Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Holocene Records of Rainfall Variation and Associated ITCZ Migration from Stalagmites from Northern and Southern Oman

  • Chapter
The Hadley Circulation: Present, Past and Future

Part of the book series: Advances in Global Change Research ((AGLO,volume 21))

Abstract

Oxygen isotope (δ18O) profiles of uranium-series-dated stalagmites from Oman provide a record of Holocene Indian Ocean monsoon intensity at sub-decadal resolution over the past 10,000 years. The δ18O values are a proxy for the amount of monsoon precipitation, which is controlled by the mean summer latitudinal position and convection intensity of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The longest stalagmite record, derived from a stalagmite (Q5) from southern Oman, continuously covers the period from 10,300 to 2,700 BP (before present) with an average temporal resolution of 4 to 5 years. Additional contemporaneously deposited stalagmites from northern and southern Oman are used to confirm the results obtained from Q5 time series. All stalagmite records indicate that changes in monsoon precipitation between 10,300 and 8,000 BP are in phase with high-latitude temperature fluctuations recorded in Greenland ice cores during the glacial-to-interglacial transition; this result indicates that late glacial and early Holocene monsoon precipitation and tropical convection are largely controlled by glacial boundary conditions. After the final melting of Northern Hemisphere ice sheets, monsoon precipitation decreases gradually in near linear response to changing Northern Hemisphere summer solar insolation. Comparison with the Cariaco Basin precipitation record, off the Venezuelan coast, indicates that post-glacial to modern precipitation patterns in the northern tropics are controlled on a global scale by the gradual southward migration of the ITCZ due to orbitally induced changes in insolation. At the decadal and centennial scales, fluctuations in monsoon rainfall appear to be driven primarily by variations in solar irradiance, with higher solar irradiance being correlated with higher monsoon rainfall.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Adamson, D.A., F. Gasse, F.A. Street, and M.A.J. Williams. 1980. Late Quaternary history of the Nile. Nature 287: 50–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agnihotri, R., K. Dutta, R. Bhushan, and B.L.K. Somayajulu. 2002. Evidence for solar forcing on the Indian monsoon during the last millennium. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 198: 521–527.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alley, R.B., P.A. Mayewski, T. Sowers, M. Stuiver, K.C. Taylor, and P.U. Clark. 1997. Holocene climatic instability: A prominent, widespread event 8200 yr ago. Geology 25: 483–486.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • An, Z.S., S.C. Porter, J.E. Kutzbach, X.H. Wu, S.M. Wang, X.D. Liu, X.Q. Li, and W.J. Zhou. 2000. Asynchronous Holocene optimum of the East Asian monsoon. Quaternary Science Reviews 19: 743–762.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bar-Matthews, M., A. Ayalon, A. Kaufman, and G.J. Wasserburg. 1999. The Eastern Mediterranean paleoclimate as a reflection of regional events: Soreq cave, Israel. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 166: 85–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, T.P., L. Dümenil, U. Schlese, and E. Roeckner. 1988. The effect of Eurasian snow cover on global climate. Science 239: 504–507.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berger, A., and M.F. Loutre. 1991. Insolation values for the climate of the last 10 million years. Quaternary Science Reviews 10: 297–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonnefille, R., G. Riollet, and G. Buchet. 1991. Nouvelle Sequence pollinique d’une tourbiere de la crete Zaire-Nil (Burundi). Reviews ofPaleobotany and Palynology 67: 315–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brook, G.A., D.A. Burney, and J.B. Cowart. 1990. Desert paleoenvironmental data from cave speleothems with examples from the Chihuahuan, Somali-Chalbi, and Kalahari desert. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 76: 311–329.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bryson, R.A., and A.M. Swain. 1981. Holocene variations of monsoon rainfall in Rajasthan. Quaternary Research 16: 135–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burns, S.J., D. Fleitmann, A. Matter, U. Neff, and A. Mangini. 2001. Speleothem evidence from Oman for continental pluvial events during interglacial periods. Geology 29: 623–626.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burns, S.J., D. Fleitmann, M. Mudelsee, U. Neff, A. Matter, and A. Mangini. 2002. A 780 yr annually-resolved record of Indian Ocean Monsoon precipitation from a speleothem from south Oman, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, manuscript no. 2001JD001281

    Google Scholar 

  • Burns, S.J., A. Matter, F. Norbert, and A. Mangini. 1998. Speleothem-based paleoclimate record from northern Oman. Geology 26: 499–502.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, I.D., and J. Fontes. 1990. Paleoclimatic reconstruction in northern Oman based on carbonates from hyperalkaline groundwaters. Quaternary Research 33: 320–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, I.D., P. Fritz, O.P. Quinn, P.W. Rippon, H. Nash, and B. bin Ghalib al Said. 1987. Modern and fossil groundwater in an arid environment: A look at the hydrogeology of southern Oman. In, Use of Stable Isotopes in Water Resources Development. IAEA Symposium, 299, March 1987, Vienna, pp. 167–187.

    Google Scholar 

  • Claussen, M., C. Kubatzki, V. Brovkin, A. Ganopolski, P. Hoelzmann, and H.-J. Pachur. 1999. Simulation of an abrupt change in Saharan vegetation in the mid-Holocene. Geophysical Research Letters 26: 2037–2040.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cubasch, U., R. Voss, G.C. Hegerl, J. Waskewitz, and T.J. Crowley. 1997. Simulation of the influence of solar radiations variations on the global climate with an ocean-atmosphere general circulation model. Climate Dynamics 13: 757–767.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dansgaard, W. 1964. Stable isotopes in precipitation. Tellus 16: 436–468.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dansgaard, W., S.J. Johnsen, H.B. Clausen, D. Dahl-Jensen, N.S. Gundestrup, C.U. Hammer, C.S. Hvidberg, J.P. Steffensen, A.E. Sveinbjörnsdottir, J. Jouzel, and G. Bond. 1993. Evidence for general instability of past climate from a 250-kyr ice-core record. Nature 364: 218–220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • deMenocal, P.B., T. Ortitz, T. Guilderson, J. Adkins, M. Sarnthein, L. Baker, and M. Yarus-insky. 2000. Abrupt onset and termination of the African Humid Period: Rapid climate responses to gradual insolation forcing. Quaternary Science Reviews 19: 347–363.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enzel, Y., L.L. Ely, S. Mishra, R. Ramesh, R. Amit, B. Lazar, S.N. Rajaguru, V.R. Baker, and R. Sandler. 1999. High-resolution Holocene environmental changes in the Thar desert, Northwestern India. Science 284: 125–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fang, J. 1991. Lake evolution during the past 30 000 years in China, and its implications for environmental change. Quaternary Research 36: 37–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleitmann, D., S.J. Burns, and A. Matter. 1999. Stable isotope study of the active water-carbonate system in caves in Oman: A test of applicability to paleoclimate studies. Eos Trans. AGU 80(46), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract OS22B-12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fleitmann, D., S.J. Burns, M. Mudelsee, U. Neff, J. Kramers, A. Mangini, and A. Matter. 2003. Holocene forcing of the Indian monsoon recorded in a stalagmite from Southern Oman. Science 300: 1737–1739.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleitmann, D., S.J. Burns, U. Neff, M. Mudelsee, A. Mangini, and A. Matter. 2004. Paleoclimatic interpretation of high-resolution oxygen isotope profiles derived from annually laminated speleothems from Southern Oman. Quaternary Science Reviews 23, 935–945.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gasse, F. 2000. Hydrological changes in the African tropics since the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews 19:189–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gasse, F., and J.Ch. Fontes. 1992. Climatic changes in Northwest Africa during the last déglaciation (16–7 ka BP). In, Bard, E., and W.S. Broecker (eds.). The Last Deglaciation: Absolute and Radiocarbon Chronologies. NATO ASI series, Berlin: Springer Verlag, pp. 295–325.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Gasse, F., and F.A. Street. 1978. Late Quaternary lake-level fluctuations and environments of the northern Rift Valley and Afar region (Ethiopia and Djibouti). Palaeogeogra-phy, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 24: 279–325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gasse, F., and E. Van Campo. 1994. Abrupt post glacial climate events in West Asia and North Africa monsoon domains. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 126: 435–456.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gasse, F., M. Arnold, J.C. Fontes, M. Fort, E. Gibert, A. Huc, B.Y. Li, Y.F. Li, Q. Liu, F. Melieres, E. Van Campo, F.B. Wang, and Q.S. Zhang. 1991. A 13,000-year climate record from western Tibet. Nature 353: 742–745.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gasse, F., V. Ledee, M. Massault, and J. Fontes. 1989. Water-level fluctuations of Lake Tanganyika in phase with oceanic changes during the last glaciation and déglaciation. Nature 342 (6245): 57–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Genty, D., and Y. Quinif. 1996. Annually laminated sequences in the internal structure of some Belgian stalagmites: Importance for paleoclimatology. Journal of Sedimentary Research 66: 275–288.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillespie, R., F.A. Street-Perrott, and R. Switsur. 1983. Post-glacial arid episodes in Ethiopia have implications for climate prediction. Nature 306: 680–683.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gupta, A.K., D.M. Anderson, and J.T. Overpeck. 2003. Abrupt changes in the Asian southwest monsoon during the Holocene and their links to the North Atlantic Ocean. Nature 421: 354–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haberyan, K.A. 1978. Fossil diatoms and the paleolimnology of Lake Rukwa, Tanzania. Freshwater Biology 17: 429–436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haberyan, K.A., and R.E. Hecky. 1987. The late Pleistocene and Holocene stratigraphy and paleolimnology of Lakes Kivu and Tanganyika. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 61: 169–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hastenrath, S., and P.J. Lamb. 1979. Climatic Atlas of the Indian Ocean Vol. 1, Surface Climate and Atmospheric Circulation. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 116 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haug, G.H., K.A. Hughen, D.M. Sigman, L.C. Peterson, and U. Röhl. 2001. Southward migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone through the Holocene. Science 293: 1304–1308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hulme, M. 1996. Recent climatic change in the world’s drylands. Geophysical Research Letters 23: 61–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jung, S.J.A., G.R. Davies, G. Ganssen, and D. Kroon. 2002. Decadal-centennial scale monsoon variations in the Arabian Sea during the Early Holocene. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 3, Art. No. 1060.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kropelin, S., and I. Soulie-Marsche. 1991. Charophyte remains from Wadi Hower as evidence for deep Mid-Holocene freshwater lakes in the Eastern Sahara of Northwest Sudan. Quaternary Research 36: 210–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kutzbach, J.E., and Z. Liu. 1997. Response of the African Monsoon to orbital forcing and ocean feedbacks in the Middle Holocene. Science 278: 440–443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lauritzen, S.E., and J. Lundberg. 1999. Calibration of the speleothem delta function: An absolute temperature record for the Holocene in northern Norway. Holocene 9: 659–669.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lean, J., J. Beer, and R. Bradley. 1995. Reconstruction of solar irradiance since 1610: Implications for climate change. Geophysical Research Letters 22: 3195–3198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lézine, A.M., J.F. Saliege, C. Robert, F. Wertz, and M.L. Inizan. 1998. Holocene lakes from Ramlat as-Sab’atayn (Yemen) illustrate the impact of monsoon activity in Southern Arabia. Quaternary Research 50: 290–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meehl, G.A., W.M. Washington, T.M.L. Wigley, J.M. Arblaster, and A. Dai. 2003. Solar and greenhouse gas forcing and climate response in the twentieth century. Journal of Climate 16:426–444.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClure, H.A. 1976. Radiocarbon chronology of late Quaternary lakes in the Arabian Desert. Nature 263: 155–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mudelsee, M. 2000. Ramp function regression: A tool for quantifying climate transitions. Computers and Geosciences 26: 293–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mudelsee, M. 2003. Estimating Pearson’s correlation coefficient with bootstrap interval from serially dependent time series. Mathematical Geology 35: 651–665.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neff, U., S.J. Burns, A. Mangini, M. Mudelsee, D. Fleitmann, and A. Matter. 2001. Evidence for solar forcing of the Indian Ocean monsoon in a high-resolution speleothem record from Oman. Nature 411: 290–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Overpeck, J., D. Anderson, S. Trumbore, and W Prell. 1996. The southwest Indian Monsoon over the last 18 000 years. Climate Dynamics 12: 213–325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Owen, R.B., J.W. Barthelme, R.W. Renaut, and A. Vincens. 1982. Palaeolimnology and archaeology of Holocene deposits northeast of Lake Turkana, Kenya. Nature 298: 523–529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pachur, H.J., and P. Hoelzmann. 1991. Paleoclimatic implications of late Quaternary lacustrine sediments in western Nubia, Sudan. Quaternary Research 36: 257–276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pachur, H.J., and S. Kröpelin. 1987. Wadi Howar: Paleoclimatic evidence from an extinct river system in the southeastern Sahara. Science 237: 298–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polyak, V.J., and Y. Asmeron. 2001. Late Holocene climate and cultural changes in the Southwestern United States. Science 294: 148–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prell, W.L., and J.E. Kutzbach. 1987. Monsoon variability over the past 150,000 years. Journal of Geophysical Research 92: 8411–8425.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ritchie, J.C. 1987. A Holocene pollen record from Bir Atrun, Northwest Sudan. Pollen Spores 29: 39–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ritchie, J.C. 1994. Holocene pollen spectra from Oyo, northwestern Sudan: Problems of interpretation in a hyperarid environment. The Holocene 4: 9–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ritchie, J.C., and C.V. Haynes. 1987. Holocene vegetation zonation in the eastern Sahara. Nature 330: 645–647.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ritchie, J.C., C.H. Eyles, and C.V. Haynes. 1985. Sediment and pollen evidence for an early to mid-Holocene humid period in the eastern Sahara. Nature 314: 352–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rozanski, K., L. Araguás-Araguás,, and R. Gonfiantini. 1992. Relation between long-term trends of oxygen-18 isotope composition of precipitation and climate. Science 258: 981–985.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schulz, M., and K. Stattegger. 1997. SPECTRUM: Spectral analysis of unevenly spaced paleoclimatic time series. Computers and Geosciences 23: 929–945.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shindell, D.T., G.A. Schmidt, M.E. Mann, D. Rind, and A. Waple. 2001. Solar forcing of regional climate change during the Maunder Minimum. Science 294: 2149–2152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh G., R.J. Wasson, and D.P. Agrawal. 1990. Vegetational and seasonal climatic changes since the last full glacial in the Thar Desert, northwestern India. Reviews of Palaeobotany and Palynology 64: 351–358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sirocko, F., M. Sarnthein, H. Lange, and H. Erlenkeuser. 1991. Atmospheric summer circulation and coastal upwelling in the Arabian Sea during the Holocene and the last glaciation. Quaternary Research 36: 72–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sirocko, R.C., H. Sarnthein, H. Erlenkeuser, H. Lange, M. Arnold, and J.-C. Duplessy. 1993. Century-scale events in monsoonal climate over the past 24.000 years. Nature 364: 322–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stager, J.C. 1988. Environmental changes at Lake Cheshi, Zambia since 40000 years BP. Quaternary Research 29: 54–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Staubwasser, M., F. Sirocko, P.M. Grootes, and H. Erlenkeuser. 2002. South Asian monsoon climate change and radiocarbon in the Arabian Sea during early and middle Holocene. Paleoceanography 17, doi:10.1029/2000PA000608.

    Google Scholar 

  • Street-Perrott, F.A., and R.A. Perrott. 1990. Abrupt climate fluctuations in the tropics: The influence of Atlantic Ocean circulation. Nature 343: 607–612.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stuiver, M., P.J. Reimer, E. Bard, J.W. Beck, G.S. Burr, K.A. Hughen, B. Kromer, G. McCormac, J. Van der Plicht, and M. Spurk. 1998. INTCAL98 radiocarbon age calibration, 24,000–0 cal BP. Radiocarbon 40: 1041–1083.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swain, A.M., J.E. Kutzbach, and S. Hastenrath. 1983. Estimates of Holocene precipitation for Rajesthan, India, based on pollen and lake-level data. Quaternary Research 19: 1–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, D.M. 1990. Late Quaternary pollen records from two Ugandan mires: Evidence for environmental change in the Rukia Highlands of southwest Uganda. Palaeo-geography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 80: 283–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Campo, E., and F. Gasse. 1993. Pollen- and diatom-inferred climatic and hydrological changes in Sumxi Co Basin (western Tibet) since 13 000 yr BP. Quaternary Research 39:300–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vincens, A. 1989. Paleoenvironnements du bassin nord-Tanganyika (Zaire, Burundi, Tanzanie) au cours des 13 derniers mille ans: apport de la palynologie. Reviews ofPa-laeobotany and Palynology 61: 69–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vincens, A. 1991. Late Quaternary vegetation history of the South-Tanganyika Basin. Climate implications in South Central Africa. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 86: 207–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vose, R.S., R.L. Schmoyer, P.M. Steurer, T.C. Peterson, R. Heim, T.R. Karl, and J. Enscheid. 1992. The Global Historical Climatology Network: Long-term monthly temperature precipitation, sea level pressure, and station pressure data, ORNL/CDIAC-53, NDP-041. Oak Ridge, Tennessee:.Carbon Dioxide Information and Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Dominik Fleitmann

    Present address: Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, 94305-2115, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, CH-3012, Bern, Switzerland

    Dominik Fleitmann, Jan Kramers & Albert Matter

  2. Department of Geosciences, Morrill Science Center, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, 01003-9297, USA

    Stephen J. Burns

  3. Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany

    Ulrich Neff & Augusto Mangini

  4. Department of Earth Sciences, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, 02215, USA

    Manfred Mudelsee

Authors
  1. Dominik Fleitmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Stephen J. Burns
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ulrich Neff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Manfred Mudelsee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Augusto Mangini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Jan Kramers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Albert Matter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Climate Diagnostics Center, Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, NOAA, Boulder, CO, USA

    Henry F. Diaz

  2. Climate System Research Center, Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA

    Raymond S. Bradley

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Fleitmann, D. et al. (2004). Holocene Records of Rainfall Variation and Associated ITCZ Migration from Stalagmites from Northern and Southern Oman. In: Diaz, H.F., Bradley, R.S. (eds) The Hadley Circulation: Present, Past and Future. Advances in Global Change Research, vol 21. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-2944-8_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-2944-8_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-6752-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-2944-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation