VARIABILITY OF MONSOON CLIMATE IN EAST-ASIA AT THE END OF THE LAST GLACIATION

High-resolution paleomonsoon proxy records from peat and eolian sand-p aleosol sequences at the desert-loess transition zone in China denote a rapid oscillation from cold-dry conditions (11,200-10,600 C-14 yr B. P.) to cool-humid conditions (10,600-10,200 C-14 yr B.P.), followed by a return to cold-dry climate (10,200-10,000 C-14 yr B.P.). Variations in precipitation proxies suggest that significant climatic variabilit y occurred in monsoonal eastern Asia during the Younger Dryas interval . Late-glacial climate in the Chinese desert-loess belt that lies down wind from Europe was strongly influenced by cold air from high latitud es and from the North Atlantic via the westerlies. The inferred precip itation variations were likely caused by variations in the strength of the Siberian high, which influenced the pressure gradient between lan d and ocean and therefore influenced the position of the East Asian mo nsoon front. (C) 1996 University of Washington.