comparison with the last interglacial and particularly the last high-level lacustrine event at 65-60 ka when all forcing elements were modest--is an enigma that can be explained by a change in boundary conditions within Australia.
ISSN:0091-7613
1943-2682
DOI:10.1130/G20672.1