Journal of Tropical Oceanography ›› 2013, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (1): 18-25.doi: 10.11978/j.issn.1009-5470.2013.01.003cstr: 32234.14.j.issn.1009-5470.2013.01.003

• Marine Meteorology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Variability of winter monsoon in the South China Sea during 1818-2000: Evidence from stable oxygen isotope records in coral

SONG Shao-hua1, ZHOU Wei-jian1, XIONG Xiao-hu1, PENG Zi-cheng2, LIU Wei-guo1, CHEN Te-gu3   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an 710075, China; 2. Department of Earth and Space Science, University of Sciences and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China; 3. South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China
  • Received:2013-04-20 Revised:2013-04-20 Online:2013-04-19 Published:2013-04-20

Abstract: A modern massive Poritescoral was collected from the Xisha Islands in the northern South China Sea. Based on the relationship between stable oxygen isotopic data of coral and observed winter monsoon velocity (WMV), the calculated winter monsoon velocity (WMVc) record was obtained for years 1818-2000. Reconstructed WMVc sequence shows significant interannual and decadal variabilities for the last 183 years and presents two distinct declines at the rate of -0.009 m·s-1·a-1 for years 1818-1954 and -0.021 m·s-1·a-1 for years 1955-2000. Moreover, the WMVc decreased by about 20% during in the last 46 years of the 20th century. Two complete cycles of wind strength changes have been detected in the WMVc record over the past 183 years: the highest wind velocity occurred in the 1830s, whereas the lowest in the 1940s. During the 20th century, the variability of WMVc was very similar to the opposite changes of temperature records from the South China Sea and Chinese landmass, with two significant warm periods in the 1940s and 1980s. Statistics of WMVc anomalies against the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events show that most of the winter monsoon appeared to be weakened during the ENSO.

Key words: coral, South China Sea, East Asian monsoon, ENSO

CLC Number: 

  • P732