Chabangborn Et Al 2014 Boreas

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Asian monsoon climate during the Last Glacial Maximum:

palaeo-datamodel comparisons
AKKANEEWUT CHABANGBORN, JENNY BRANDEFELT AND BARBARA WOHLFARTH
Chabangborn, A., Brandefelt, J. & Wohlfarth, B. 2014 (January): Asian monsoon climate during the Last Glacial
Maximum: palaeo-datamodel comparisons. Boreas, Vol. 43, pp. 220242. 10.1111/bor.12032. ISSN 0300-9483.
The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) (2319 ka BP) in the Asian monsoon region is generally described as cool and
dry, due to a strong winter monsoon. More recently, however, palaeo-data and climate model simulations have
argued for a more variable LGM Asian monsoon climate with distinct regional differences. We compiled,
evaluated, and partly re-assessed proxy records for the Asian monsoon region in terms of wet/dry climatic
conditions based on precipitation and effective moisture, and of sea surface temperatures. The comparison of the
palaeo-data set to LGM simulations by the Climate Community System Model version 3 (CCSM3) shows fairly
good agreement: a dry LGM climate in the western and northern part due to a strengthened winter monsoon
and/or strengthened westerly winds and wetter conditions in equatorial areas, due to a stronger summer monsoon.
Datamodel discrepancies are seen in some areas and are ascribed to the fairly coarse resolution of CCSM3 and/or
to uncertainties in the reconstructions. Differences are also observed between the reconstructed and simulated
northern boundaries of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The reconstructions estimate a more southern position over southern India and the Bay of Bengal, whereas CCSM3 simulates a more northern position. In
Indochina, the opposite is the case. The palaeo-data indicate that climatic conditions changed around 2019 ka
BP, with some regions receiving higher precipitation and some experiencing drier conditions, which would imply
a distinct shift in summer monsoon intensity. This shift was probably triggered by the late LGM sea-level rise,
which led to changes in atmosphereocean interactions in the Indian Ocean. The overall good correspondence
between reconstructions and CCSM3 suggests that CCSM3 simulates LGM climate conditions over subtropical
and tropical areas fairly well. The few high-resolution qualitative and quantitative palaeo-records available for the
large Asian monsoon region make reconstructions however still uncertain.
Akkaneewut Chabangborn (akkaneewut.c@geo.su.se) and Barbara Wohlfarth, Department of Geological Sciences,
Stockholm University, SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden; Jenny Brandefelt, The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste
Management Company, SE-111 64, Stockholm, Sweden; received 4th January 2013, accepted 31st May 2013.
The Asian monsoon is one of the largest climate

systems on Earth and affects a region that extends from
the Arabian Sea to the South China Sea and from
northern Australia to northern China (Wang et al.
2005). It has an important influence on Earths other
climatic systems through transport of heat energy and
humidity to higher latitudes (Zahn 2003; Clift & Plumb
2008; Maher 2008; Caley et al. 2011; Cook & Jones
2012).
The NE monsoon transports cool and dry air masses
over the continents during the winter season, whereas
the SW and SE monsoons provide warm and wet conditions during summer (Ramage 1971; Wang et al.
2003, 2005; Zahn 2003; Holton 2004). These seasonal
shifts are generally explained by insolation changes and
associated differences in landsea heat capacity. As a
result of its dependence on insolation and landsea
thermal contrast, the Asian monsoon is also closely
linked to the seasonal shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) (Chao & Chen 2001; Fleitmann
et al. 2007; Clift & Plumb 2008). In summer, the circulation of humid air masses from the Indian Ocean,
together with the northward shift of the ITCZ, causes
rainfall over the Asian continent. In contrast, cool and
dry climatic conditions develop in winter when the
ITCZ shifts southward, allowing the winter monsoon
to migrate over the continent.
DOI 10.1111/bor.12032
The Asian monsoon is generally divided into two

subsystems according to differences in summer
monsoon circulation patterns: the South Asian
Monsoon or Indian Ocean Monsoon (IOM) and the
East Asian Monsoon (EAM). This division follows longitude 105E, which extends along the eastern edge of
the Tibetan plateau, across the Indochina Peninsula
and through the Indonesian archipelago (Wang et al.
2003, 2005). The IOM is characterized by a distinct
gyre generated from clockwise circulation across the
equator. The EAM is a convergence of SW winds from
the Indian Ocean and trade winds from the Pacific
Ocean and also receives contributions from the subtropical front near China.
Climate model scenarios suggest that a rise in global
temperatures may have a significant impact on the
intensity of seasonal rainfall in monsoonal Asia (IPCC
2012). As a faithful prediction of precipitation patterns
is of great societal and economic importance, the performance of climate models needs to be tested using
well-known extreme climate states in the past. The Last
Glacial Maximum (LGM: 2319 ka BP) is a time interval representing an extreme climate state with distinctly
different environments from today (Mix et al. 2001).
Global ice volumes had obtained their maximum,
global sea level was at 130 m below present (Clark
et al. 2009), and forested areas had become reduced
2013 The Authors
Boreas 2013 The Boreas Collegium
LGM Asian monsoon climate
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considerably (Elenga et al. 2000; Tarasov et al. 2000;

Williams et al. 2000; Yu et al. 2000a). The quasiequilibrium climate and the well-known boundary conditions make the LGM an excellent test period for
climate models.
Persistent cool and dry climatic conditions throughout the LGM are generally described for the Asian
monsoon region, attributable to a strengthened winter
monsoon (e.g. van Campo et al. 1982; Huang et al.
1997; Hodell et al. 1999; von Rad et al. 1999; Hope
2001; Naidu 2004; Prabhu et al. 2004; White et al. 2004;
Tiwari et al. 2006; Ansari & Vink 2007; Cosford et al.
2010; Fleitmann et al. 2011). Other studies, however,
argue for substantial precipitation during the LGM,
such as palaeo-reconstructions from Sumatra (e.g. van
der Kaars et al. 2010), the South China Sea (Sun et al.
2000; Colin et al. 2010), and western China (Yu et al.
2000a, b; 2003). Moreover, climate model simulations
of LGM climate (Bush 2002; Braconnot et al. 2007;
Jiang et al. 2011; Ueda et al. 2011) suggest that conditions were wetter than reconstructed by terrestrial and
marine palaeo-data. Moreover, some paleo-records
indicate that the LGM cool and dry climatic conditions
were punctuated by the short wet intervals (Sun et al.
1999, 2000; Rashid et al. 2007; Saher et al. 2007; Govil
& Naidu 2011; Mahesh et al. 2011). This would
mean that the summer monsoon was periodically
strengthened during a time interval that was generally
dominated by winter monsoon conditions. Such
submillennial scale oscillations in the strength of the
summer monsoon may have occurred because of
e.g. the El Nio-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and
atmosphereocean interactions (Wang et al. 2005); a
southward shift of the ITCZ (Zhang & Delworth 2005;
Broccoli et al. 2006; Braconnot et al. 2007) and of the
western Pacific Warm Pool (De Deckker et al. 2002;
Partin et al. 2007); and thermohaline circulation
changes in the North Atlantic, which affected the
Indian Ocean (Overpeck et al. 1996; Tiwari et al. 2009;
Pausata et al. 2011; Stager et al. 2011). Other ideas
explaining higher LGM monsoon precipitation relate
to higher relative humidity (Bush & Philander 1998)
and changes in aerosol concentrations (Ruddiman
2001; Clift & Plumb 2008), and to lower moist adiabatic lapse rates (Barmawidjaja et al. 1993; Flenley 1998)
than at present.
Qualitative and quantitative temperature changes
can be relatively well reconstructed from proxies, especially in areas with clear climatic gradients. However,
precipitation reconstructions are hampered by the fact
that rainfall and its amounts have much more localized
expressions (Dayem et al. 2010; Cook & Jones 2012).
The drawbacks of marine and terrestrial palaeo-proxies
as recorders of past monsoon precipitation have therefore been discussed extensively (see e.g. Sun et al. 1999,
2000; Tiwari et al. 2006 for further references). In particular, the use of cave speleothem 18O as a proxy for
221
East Asian monsoon intensity has recently been challenged (Clemens et al. 2010; Dayem et al. 2010; Pausata
et al. 2011; Maher & Thompson 2012).
Here, we compile published palaeoenvironmental
proxies for the Asian monsoon region and evaluate
these in terms of qualitative precipitation and effective
moisture to assess LGM summer monsoon variability
on spatial and temporal scales. We compare these data
sets to quantitative precipitation and effective moisture
simulated by the Community Climate System Model
version 3 (CCSM3), which has shown good correspondence to reconstructed LGM climate at high latitudes (Kjellstrm et al. 2009), and test whether
CCSM3 is also able to faithfully simulate LGM
monsoon precipitation over the Asian subtropics and
tropics.
Palaeo-proxies
The palaeo-proxy data sets selected for this study
include published terrestrial and marine records (here
referred to as palaeo-data compilation) and the
MARGO (2009) sea surface temperature (SST) synthesis (here referred to as MARGO09) (Table 1). We constrained our study area to the Asian monsoon region
between 15S and 40N, and 40E and 160E (Fig. 1).
Following Wang et al. (2003, 2005), the area was separated into the IOM and EAM subregions along longitude 105E. The IOM subregion covers the area from
the Indian Ocean in the south to the Tibetan Plateau in
the north, and the EAM subregion covers large parts of
China and the western Pacific Ocean (Fig. 1).
The LGM landsea configuration in the Asian
monsoon region was distinctly different from the
present day, owing to the marked sea-level lowstand.
The LGM palaeogeography did not influence the IOM
subregion as much as the EAM subregion, where a
smaller South China Sea and exposure of the East
China Sea shelf increased the landsea thermal
contrast. Sumatra, Java, and Borneo were connected to
the Indochina peninsula and formed the so-called
Sundaland, and northern Australia was linked to New
Guinea, forming Sahulland (Fig. 1). As the areal extent
of the exposed land was almost double that of today
(De Deckker et al. 2002) and resulted in distinct environmental changes (Bird et al. 2005), the continental
shelves of Sundaland and Sahulland (SSS) were treated
as a third subregion (Fig. 1).
Selection criteria
Marine and terrestrial records (Table 1) were selected
here according to the following criteria: (i) for evaluation of the spatial variability of LGM climatic conditions, the records should contain at least one 14C, U/Th,
and/or TL date between 23 and 19 ka BP; (ii) records
with age estimate errors of >1000 years, and 14C dates
222
Akkaneewut Chabangborn et al.
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Table 1. Palaeo-records and palaeo-proxies used for the compilation. The age assignments are based on MARGO project members (2009)
(=M) data set and published 14C, TL and U/Th dates. The number of dates between 2517 ka BP for each sequence is given in parentheses.
Site Site name
no.
Lat () Long () Elevation

(m a.s.l.)
Archive
Marine
Proxy
Age
References
assignment
SHI9034
9.10
111.01
3330
SHI9016
8.46
128.24
1805
3
4
5
Kosipe valley
8.45
Situ Bayongbong swamp 7.18
Bandung basin
7.00
147.20
107.28
108.00
1965
1300
665
6
7
8
BAR94-42
SHI9014
SHI9006
6.75
5.77
4.33
102.42
126.97
117.60
2542
3163
1999
Marine
Marine
Marine
9
10
11
12
Sentarum lake
di Atas lake
Pea Sim-sim swamp
Pee Bullok swamp
0.73
1.07
2.29
2.28
112.10
100.77
98.89
98.98
3550
1535
1450
1400
Terrestrial
Terrestrial
Terrestrial
Terrestrial
13
K-12
2.69
127.74
3510
Marine
14
15
16
17
2.69
3.06
3.53
4.00
127.74
102.64
141.87
114.00
3510
2030
2282
1000
18
19
20
21
22
K-12
Tasek Bera basin
KH92-1-5cBX
Cave in Gunung Buda
National Park
SO18302
SO18300
GIK17964-2
GIK17961-2
MD97-2142
Planktonic
M
foraminifera
14
C (1)
Marine
Pollen
Terrestrial Hardwood remain 14C (1)
Marine
Alkenone
M
U/Th (9)
Terrestrial 18O
4.15
4.35
6.16
8.51
12.69
108.57
108.65
112.21
112.33
119.47
83
91
1556
1795
1557
Marine
Marine
Marine
Marine
Marine
23
24
GIK17954-2
31-KL
14.80
18.75
111.53
115.87
1520
3360
Marine
Marine
25
GIK17938-2
19.79
117.54
2840
Marine
26
MD97-2148
19.80
117.54
2830
Marine
27
28
29
30
31
32
GIK17940-2
Core 17940
Tianyang basin
Huguang lake
Toushe Basin
DGKS9603
20.12
20.12
20.78
21.15
23.82
28.15
117.38
117.38
110.03
110.28
120.88
127.27
1727
1727
120
23
650
1100
Marine
Marine
Terrestrial
Terrestrial
Terrestrial
Marine
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
DGKS9603
Jintanwan Cave
Hulu Cave
Songjia Cave
Weinan section
Beizhuangcun section
Pyonggeodong
archaeological site
Biwa lake
A paddy field in Iwaya,
Fukui prefecture
Mikata Lake
CH84-04
KH-79-3_L3
KT94-15_PC-9
MD85-674
SK-157-14
28.15
29.48
32.30
32.41
34.40
34.33
35.17
127.27
109.53
119.17
107.41
109.50
109.48
128.06
1100
460
100
680
6001100
6001100
100300
Marine
Terrestrial
Terrestrial
Terrestrial
Terrestrial
Terrestrial
Terrestrial
35.25
35.52
136.05
135.88
85
20
35.56
36.46
37.06
39.57
3.19
5.18
135.89
142.14
134.72
139.41
50.44
75.91
0
2630
935
807
4875
3306
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
Planktonic
foraminifera
Marine
Planktonic
foraminifera
Terrestrial Pollen
Terrestrial Pollen
Terrestrial Pollen
Pollen
Pollen
Planktonic
foraminifera
Pollen
Pollen
Pollen
Pollen
Ding et al. (2002)
Spooner et al. (2005)
14
Hope (2009)
Stuijts et al. (1988)
van der Kaars & Dam
(1997)
van der Kaars et al. (2010)
Ding et al. (2002)
C (1)
C (1)
14
C (1)
14
14
C (2)
C (1)
M
14
14
C (1)
C (2)
14
C (5)
14
C (4)
14
14
Anshari et al. (2001)

Newsome & Flenley (1988)
Maloney (1980)
Maloney & McCormac
(1996)
Barmawidjaja et al. (1993)
Barmawidjaja et al. (1993)
Wst & Bustin (2004)
Ohkouchi et al. (1994)
Partin et al. (2007)
C (1)
C (1)
M
M
M
Wang et al. (2009)

Wang et al. (2009)
Pelejero et al. (1999)
Chen et al. (2003)
M
M

Chen & Huang (1998)
Chen et al. (1999)
Chen et al. (2002)
M
C (2)
14
C (2)
14
C (2)
14
C (3)
M

Sun et al. (2000)
Zheng & Lei (1999)
Wang et al. (2010)
Liew et al. (2006)
Li et al. (2001)
14
C (2)
U/Th (3)
U/Th (3)
U/Th (2)
14
C (1)
14
C (2)
14
C (3)
Xu et al. (2010)
Cosford et al. (2010)
Wang et al. (2001)
Zhou et al. (2008)
Sun et al. (1997)
Wang & Sun (1994)
Chung et al. (2006)
Terrestrial Pollen
Terrestrial Pollen
14
Terrestrial
Marine
Marine
Marine
Marine
Marine
14
Hayashi et al. (2010)

Takahara & Takeoka
(1992)
Yasuda (1982)
MARGO (2009)
Ishiwatari et al. (2001)
Ishiwatari et al. (2001)
Bard et al. (1997)
Ahmad et al. (2008)
Pollen
Pollen
Alkenone
Alkenone
Planktonic
foraminifera
Alkenone
Planktonic
foraminifera
Planktonic
foraminifera
Planktonic
foraminifera
Alkenone
Pollen
Pollen
Pollen
Pollen
Planktonic
foraminifera
Pollen
18O
18O
18O
Pollen
Pollen
Pollen
Pollen
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
18O
14
14
C (2)
C (1)
14
C (2)
M
M
M
M
14
C (1)
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223
Table 1. Continued
Site Site name
no.
Lat () Long () Elevation

(m a.s.l.)
48
Horton plains
6.81
80.83
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
MD77-191
MD77-169
MD77-194
TY93905/P
Nilgiri hills
MD77-195
RC12-344
Moomi cave,
TY93929/P
MD77-176
MD76-135
GeoB3005-1
MD76-131
MD76-131(C)
7.30
10.13
10.28
10.70
11.25
11.30
12.46
12.50
13.70
14.31
14.44
14.97
15.32
15.53
76.43
95.03
75.14
51.93
76.67
74.32
96.04
54.00
53.25
93.08
50.52
54.37
72.34
72.57
1254
2360
1222
1500
2200
1200
2140
1000
2490
1375
1895
2316
1230
1230
63
64
65
GeoB3007-1
MD77-181
117723_Site
16.17
17.24
18.05
59.76
90.29
57.61
1920
2271
816
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
MD77-180
MD77-202
SO93-126KL
MD77-203
SO90-137KA
SO90-93KL
Bharatpur Bird
Sanctuary wetland
Phulara palaeolake
Kathmandu basin
Shudu lake,
Ren Co
Tham Rod
archaeological site
18.28
19.13
19.97
20.42
23.12
23.59
27.12
89.51
60.41
90.03
59.34
66.48
64.22
77.52
1986
2427
1250
2442
573
1802
174
29.33
27.67
27.90
30.73
19.57
80.13
85.22
99.95
96.68
98.89
15001700
1303
3630
4450
6001170
73
74
75
76
77
Archive
Proxy
Age
References
assignment
14
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
13C
Alkenone
18O
18O
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Planktonic
foraminifera
Marine
Alkenone
Marine
Alkenone
Marine
Planktonic
foraminifera
Marine
Alkenone
Marine
Alkenone
Marine
Alkenone
Marine
Alkenone
Marine
18O
Marine
Alkenone
Terrestrial Pollen
M
M
M
M
14
C (1)
M
14
C (3)
U/Th (8)
M
M
M
M
M
M
Premathilake (2006)
Premathilake & Risberg
(2003)
Sonzogni et al. (1998)
Rajagopalan et al. (1997)
Rashid et al. (2007)
Shakun et al. (2007)
Budziak et al. (2000)
Cayre et al. (1999)
M
M
M
Budziak et al. (2000)

Godad et al. (2011)
M
M
M
M
14
C (4)
M
14
C (1)
Terrestrial
Terrestrial
Terrestrial
Terrestrial
Terrestrial
14

von Rad et al. (1999)
MARGO (2009)
Sharma & Chatterjee
(2007)
Kotlia et al. (2010)
Fujii & Sakai (2002)
Cook et al. (2011)
Tang et al. (1999, 2000)
Wattanapituksakul (2006)
21002300 Terrestrial Pollen
Marine
Marine
Marine
Marine
Terrestrial
Marine
Marine
Terrestrial
Marine
Marine
Marine
Marine
Marine
Marine
on carbonate bulk sediment were excluded; (iii)

MARGO09 was temporally limited to the LGM
chronozone level 2 (2418 ka BP) (Mix et al. 2001)
because the data set contains only few age estimates
for the time interval 2319 ka BP; (iv) all published 14C ages were recalibrated with the Calib
6.0 online program (http://calib.qub.ac.uk/calib/calib.
html) (Reimer et al. 2009). Age-depth curves were constructed for palaeo-records with more than one age
control point. These were then used to assess the temporal variability of the Asian monsoon between 25 and
17 ka BP. Palaeo-records containing one age estimate
were only used as supporting information for the
spatial analysis.
Where possible raw data was obtained from
NOAAs National Climatic Data Center (http://
www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/paleo.html), PANGAEA
(http://www.pangaea.de), and the respective authors.
Where raw data were not available, information was
digitized from published sources.
Pollen
Pollen
Pollen
Pollen
Fauna remains
C (2)
C (2)
C (3)
14
C (4)
14
C (3)
TL (1)
14
Palaeo-proxy assessment
The MARGO09 data set could directly be compared to
the CCSM3 output, whereas other palaeo-proxies had
to be assessed in terms of qualitative precipitation and
effective moisture (precipitation minus evaporation,
P-E), i.e. wet or dry climatic conditions. Qualitative
precipitation and P-E were categorized for each type of
terrestrial proxy and were then compared to quantitative model output from CCSM3 (Fig. 2). Variations of
LGM summer monsoon intensity were identified by
changes in qualitative precipitation and P-E, and were
interpolated to millennium-scale resolution for the
individual study sites.
Terrestrial proxies. For pollen assemblages from terrestrial archives (24 sites) and marine sequences (five
sites) (Fig. 1), we assigned each pollen taxon with >5%
abundance to plant functional types (PFTs) that had
been established for China (Yu et al. 2000a), Japan
224
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Fig. 1. Location of the compiled palaeo-data sets and MARGO (2009) sea surface temperature sites used in this study. The Asian monsoon
region is separated into three subregions: the Indian Ocean Monsoon, the East Asian Monsoon, and the Sundaland and Sahulland Shelves.
The LGM palaeo-shoreline (thick black contour line) and land topography (green, yellow, and red contour lines) are based on the TerrainBase
5-min global bathymetry/topography data set (National Geophysical Data Center 1995). See Table 1 for details on the sites.
Fig. 2. Flow chart illustrating the different

steps of the compilation, evaluation of
proxies, and comparisons to the Climate
Community System Model v. 3. E =
evaporation; LGM = Last Glacial
Maximum; P = precipitation; PFTs =
plant functional types; SST = sea surface
temperature.
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(Takahara et al. 2000), and South-East Asia (Pickett

et al. 2004) by the Global Paleovegetation Mapping (BIOME6000) project (Prentice & Webb 1998)
(Table 2, Fig. 2). For the IOM domain, we used the
PFTs established by Kramer et al. (2010) because the
BIOME6000 project for the Indian continent is still
in progress. The PFTs established by BIOME6000 and
by Kramer et al. (2010) are based on a relationship
between pollen taxa and modern climatic variables,
i.e. mean temperature of the coldest month, growing
degree days, and moisture index of each pollen taxa, as
well as elevation, rainfall, and fractional sunshine hour
(Prentice et al. 1996). The PFTs were then assigned to
biomes (Table 2, Fig. 2) based on the assumption that
all existing plant taxa share the same climatic conditions and that outlying taxa may have been longtransported from a different climatic region (Prentice
et al. 1996). However, in a few cases, when pollen
assemblages could not be assigned to only one biome,
they were categorized as mixed biome (Table 2). The
biomes were approximated to qualitative precipitation
and P-E, based on the relationship between biomes and
mean annual precipitation and temperature, as suggested by Mader (2010). Inferred P-E was grouped into
three categories, representing low (1), medium (2), and
high (3) (Table 3). The climatic conditions assessed
from land-based archives were then compared to the
CCSM3 model output (Fig. 2). Pollen assemblages
from marine sequences represent runoff from the hinterland and, as such, a mix of pollen sources. These
were therefore not used for comparisons with the
CCSM3 simulation.
As the reconstructed biomes may not show large
temporal differences, we chose to employ the increase/
decrease of non-arboreal pollen taxa (e.g. Artemisia,
Compositae, Rosaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Poaceae)
or other major ecological group variations (e.g.
Pteridophyta spores) as tentative indicators for variations in grassland expansion or runoff, respectively,
and/or precipitation/P-E and, as such, shifts in summer
monsoon strength over time.
For speleothem 18O values we assumed that
speleothems grow in a closed system (T 0C) and
that variations in 18O mirror the amount of precipitation over the site (Wang et al. 2001; Yuan et al. 2004).
18O values for each speleothem archive (five sites) were
averaged between 23 and 19 ka BP to represent mean
LGM values for each site and to allow for a generalized
comparison between individual sites (Table 4). This
generalized approach minimizes local factors that can
influence the 18O composition of the speleothems and
high-frequency oscillations, and facilitates intersite
comparisons and relative precipitation estimates.
Qualitative precipitation derived from speleothem 18O
was categorized based on significant differences in
LGM mean 18O values (Table 4). Low mean 18O
values in respect to the LGM mean signify high pre-
225
cipitation (3) and high mean 18O values low precipitation (1) (Table 3). For investigation of summer
monsoon variability over time, we averaged 18O values
for each speleothem using a five-point running mean
between 25 and 17 ka BP. Average values for each site
were then compared to the LGM mean 18O value for
individual speleothem sites to assess shifts in relatively
wet or dry climatic conditions.
Climatic conditions derived from other terrestrial proxies, i.e. 13C of bulk sediment, hardwood and
faunal remains, and archaeological evidence, were used
as supporting information and follow the interpretations of the respective authors.
Marine proxies. For planktonic foraminifera (Globigerinoides ruber) 18O values we assumed that sealevel was stable (Clark & Mix 2002; Clark et al. 2009)
and that major salinity changes did not occur during
the LGM (Schulz et al. 1998; Clark & Mix 2002)
(Fig. 2).
The SST difference between the LGM and the
present-day was calculated using the MARGO09
alkenone and the World Ocean Atlas (WOA) 1998
(Conkright et al. 1998) data sets (Table 5). This difference was then used to calculate the LGM P-E for
selected marine 18O records (four sites) (Table 6)
(Tiwari et al. 2006) at locations, which were not significantly affected by the LGM sea-level lowstand. Calculation of P-E was based on the assumption of a 0.25
increase in 18O with a SST decrease of 1C (Erez & Luz
1983). Moreover, we assume a constantly averaged
global ocean effect of 1.1 higher than present during
the LGM sea-level lowstand (Adkins et al. 2002;
Ravelo & Hillaire-Marcel 2007). P-E calculated for
four sites and based on the LGM 18O mean values of
planktonic foraminifera (G. ruber; Table 6) is used as
an approximation of mean LGM precipitation and
allows for an easier qualitative comparison between
marine sites. We assigned the calculated P-Es to two
qualitative categories: high P-E and high precipitation
(3); low P-E and low precipitation (1) (Table 3) using
the same procedure as for the mean 18O speleothem
values.
Climate model output data

The Community Climate System Model version 3
The climate model output used here is from the
CCSM3, which is a global, coupled ocean-atmospheresea ice-land surface climate model (Collins et al. 2006;
Brandefelt & Otto-Bliesner 2009). The model has been
successfully employed to simulate extreme climatic
states in the past (e.g. Kjellstrm et al. 2009; Brandefelt
et al. 2011). The LGM simulation that was analysed
here has been described in detail by Otto-Bliesner et al.
(2006a) and Brandefelt & Otto-Bliesner (2009).
226
BOREAS
Table 2. Assignment of LGM pollen assemblages to biomes using plant functional types (PFTs). See text for further explanations.
Site
no.
Major pollen component during the LGM

(>5% in the pollen diagram)
Biome
References
References for biome

identification
Nothofagus, Poaceae
Tropical deciduous
broadleaf forest and
woodland
Hope (2009)
Pickett et al. (2004)
Dacrycarpus imbricatus, Altingia, Castanopsis comp.,

Quercus
Warm-temperate rain forest
Stuijts et al. (1988)
Low-montane forest II: Dacrycarpus, Distylium,

Dodonaea, Engelhardia, Podocarpus
Low-montane forest I: Altingia,
Castanopsis/Lithocarpus, Eugenia, Quercus
Submontane forest: Celtis,Helicia,
Moraceae/Urticacae, Palmae, Trema
Tropical deciduous
woodland
van der Kaars &

Dam (1997)
Dipterocarpaceae, Eucalyptus type (Myrtaceae),

Leguminosae (Fabaceae), Macaranga type
(Euphorbiaceae), Rutaceae, Sapotaceae/Meliaceae,
Lithocarpus (Fagaceae), Quercus (Fagaceae),
Dacrycarpus, Distylium (Hamamelidaceae), Engelhardia
(Juglandaceae), Podocarpus (Podocarpaceae),
Cyperaceae, Poaceae
van der Kaars et al.

(2010)
Macaranga/Mollotus, Oleaceae, Lithocarpus,

Podocarpus, Cyperaceae, Poaceae, Eucalyptus
Tropical deciduous
woodland
van der Kaars et al.

(2000)
Gluta renghas (Anacardiaceae), Calophyllum

(Guttiferae), Gymnosperm sumatrana (Casuarinaceae),
Palaquium Type I (4 colporate grain/Sapotaceae),
Planchonella Type (Sapotaceae), Longetia
(Euphorbiaceae), Sterculiaceae, Symplocos comp.
(Symplocaceae), Quercus (Fagaceae),
Macaranga/Mallotus (Euphorbiaceae)
Tropical deciduous
woodland
Anshari et al. (2001)
10
Dacrycarpus, Dacrydium, Lithocarpus/Castanopsis,

Quercus comp., Symingtonia, Hamamelidaceae,
Elaeocarpus comp., Iltex comp., Medinilla comp.,
Myrsine comp., Myrtaceae, Vaccinium comp.,
Cyperaceae, Poaceae, Eriocaulon, Tricolporate psilate,
Fillices, Lycopodium
Newsome & Flenley

(1988)
11
Dacrycarpus, Dacrydium, Engelhardia comp., Eugenia

comp., Lithocarpus/Cartanopsis comp., Quercus comp.,
Symingtonia comp., Ericaceae
Wet sclerophyll forest,

change to tropical broadleaf
forest and woodland
Maloney (1980)
12
Dacrydium, Cartanopsis comp., Quercus, Eugenia,

Engelhardia, Symingtonia populnea, Vaccinium comp.,
Myrsine, Cyatheaceae
Maloney &
McCormac (1996)
14
Podocarpus, Dacrycarpus, Lithocarpus/Castanopsis
Barmawidjaja et al.
(1993)
18
Quercus, Euphorbiaceae, Palmae, Cyperaceae
Tropical deciduous
woodland
Wang et al. (2009)
19
Quercus, Palmae, Oleaceae, Rubiaceae, Rutaceae,

Cyperaceae, Poaceae
Tropical deciduous
broadleaf forest, woodland,
and steppe
Wang et al. (2009)
28
Pinus, Artemisia
Mix of steppe and montane

rain forest/montane conifers
Sun et al. (2000)
Yu et al. (2000a)
29
Quercus (evergreen), Casta nopsis, Papilionaceae,

Urticaceae, Taxodiaceae, Cyperaceae, Poaceae,
Artemisia
Mix of steppe and warm

mixed forest
Zheng & Lei (1999)
Yu et al. (2000a)
30
Castanopsis-Lithocarpus, Pinus, Quercus (evergreen),

Quercus (deciduous), Poaceae, Artemisia, Cyperaceae,
Mix of steppe and warm

mixed forest
Wang et al. (2010)
Yu et al. (2000a)
31
Pinus, Ilex, Alnus, Quercus, Cyclobalanopsis,

Castanopsis, Symplocos, Ulmus, Ligustrum, Salix,
Artemisia, Cyperaceae, Poaceae
Broadleaf evergreen/warm
mixed forest
Liew et al. (2006)
Yu et al. (2000a)
33
Tsuga, Pinus, Quercus (evergreen), Betulaceae, Quercus

(deciduous), Poaceae, Cyperaceae, Chenopodiaceae,
Compositae, Artemisia
Dominated by steppe and

warm mixed forest
Xu et al. (2010)
Yu et al. (2000a)
37
Artemisia, Compositae
Steppe
Wang & Sun (1994)
Yu et al. (2000a)
BOREAS
227
Table 2. Continued
Site
no.
Major pollen component during the LGM

(>5% in the pollen diagram)
Biome
References
References for biome

identification
38
Abies, Tsuga, Picea, Pinus subgeneous Haplaxylon,

Pinus undifference, Cupressaceae, Salix, Carpinus,
Betula, Quercus subgenus Lepidobalanus, Alnus,
Poaceae, Artemisia
Cool mixed forest
Hayashi et al. (2010)
Takahara et al.
(2000)
39
Cruciferae, Poaceae, Cyperaceae, Leguminoceae,

Liliaceae
Steppe
Sun et al. (1997)
Yu et al. (2000a)
40
Piceae, Salix, Betula, Quercus (Lepidobalanus),

Artemisia, Compositae, Poaceae
Mix of cool mixed forest

and steppe
Chung et al. (2006)
Yu et al. (2000a)
41
Abies, Tsuga, Cryptomeria, Betula, Ulmus, Alnus,

Poaceae, Cyperaceae, Lysichiton, Copositae
Mix of cool mixed forest

and steppe
Takahara & Takeoka

(1992)
Takahara et al.
(2000)
42
Picea, Abies, Tsuga, Pinus (Haploxylon), Ulmus,

Quercus (Lepidobalanus), Salix, Betula, Corylus, Alnus,
Cyperaceae, Poaceae, Lysichiton, Umbelliferae,
Artemisia, Compositae
Cool mixed forest
Yasuda (1982)
Takahara et al.
(2000)
48
Chenopodiaceae
Steppe
Premathilake (2006)
73
Pinus, Tsuga, Quercus (deciduous), Quercus

(evergreen), Castanopsis, Alnus, Carpinus, Betula,
Poaceae, Artemisia, Chenopodiaceae
Cool mixed forest
Fujii & Sakai (2002)
Kramer et al. (2010)
74
Abies, Picea, Cupressaceae, Quercus (deciduous),

Quercus (evergreen), Betula, Poaceae, Cyperaceae,
Asteraceae, Artemisia, Rosaceae
Mix of steppe and cool

mixed forest
Cook et al. (2011)
75
Pinus, Cedrus, Picea, Abies, Larix, Quercus, Ulmus,

Loniceae, Urticaceae, Poaceae, Cyperaceae,
Caryophyllaceae, Tubuliflorae, Linguiliflorae,
Artemisia, Polygonum, Primulaceae
Mix of steppe and cool

mixed forest
Kotlia et al. (2010)
76
Chenopodiaceae, Artemisia
Steppe
Tang et al. (1999,

2000)
The atmospheric component model of CCSM3 is the

NCAR (National Centre for Atmospheric Research)
Community Atmospheric Model version 3 (CAM3)
with a horizontal resolution of approximately 2.82.8.
The land model has the same grid resolution as the

atmospheric model and includes a river routing scheme.
The ocean and sea ice models have a grid resolution of
approximately 11.
Table 3. Assignment of qualitative precipitation minus evaporation (effective moisture; P-E) for biome and planktonic foraminifera, and
precipitation for speleothem mean 18O values. Biomes were roughly approximated to P-E by comparison to a relationship between biome and
mean annual temperature and precipitation suggested by Mader (2010). Mean 18O values obtained from planktonic foraminifera (Globigerina
ruber) were converted to P-E, whereas those of speleothem were directly used to represent LGM qualitative precipitation. These assignments
were used to attribute qualitative P-E to the biomes in Fig. 4B, i.e. 1 = dry; 2 = medium; 3 = wet. The grey box represents medium precipitation, which was not considered in the qualitative precipitation assessments for the speleothem mean 18O values and planktonic foraminifera
P-E assessments in order to avoid any overestimation.
Palaeo-proxy
assessment
3
2
1
Effective moisture
Qualitative precipitation
speleothem 18O values
Biome
P-E
Warm-temperate rain forest, tropical deciduous broadleaf forest and woodland,

wet sclerophyll forest, and broadleaf evergreen/warm forest
Mix of steppe and warm mixed forest
Cool mixed forest, mix of steppe and cool mixed forest and steppe
<1.4
<7.70
>0.3
>0.58
Table 4. LGM mean 18O values for selected speleothems.

Site #
Site name
Time interval (ka BP)
LGM mean 18O () value
References
17
34
35
36
56
Gunung Buda National Park

Jintanwan Cave
Hulu cave
Songjia cave
Moomi cave
24.317.8
24.117.7
24.218.8
19.817.5
24.217.3
7.700.05
6.200.22
6.290.33
9.260.14
0.580.17
Partin et al. (2007)

Cosford et al. (2010)
Wang et al. (2001)
Zhou et al. (2008)
Shakun et al. (2007)
Site #
1
2
8
13
16
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
32
43
44
45
46
52
57
59
60
63
65
67
69
71
49
51
54
61
62
50
58
64
66
68
West Arabian Sea
East Arabian Sea
Bay of Bengal
Subregion
Sunda and
Sahul
Shelves
East Asian
Monsoon
Indian Ocean
Monsoon
Indian Ocean
Monsoon
MD77-169
MD77-176
MD77-181
MD77-180
SO93-126KL
MD77-191
MD77-194
MD77-195
MD76-131
MD76-131(C)
MD85-674
TY93905/P
TY93929/P
MD76-135
GeoB3005-1
GeoB3007-1
117723_Site
MD77-202
MD77-203
SO90-93KL
MD97-2142
GIK17954-2
31-KL
GIK17938-2
MD97-2148
GIK17940-2
DGKS9603
CH84-04
KH-79-3_L3
KT94-15_PC-9
SHI9034
SHI9016
SHI9006
K-12
KH92-1-5cBX
GIK17964-2
GIK17961-2
Site name
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Planktonic foraminifera
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Alkenone
Proxies
25.880.23
25.500.27
25.670.28
25.710.26
25.540.27
26.060.20
25.990.18
25.810.19
25.100.23
25.000.23
24.480.19
22.820.24
22.580.26
21.470.28
22.120.25
22.770.26
21.940.30
22.620.29
22.160.30
22.150.33
26.240.16
24.420.19
24.740.19
24.750.18
24.750.18
24.560.19
22.100.24
16.190.45
4.530.44
NA
26.120.27
26.980.18
27.030.15
26.900.19
26.790.16
25.420.18
25.270.18
SSTCCSM3
(C)
25.901.50
26.901.50
26.101.50
26.301.50
26.401.50
25.801.50
25.701.50
25.801.50
25.201.50
28.510.85
25.601.50
26.001.50
24.401.50
24.601.50
24.701.50
25.101.50
25.870.85
23.001.50
22.501.50
23.601.50
26.811.26
22.401.50
24.711.26
25.181.26
25.311.26
22.401.50
25.381.26
14.701.50
17.501.50
17.801.50
25.600.85
27.720.85
27.981.26
26.560.85
27.601.50
24.801.50
25.001.50
SSTMARGO09
(C)
28.34
28.27
27.97
28.06
27.82
28.22
28.35
28.45
28.25
28.25
27.12
26.03
26.40
26.61
26.37
26.73
25.95
26.39
25.75
26.58
28.49
27.32
26.68
26.54
26.53
26.38
23.94
18.50
16.86
14.15
27.78
28.26
28.74
28.45
29.18
28.36
28.30
SSTWOA98
(C)
1.68
4.92
1.97
1.36
1.22
3.98
1.44
3.80
0.64
3.65
1.52
0.03
2.00
2.01
1.67
1.63
0.08
3.39
3.25
2.98
2.42
2.65
2.65
3.05
0.26
2.44
1.37
1.87
1.76
1.42
2.25
2.90
1.94
1.79
1.78
1.82
1.84
2.31
12.33
NA
2.64
3.21
3.82
5.14
4.25
3.96
4.01
3.77
3.59
4.43
2.16
2.36
2.64
3.15
3.25
2.46
2.77
2.30
2.35
2.28
1.12
3.18
1.82
3.13
2.58
2.33
3.93
0.38
0.34
1.45
0.26
0.29
0.01
0.10
3.51
0.02
1.40
0.43
0.59
0.86
0.57
2.02
0.03
0.43
0.56
2.16
3.28
1.49
12.97
NA
2.17
0.54
0.76
1.89
1.58
3.56
3.30
1.66
1.28
1.71
1.55
2.39
2.94
3.03
0.51
0.74
0.95
0.34
0.81
0.62
0.27
SSTMARGO09-WOA98
(C)
SSTCCSM3-WOA98
(C)
SSTMARGO09-CCSM3
(C)
Table 5. Annual mean sea surface temperatures (SSTs) simulated by CCSM3 and reconstructed by MARGO (2009). These are compared to the World Ocean Atlas data set (WOA97) (Conkright
et al. 1998). See Fig. 1 for the location of the sites, and Fig. 5 for datamodel comparisons.
228
BOREAS
BOREAS
229
Table 6. LGM mean P-E derived from planktonic foraminifera (G. ruber) 18O (Tiwari et al. 2006).
Site #
Site name
LGM mean 18O ()

values (PDB standard)
SSTLGM-Present1 (C)
P-E2
References
6
47
55
70
BAR94-42
SK-157-14
RC12-344
SO90-137KA
1.00
0.960.43
1.190.17
0.090.09
2.17
2.42
2.44
2.98
1.56
1.46
1.67
0.27

Ahmad et al. (2008)
Rashid et al. (2007)
von Rad et al. (1999)
Difference between reconstructed LGM SSTs inferred from alkenones (MARGO 2009) and present-day SSTs from the World Ocean Atlas
data set (Conkright et al. 1998) from sites in the vicinity.
2
P-E is based on the assumption that 18O increases by 0.25 with a SST decrease of 1C (Erez & Luz 1983) and a constantly averaged
global ocean effect of 1.1 higher than present during the sea-level lowstand of the LGM (Adkins et al. 2002; Ravelo & Hillaire-Marcel
2007).
For the LGM boundary conditions, insolation was

set to be constant at 1365 W m2 and the concentration
of greenhouse gases followed those reported from icecores (Otto-Bliesner et al. 2006a). The tropical incoming insolation during the LGM was lower (4 W m2)
than during the pre-industrial period (AD 1800)
between July and November (Otto-Bliesner et al.
2006a). The CCSM3 output suggests that radiative forcing decreased by 2.76 W m2, of which
2.20 W m2 can be attributed to a lower CO2 concentration. The LGM CCSM3 continental ice sheet,
topography, coastline (120 m), and bathymetry are
based on the LGM ICE-5G reconstruction of Peltier
(2004).
For the LGM simulation, CCSM3 was started from
pre-industrial boundary conditions. The model run
reached a quasi-steady state after 800 model years, but
was continued for another 1000 years (Brandefelt &
Otto-Bliesner 2009). Model output from the last 300
model years is considered here to represent the annual
average simulated climate for the LGM (c. 21 ka BP).
CCSM3 output was interpolated to 55 using the
Climate Data Operation program in order to compare
with MARGO09. Mean annual evaporation was calculated based on the direct proportion between surface
latent heat flux and evaporation amount. CCSM3
simulated precipitation, P-E, and SSTs were used for
comparisons with the qualitative precipitation and P-E
estimates derived from the palaeo-data compilation,
and the quantitative SSTs of MARGO09 (Fig. 2). The
differences in air temperature, SST, and precipitation
rate between the LGM and the recent past (RP) climate
(years 19602000; Otto-Bliesner et al. 2006b) are discussed below.
CCSM3 LGM simulation
CCSM3 simulates warmer mean annual air temperatures (2124C) from the equator to latitude 20N
during the LGM, compared with the surrounding
regions (Fig. 3A). Mean annual air temperatures are
slightly lower over the exposed Sundaland and
Sahulland than over surrounding areas and there is a

distinct decrease in air temperatures on the Arabian
Peninsula, near the Himalayan Mountains and over the
Tibetan Plateau. In contrast, temperatures only gradually decrease northward in the western Pacific Ocean.
LGM mean annual air temperatures are distinctly
cooler than in the RP in the entire Asian Monsoon
region (Fig. 3B). A maximum air temperature difference between LGM and RP of 5C is seen over the
exposed Sundaland and Sahulland, in the western
Arabian Sea region, over the Himalayan Mountains,
and along the east coast of China. The LGM and RP
annual mean air temperature difference is, however,
lower (3C) in the Bay of Bengal and in the East
China Sea.
Simulated LGM SSTs generally decrease from the
equator northwards (Fig. 3C), but are higher in the Bay
of Bengal as compared to the western Arabian Sea.
Cooling between LGM and RP SST values is highest in
the western Arabian Sea and in the NW Pacific, with
only minor differences in the Bay of Bengal, in the East
China Sea, and in the Indonesian Gateways (Fig. 3D).
CCSM3 simulates high LGM mean annual precipitation of >2500 mm a1 between 5 and 10S over the
Indian and Pacific Oceans (Fig. 3E). The western
Arabian Sea region and NW India are very dry and
mean annual precipitation amounts to <500 mm a1. In
continental regions, mean annual precipitation
decreases to 1000 mm a1 between 10 and 20N and to
<500 mm a1 north of 20N. Exceptions are the Bay of
Bengal, the Malaysian Peninsula, and the South China
Sea, where mean annual precipitation of 1500
2000 mm a1 are simulated (Fig. 3E). The difference
between LGM and RP mean annual precipitation suggests a significantly lower LGM mean annual precipitation in the Indonesian archipelago and in the western
Arabian Sea (Fig. 3F). In contrast, LGM precipitation
in the Bay of Bengal, including the west coast of the
Indochina Peninsula and the East China Sea, is higher
than during the RP.
The distribution of P-E calculated from CCSM3
output data generally resembles that of mean annual
230
BOREAS
Fig. 3. CCSM3 simulated climate parameters for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) compared to the Recent Past (RP). The land-sea
topography is based on the LGM shoreline in the TerrainBase 5-min global bathymetry/topography data set (National Geophysical Data
Center 1995). A. LGM mean annual air temperature (C). B. Difference between LGM and RP mean annual temperatures (C). C. LGM mean
annual sea surface temperatures (SSTs; C). D. Difference between LGM and RP SSTs (C). E. LGM mean annual precipitation (mm a1). F.
Difference between mean LGM and RP precipitation (mm a1). G. LGM mean annual effective moisture (P-E).
BOREAS
precipitation simulated by CCSM3. P-E shows dry conditions along the west coast of the Arabian Sea and wet
conditions near the equator (Fig. 3G). There are distinct differences in continental regions, where CCSM3
simulates low precipitation, but medium to high P-E.
This indicates very low evaporation over these areas
during the LGM.
To compare quantitative model output to qualitative
precipitation reconstructed from palaeo-data, we
assumed here that precipitation amounts of <1000,
10002000, and >2000 mm a1 correspond to low, medium, and high precipitation, respectively. Furthermore,
simulated P-E of <0, 0 to 800, and >1200 mm a1 were
assumed to correspond to low, medium, and high P-E,
respectively, as estimated from the proxy data.
Palaeo-dataclimate model
output comparison
Indian Ocean monsoon subregion
18O values measured on speleothems from the western
Arabian Sea (#56, Shakun et al. 2007) (Table 4) have
been interpreted as representing arid LGM conditions.
In addition, the low P-E calculated for marine site #70
(von Rad et al. 1999) from the continental margin off the
Indus Delta suggests low precipitation (Table 3). Arid
LGM conditions agree well with CCSM3 simulations of
low precipitation (<500 mm a1) (Fig. 4A) and low P-E
(<400 mm a1) (Fig. 4B) over the western part of the
IOM domain. High P-E reconstructed off southern
India (#47, Ahmad et al. 2008) and in the Bay of Bengal
(#55, Rashid et al. 2007) is of a similar value as P-E at
site #6 (van der Kaars et al. 2010) in Sundaland, where
substantial LGM precipitation has been inferred from
multiproxy analyses (Table 6). The CCSM3 simulation
also compares well to the palaeo-data assessment here
and suggests high P-E (1000>1200 mm a1) over the
southern and eastern IOM domain (Fig. 4B).
Datamodel discrepancies are visible for Sri Lanka,
southern India, northwestern Thailand, and the northern part of the IOM subregion (Fig. 4A, B). Chenopodiaceae are the only pollen taxa present in LGM
sediments from Sri Lanka (#48, Premathilake &
Risberg 2003; Premathilake 2006) and were originally
interpreted as representing a dry (xerophytic) forest
(Premathilake 2006). Here, we assigned these assemblages to a steppe biome because the majority of
Chenopodiaceae pollen are drought-tolerant species
(Kotlia et al. 2010; Kramer et al. 2010) (Table 2), and
infer dry LGM conditions (Table 3). The dominance of
dry-tolerant C4 plants in sediments from the Nilgiri
Hills (#53, Rajagopalan et al. 1997) provides additional support for a dry LGM climate. In contrast
to the palaeo-proxy assessment of dry conditions,
CCSM3 simulates intermediate P-E (0200 mm a1)
(Fig. 4B) and precipitation (1500 mm a1).
231
Dry conditions can also be assessed from terrestrial

sites in the northern part of the IOM subregion
(Fig. 4B), i.e. a distinct barren pollen zone in LGM
sediments from northern India (#72, Sharma &
Chatterjee 2007), reconstruction of steppe and cool
mixed forest biomes for LGM sequences in Nepal (#74,
Fujii & Sakai 2002; Hayashi et al. 2009; #73, Kotlia
et al. 2010) and western China (#75, Cook et al. 2011),
and inferred steppe biomes on the Tibetan Plateau
(#76, Tang et al. 1999, 2000) (Tables 2, 3). CCSM3
simulates low precipitation for these areas (Fig. 4A),
but medium P-E (0600 mm a1) over Sri Lanka and
south of India, and for the northern IOM subregion
(Fig. 4B). Medium simulated P-E over the northern
IOM subregion may be explained by very low evaporation owing to low surface temperatures near the
Himalayan Mountains.
The palaeo-data and model comparison shows
also less correspondence over western Thailand
(#77, Wattanapituksakul 2006). Here faunal remains
and 18O values measured on molluscs in LGM
sediments, were interpreted as indicating climatic
conditions similar to today (Shoocongdej 2000,
2006; Wattanapituksakul 2006; Marwick & Gagan
2011), i.e. a precipitation of around 2000 mm a1
(Trikanchanawattana 2005). However, CCSM3 simulates low LGM precipitation (<500 mm a1; Fig. 4A).
Sundaland and Sahulland subregion
Pollen assemblages from western (#12, Maloney 1980;
#10, Newsome & Flenley 1988; #11, Maloney &
McCormac 1996), southern (#4, Stuijts et al. 1988; #5,
van der Kaars & Dam 1997; #6, van der Kaars et al.
2010), and central (#9, Anshari et al. 2001) Sundaland,
from the northern Molucca Sea region (#14,
Barmawidjaja et al. 1993), the Banda Sea (#7, van der
Kaars et al. 2000), and the eastern part of the SSS
subregion (#3, Hope 2009) (Fig. 4) all suggest the existence of warm temperate rain forest and tropical deciduous broadleaf forest and woodland biomes on exposed
land areas (Table 2). Similarly, macrofossil finds of
Dipterocarpaceae (#15, Wst & Bustin 2004) are indicators for warm-temperate rain forests (Pickett et al.
2004). Pollen records collected near the North
Sundaland palaeo-river mouth (#1819, Wang et al.
2009) also mirror tropical broadleaf forest and
woodland biomes in the hinterland (Table 2). Taken
together, these biomes point to wet climatic conditions
in large parts of the SSS subregion. This is supported
by low LGM mean 18O value of cave speleothem from
Borneo (#17, Partin et al. 2007) (Table 4).
Consistent with these palaeo-reconstructions, wet
conditions are also shown by CCSM3 simulations
of high precipitation (>2500 mm a1; Fig. 4A) and
high P-E (>800 mm a1) over the SSS domain
(Fig. 4B).
232
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Fig. 4. Palaeo-dataCCSM3 comparison for the LGM. Quantitative precipitation and P-E (mm a1) modelled by CCSM3 is compared to
qualitative precipitation (A) and P-E (B) inferred from the palaeo-data compilation. The land-sea topography is based on the LGM shoreline
in the TerrainBase 5-min global bathymetry/topography data set (National Geophysical Data Center 1995). For easier comparisons between
palaeo-data and model results, the simulated quantitative precipitation and P-E were categorized as low (<1000 mm a1), medium (1000
2000 mm a1), and high (>2000 mm a1), and low (<0 mm a1), medium (0800 mm a1), and high (>800 mm a1), respectively. See Table 3 for
details on the qualitative assessment of the palaeo-proxies.
East Asian monsoon subregion

Warm mixed forest and steppe biomes are reconstructed for sites in southern China (#29, Zheng & Lei
1999; #30, Wang et al. 2010) (Table 2). These biomes
compare well to those inferred from pollen in marine
sediments from the South China Sea (#28, Sun et al.

2000), which suggest mixed steppe, montane rain
forest, or montane conifer forest biomes on the adjacent continent (Table 2). The biome assessment indicates intermediate P-E, which compares well to
CCSM3 simulations of medium P-E (0200 mm a1)
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over the inland of southern China (Fig. 4B). Moreover,

the low simulated P-E (0 to 200 mm a1) over Korea
and Japan corresponds well to a mix of steppe and cool
mixed forest biomes (#42, Yasuda 1982; #41,
Takahara & Takeoka 1992; #39, Chung et al. 2006;
#40, Hayashi et al. 2010), which imply arid climatic
conditions during the LGM (Fig. 4B).
Reconstructed P-E based on biomes and simulated
by CCSM3 show marked discrepancies along coastal
areas and in central China. A palaeovegetation record
from Taiwan (#31, Liew et al. 2006), which is interpreted as representing a broadleaf evergreen/warm
mixed forest biome (Table 2), for example points to
higher LGM P-E as compared to sites from the South
China mainland (#29, Zheng & Lei 1999; #30, Wang
et al. 2010). In contrast, CCSM3 simulates low P-E
over this area (Fig. 4B). Pollen stratigraphies obtained
from the Chinese loess plateau (#38, Wang & Sun 1994;
#37, Sun et al. 1997) mainly consist of non-arboreal
pollen assemblages and are assigned to tundra and
steppe biomes (Table 2). These suggest predominantly
dry climatic conditions (Fig. 4B, Table 3). However,
the CCSM3 LGM simulation indicates intermediate
P-E (400 mm a1).
A difference also exists between reconstructed and
modelled precipitation and precipitation/humidity
inferred from LGM speleothem 18O records. The
mean LGM 18O values of speleothems from Jintawan
(#34, Cosford et al. 2010) and Hulu (#35, Wang et al.
2001) Caves would suggest comparably high precipitation (Fig. 4A), as LGM mean 18O values are similar to
those from Gunung Buda National Park (#17, Partin
et al. 2007), but distinctly different from Moomi Cave
(#56, Shakun et al. 2007) (Table 4). CCSM3 simulated
values of <1000 mm a1 for continental regions between
20 and 35N (Fig. 4A) are however at odds with an
interpretation of high precipitation amounts from cave
18O values (Wang et al. 2001; Yuan et al. 2004;
Cosford et al. 2010).
Pollen assemblages in marine sediments from the
East China Sea (#33, Xu et al. 2010) contain mixed
signals of desert, tundra, and warm mixed forest
biomes (Table 3). These mirror river transport and/or
near-shore vegetation and are thus difficult to interpret.
233
Arabian Sea (Fig. 5). SSTs reconstructed for sites #62

and #65 based on planktonic foraminifera are higher
than those estimated for close-by sites (Fig. 5). CCSM3
simulated SSTs also decrease northward, but are generally higher in the eastern Arabian Sea (2526C) as
compared to the western Arabian Sea (2224C)
(Table 5, Fig. 5). The data and model output compare
well for the eastern Arabian Sea, but simulated SSTs
are generally 23C lower than reconstructed values.
Reconstructions for the Bay of Bengal suggest SSTs
of 26C, except for at site #58, where SSTs are slightly
higher. The reconstructions compare generally well to
simulated SSTs. Reconstructions and model output
show that SSTs in the Bay of Bengal were comparable
to those in the Lombok Strait of the Indonesian Gateways (Fig. 5, Table 5).
SST reconstructions from the Indonesian Gateway
are based on planktonic foraminifera only (sites #12,
8, 13) and show generally high mean values (27C),
which are only 1C lower than those of the present.
(Table 5). Alkenone-based SSTs at site #16, which is
located northeast of the Indonesian Gateway in the
western tropical Pacific, are in a similar range (Fig. 5).
Simulated and reconstructed SSTs show very good
agreement (Table 5, Fig. 5).
In the EAM subregion, reconstructed and modelled
SSTs generally decrease from south to north, similar to
present-day mean SSTs (Table 5), and reach less than
18C close to the Sea of Japan (Table 5). In this part
of the study area, the resolution of CCSM3 is however
too coarse to allow for comparisons. In the South
China Sea SST reconstructions are, with a few exceptions, in good agreement with CCSM3 simulated SSTs
(Fig. 5, Table 5). SSTs derived from alkenones and
planktonic foraminifera at sites #2021 and sites #24
and #26, respectively, display values comparable to
simulated SSTs (25C). However, for site #22 planktonic foraminifera-based SSTs are 27C and thus
higher than simulated, and for sites #23 and #27,
alkenone-based SSTs are 22C, which is much lower
than estimated from planktonic foraminifera (Fig. 5,
Table 5).
Temporal variability of the Asian monsoon

during the LGM
Comparison between CCSM3 output data and
MARGO09 SST reconstructions
Reconstructed SSTs in the Asian monsoon region are
mostly based on planktonic foraminifera transfer functions and on unsaturated alkenones measured in coccolithophores (MARGO 2009). The LGM mean value of
the reconstructed SSTs is 25C, which is 2C lower
than present-day mean SSTs (Conkright et al. 1998).
Alkenone-based SSTs gradually decrease from
26C near the equator to 23C north of 10N in the
Pollen and speleothem 18O records with at least two

dates spanning the time interval between 25 and 17 ka
BP (Fig. 6) are used here to discuss the temporal variability of the Asian summer monsoon during the LGM.
In the IOM subregion, records from Sri Lanka (#48,
Premathilake & Risberg 2003; Premathilake 2006),
Yemen (#56, Shakun et al. 2007), and northern India
(#74, Fujii & Sakai 2002; Hayashi et al. 2009; #73,
Kotlia et al. 2010) indicate mainly dry climatic conditions until between c. 19 and c. 20 ka BP and a shift to
234
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Fig. 5. LGM sea surface temperature (SST; C) in the Asian monsoon region reconstructed by planktonic foraminifera and alkenones
(MARGO 2009) compared with CCSM3 simulated SSTs. The land-sea topography is based on the LGM shoreline in the TerrainBase 5-min
global bathymetry/topography data set (National Geophysical Data Center 1995). The filled circles and squares represent MARGO (2009)
SSTs and the underlying colours are CCSM3 simulated SSTs.
wetter conditions thereafter (Fig. 6). Pollen records for

Lake Shudu (#75, Cook et al. 2011) in the NE part of
the IOM region do not show any significant vegetation
changes. However, sediment mineral magnetic properties change abruptly at around 20 ka BP, which might
signify a change from lower to higher runoff and as
such a shift in precipitation patterns (Cook et al. 2011).
One pollen record from western Sumatra (#10,

Newsome & Flenley 1988) shows a change from wetter
to drier conditions c. 20 ka BP, which compares well
with precipitation reconstructions from Borneo (#17,
Partin et al. 2007) (Fig. 6). In contrast, pollen records
from the Sumatra plateau (#11, Maloney 1980; #12,
Maloney & McCormac 1996), which is located in the
Fig. 6. Qualitative precipitation change inferred from biomes and 18O of speleothems in the Asian monsoon region between 25 and 17 ka BP.
Thick lines represent the calibrated age points and thin lines are interpolations between these. The black and grey colours represent relatively
wet and dry climatic conditions, respectively. See Table 1 for details on the sites and Fig. 1 for locations of the sites.
BOREAS
235
Fig. 7. Simulated and reconstructed northern boundary of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) during the LGM in the Asian monsoon
region compared to its present-day January and July position (Stager et al. 2011). The land-sea topography is based on the LGM shoreline in
the TerrainBase 5-min global bathymetry/topography data set (National Geophysical Data Center 1995). Present-day northern boundary of
the ITCZ in January and July (yellow line); CCSM3 simulated ITCZ (orange line); reconstructed position of the ITCZ at 2320 ka BP (blue
dashed line); northward shift of the ITCZ at around 19 ka BP (green dashed line).
rain shadow of the mountains (Fig. 1), indicate instead

that relatively dry conditions before 20 ka BP were followed by wetter conditions.
For the EAM subregion, pollen records from South
China (#30, Wang et al. 2010) and Taiwan (#31, Liew
et al. 2006) suggest that P-E gradually decreased at
c. 20 and c. 19 ka BP, respectively. Reconstructed precipitation from sites around 30N (#35, Wang et al.
2001; #36, Zhou et al. 2008; #34, Cosford et al. 2010)
also imply a change between c. 20 and c. 19 ka BP, but
in the opposite direction, i.e. from relatively dry to
relatively wet conditions. Pollen records from Japan
show either low P-E throughout the LGM (#40,
Hayashi et al. 2010), or relatively wet climatic conditions c. 22.5 ka BP, which were followed by a drier
climate until 19 ka BP and again wetter conditions
thereafter (#42, Yasuda 1982).
Reconstructed and modelled position of

the ITCZ
Proxy-based reconstructions of LGM climatic conditions can be compared to precipitation calculated from
CCSM3 output data according to the method outlined
by Braconnot et al. (2007) to provide insight into the
geographical extent of the summer monsoon, i.e. the
northern boundary of the ITCZ during the LGM.
In the CCSM3 LGM simulation, the northern
boundary of the ITCZ (defined by high precipitation
south of 30N) is located at 5N in the western

Arabian Sea (Fig. 7). Over southern India and SouthEast Asia the mean position of the ITCZ in CCSM3
fluctuates over an area between 10 and 15N and is
situated at approximately 20N in the western Pacific
Ocean. Although proxy-based climatic patterns for the
time interval 2320 ka BP (Fig. 5) compare well with
the simulated position of the ITCZ in the western
Arabian Sea, reconstructions and simulations diverge
in the eastern Arabian Sea, over southern India and
Indochina. In the reconstruction, the northern boundary of the ITCZ shifts northwards in the Bay of Bengal
and reaches 2025N over southern China (Fig. 7).
The shift in precipitation and P-E patterns reconstructed from proxies in Yemen (#56, Shakun et al.
2007), Sri Lanka (#48, Premathilake & Risberg 2003;
Premathilake 2006), and northern India (#74, Fujii &
Sakai 2002; Hayashi et al. 2009; #73, Kotlia et al. 2010)
between c. 20 and 19 ka BP (Fig. 6) seems to indicate
a strengthening of the summer monsoon and a
northward shift of the ITCZ (Fig. 7). In addition,
speleothems from central China (#35, Wang et al. 2001;
#34, Cosford et al. 2010) show changes in 18O composition. This could be interpreted either as reflecting
higher precipitation derived from the EAM (Wang
et al. 2001; Yuan et al. 2004; Dykoski et al. 2005) or as
a shift in the source region of the precipitation (Clemens
et al. 2010; Pausata et al. 2011; Maher & Thompson
2012). As the major source of precipitation in this area
is derived from the South China Sea, changes in the 18O
236
composition may reflect a northward movement of the

mean position of the ITCZ (Fig. 7)
Discussion
CCSM3 simulations and qualitative P-E and precipitation estimates based on the palaeo-data compilation
are in good agreement for the western and southern
part of the Asian monsoon region. Both show a weak
summer monsoon and dry climatic conditions in the
western IOM subregion, and a strengthened summer
monsoon and wetter climatic conditions off southern
India, in the Bay of Bengal and over the SSS domain
(Fig. 4A, B). Discrepancies between terrestrial data and
model output are visible in India, near the Himalayan
Mountains, and in central China, where palaeo-proxies
suggest drier conditions than simulated, and in NW
Thailand and Taiwan, where proxies indicate wetter
conditions than simulated (Fig. 4A, B).
The observed differences between palaeo-proxies
and CCSM3 simulations may be attributable to a
number of factors: (i) the coarse resolution of CCSM3
may not allow the detection of oceanatmosphere
interactions (Marchant et al. 2007); this may explain
why the model does not capture the climatic conditions
suggested by the palaeo-data; (ii) the selected LGM
boundary conditions (e.g. SSTs, PFTs, dust) can influence atmospheric dynamics (Otto-Bliesner et al. 2009;
Hargreaves et al. 2011; Jiang et al. 2011); LGM dust,
for example, is not parameterized well in CCSM3
(Otto-Bliesner et al. 2006a) and it is believed that dust
would have had a major impact on precipitation patterns given the many available dust sources (Kohfeld &
Harrison 2001); (iii) qualitative P-E and precipitation
were not here proper classification cause of uncertainty
in reconstructed conditions assessments; (iv) the influences of wind speed and/or surface temperature on
evaporation make interpretations of P-E more complicated than of precipitation; (v) the individual sites and
proxies may represent local conditions that were not
representative for a larger region.
The obvious differences between speleothem and
biome proxies and between speleothem proxies and the
model simulation in central China are more difficult to
explain (Fig. 4A, B). The low LGM 18O values of
speleothems from Jintanwan and Hulu caves were
originally interpreted as a signal of East Asian
monsoon intensity (Wang et al. 2001; Cosford et al.
2010). However, recent work has challenged this view
and suggests instead that the signal seen in speleothem
18O values is due to precipitation originating from
different sources, i.e. the South China Sea and the
Pacific Ocean, and thus reflects changes in synoptic
circulation patterns (Clemens et al. 2010; Pausata et al.
2011; Maher & Thompson 2012). This hypothesis
needs to be tested further, but could explain the dis-
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crepancies between biome- and speleothem-inferred

precipitation reconstructions, and between simulated
and speleothem-inferred precipitation.
The disagreement between planktonic foraminiferaand alkenone-based SSTs at neighbouring sites could be
due to multiple factors, such as e.g. differences in depth
habitat, nutrients, and seasonal productivity, or to a
combination of these (e.g. Ishiwatari et al. 2001; Kucera
et al. 2005; Otto-Bliesner et al. 2009). SST estimates
derived from MARGO09 and simulated SSTs generally
show comparable trends throughout the whole region,
although absolute values differ by 12C (Table 5).
Modelled and reconstructed SSTs are highest around
the equator and in the Indonesian Gateway and gradually decrease from the equator northwards in the Indian
and Pacific Oceans (Fig. 5). High SSTs in the SSS subregion, especially in the Indonesian Gateways, indicate
that a connection existed between the Pacific and Indian
Oceans during the LGM and that warm surface waters
were able to flow from the West Pacific Warm Pool into
the eastern Indian Ocean. The Indonesian throughflow
decreased by 6% in the CCSM3 LGM simulation
(Otto-Bliesner et al. 2006a). However, a higher resolution simulation on a general circulation model resulted
in a much larger decrease of 30% (uvela-Aloise 2005).
Moreover, the coarse resolution of the CCSM3 simulation likely leads to less agreement north of 10N in the
western part of the Arabian Sea (#57, #59, #60, #63,
#65, and #74), where some studies have suggested
strong upwelling during the LGM (Anand et al. 2008;
Naidu 2004). For the EAM domain, CCSM3 simulates
an abrupt decrease north of 25N. This pattern can be
explained by northward circulation of the upper ocean,
as suggested by Otto-Bliesner et al. (2006a, 2009) and
Hargreaves et al. (2011).
The simulated and reconstructed LGM climate patterns generally correspond well with other modelling
efforts, such as those performed within PMIP2
(Braconnot et al. 2007) and individual atmosphereocean general circulation model (Bush 2002; Ueda
et al. 2011). All of these simulations show dry climatic
conditions over the Arabian Sea and India, and wet
conditions over Sundaland and Sahulland. Simulations
performed within PMIP2 suggest that LGM precipitation was higher near the South China Sea (Braconnot
et al. 2007) and regional LGM datamodel comparisons for China using PMIP2 output (Jiang et al. 2011)
indicate that climatic conditions were wetter in parts of
southern and eastern China and drier in the west and
north of China. Our palaeo-data compilation compares
well to both these studies. CCSM3, however, simulates
an opposite climatic pattern, with wetter climate in the
west than in the east of China. This simulation would
be in agreement with a compilation of lake-level data
by Yu et al. (2000b), which was interpreted as reflecting
a wetter LGM climate in western China. The lakelevel data set can also be interpreted as reflecting
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lower evaporation rather than higher precipitation

(Herzschuh 2006).
The strengthened LGM winter monsoon over the
IOM subregion could be explained by a decrease in
landsea thermal contrast, because of relatively low
SSTs (Table 5) and similar ice cover on the Tibetan
Plateau as compared to today (Owen et al. 2002; Owen
2009). This would have caused lower air temperatures,
which in turn could explain CCSM3 simulations of
very low evaporation (i.e. low precipitation and
medium P-E; Fig. 3E, G). Moreover, decreased inflow
from the Pacific Ocean through the Indonesian Gateways reduced Indian Ocean equatorial currents and
shifted the Indian Ocean warm pool eastwards
(Schneider 1998), which hampered the transport of
humid air masses to the western IOM domain.
The dry climatic conditions in the northern part of
the EAM subregion can be explained by a strengthened
winter monsoon caused by a stronger Siberian highpressure system (Ding et al. 1995; Zheng et al. 1998;
Yang et al. 2004; Cosford et al. 2010) and by a decrease
in landsea thermal contrast during summertime (Jiang
& Lang 2010). Strengthening westerly winds (An et al.
2012) may also have contributed to the dry climatic
conditions over the northern part of the EAM subregion. Wetter climatic conditions, with a strengthened
summer monsoon in the SSS and southern EAM
domains resulted from increased landsea thermal contrasts because of the large emerged land areas on the
Sunda and Sahul continental shelves (Fig. 1) and
because of a decrease in SSTs (Table 5).
The palaeo-data compilation shows that major
changes in precipitation patterns from dry to wet and
wet to dry occurred around 2019 ka BP. The timelag of about 1000 years between individual sites for the
observed shift is probably related to dating uncertainties. The change in precipitation patterns seems
to reflect a strengthening and northward shift of
the summer monsoon, which was triggered by
palaeogeographical and palaeoceanographical changes
that took place between 20 and 19 ka BP. The shift
from dry to wetter climate conditions in the IOM subregion coincides with the gradual rise in sea level at
c. 20 ka BP, which was followed by a rapid increase at
c. 19 ka BP (Yokoyama et al. 2000; Hanebuth et al.
2009, 2011). The rise in sea level would have allowed
increased throughflow of warm waters from the Pacific
to the Indian Ocean and transport of high-humidity air
masses that had been concentrated in the SSS domain
and the Bay of Bengal, to the west. The westward movement of high-humidity air masses after
c. 2019 ka BP led to increased precipitation over India
and the Arabian Sea and to decreased precipitation
over the SSS and southern EAM subregions. Although
changes in precipitation patterns can be observed over
the entire Asian monsoon region, these were locally
different because of topographical effects. Precipitation
237
increased for example on the leeward side of the Himalayan Mountains (#74, Fujii & Sakai 2002; Hayashi
et al. 2009; #73, Kotlia et al. 2010) and along the
eastern side of the Sumatra highland (#11, Maloney
1980; #12, Maloney & McCormac 1996), which is
located in the rain shadow of the mountain range. The
onset or strengthening of the summer monsoon around
2019 ka BP in the northern EAM domain could be
explained by a gradual weakening of the Siberian highpressure system and/or strengthened westerly winds
(An et al. 2012), which dominated during the LGM.
These climatic changes seem to have occurred slightly
earlier than those described for China, where the
change towards wetter conditions took place between
18.5 and 17.5 ka BP (Herzschuh 2006).
Proxy-based precipitation reconstructions of the
northern boundary of the ITCZ suggest a distinct
northward shift at around 2019 ka BP. Prior to 20 ka
BP, the northern boundary of the ITCZ was located at
around 5N in the Indian Ocean, shifted northwards in
the Bay of Bengal, and crossed southern China around
latitude 2025N (Fig. 7). After 2019 ka BP, the ITCZ
shifted northward, reaching above 10N in the Indian
Ocean, 20N in the Bay of Bengal, and 30N over
China. The reconstructed and modelled northern
boundaries of the ITCZ do not correspond well with
each other. For example, CCSM3 simulates the boundary over southern India at around 15N, whereas the
reconstruction suggests a more southerly location. For
the Bay of Bengal and over the Indochina Peninsula the
simulated northern boundary is at around 1015N,
which is more southern than inferred from the reconstructions (Fig. 7). Although the CCSM3 simulated
ITCZ compares well to the ensemble of PMIP2 runs
over southern India, the picture is more complicated
over the Indochina Peninsula and southern China
(Braconnot et al. 2007). Some PMIP2 models indicate
that the northern boundary of the ITCZ reached
2030N, whereas others locate it at around 1015N.
The HadCM2 model, which includes vegetation interactions, supports a more northerly position of the
ITCZ (Braconnot et al. 2007), which is in line with our
reconstructions. The obvious differences between
proxy data and model simulations may be because of
the coarse resolution of the models and the different
parameterization schemes used (i.e. different models
show divergent results). However, the datamodel contrast also illustrates inherent uncertainties of the proxy
reconstructions. The few available palaeo-records only
provide qualitative information regarding precipitation
changes. This makes it difficult to assess the amount of
rainfall, which would help to delineate a more precise
position of the northern boundary of the ITCZ.
Our datamodel comparison shows that the LGM
climate in the Asian monsoon region was more variable
than generally assumed (e.g. van Campo et al. 1982;
Huang et al. 1997; Hodell et al. 1999; von Rad et al.
238
1999; Hope 2001; Naidu 2004; Prabhu et al. 2004; White

et al. 2004; Tiwari et al. 2006; Ansari & Vink 2007;
Cosford et al. 2010; Fleitmann et al. 2011). Although
cool and dry climates persisted in the western and northern parts of the region, due to a strengthened winter
monsoon, higher precipitation prevailed in equatorial
areas (e.g. over Sundaland and Sahulland), in the South
China Sea, and in southern China. The overall good
correspondence between reconstructed and simulated
climate parameters, such as precipitation, effective
moisture, and SSTs, suggests that CCSM3 can be
regarded as simulating precipitation and SSTs well over
tropical and subtropical areas (Figs 4, 5). However, the
overall low density of high-resolution qualitative and
quantitative palaeo-records in the Asian monsoon
region makes reconstructions still uncertain, especially
since precipitation is much more localized than temperature. High-quality proxy studies, which would better
allow quantification of LGM precipitation, are therefore of great importance to allow further tests of the
performance of all climate models and thus increase the
creditability of the simulations.
BOREAS
Conclusions
Proxy records from marine and terrestrial palaeo-data
sets for the Asian monsoon region have been compiled,
evaluated, and partly re-assessed in terms of Last
Glacial Maximum (LGM) (23-19 ka BP) precipitation,
effective moisture (P-E) and sea surface temperatures
(SSTs). Qualitative palaeoclimate estimates were then
compared to CCSM3 model output data. The palaeoproxy compilation and the modeldata comparison
allowed us to discuss past changes in Asian monsoon
strength in three different subregions, the Indian Ocean
monsoon (IOM), the Sunda-Sahulland (SSS) and the
East Asian monsoon (EAM), on temporal and spatial
scales. They also provide estimates for the location of
the northern boundary of the ITCZ during the LGM.
CCSM3 simulations and reconstructed palaeo-data

indicate a weak LGM summer monsoon over most
of the IOM subregion and over the northern part of
the EAM subregion, and a strengthened summer
monsoon over the SSS domain.
Datamodel discrepancies are seen over southern
India, where proxies suggest dry conditions,
whereas the model simulates wet conditions; over
NW Thailand and southern China, where proxies
estimate wet conditions and the CCSM3 output
points to dryness; and central China, where
speleothem proxies indicate wetter conditions than
those modelled and reconstructed based on biomes.
Datamodel discrepancies may be caused by the
low resolution of the model and/or the choice of
boundary conditions, but could also be due to
inherent uncertainties in the proxy data, or that

proxies reflect local, rather than regional climatic
conditions.
CCSM3 simulated SSTs agree well with the
MARGO (2009) data set in the SSS domains, in the
Bay of Bengal, and in the Eastern Arabian Sea.
The compiled palaeo-records show a distinct change
in Asian monsoon intensity at around 2019 ka BP.
Climate conditions changed from dry to wet in
the IOM and in the northern EAM subregions,
and from wet to dry in the SSS and in the southern
EAM subregions. These shifts were triggered by
palaeogeographical and palaeoceanographical
changes that affected the area.
The reconstructed and simulated northern boundaries of the ITCZ diverge over southern India, the
Bay of Bengal, and Indochina. Reconstructions
estimate a more southern position over southern
India and the Bay of Bengal, and a more northern
position over Indochina. In contrast, CCSM3 simulates a more northern and southern position,
respectively.
The overall good correspondence between reconstructions and CCSM3 simulations suggests that
CCSM3 can be regarded as simulating precipitation
well over subtropical and tropical areas. The few
high-resolution qualitative and quantitative palaeorecords available for the large Asian monsoon
region make reconstructions however still uncertain
and many more good records are needed to faithfully reconstruct precipitation in this climatically
sensitive area.
Acknowledgements. This research is financed through Swedish

Research Council (VR) grants 621-2008-2855, 348-2008-6071, and
621-2011-4684. We thank Hildred Crill for language advice, Robert
Graham, Francesco Muschitiello, and Sakonwan Chawchai for critically reading the manuscript, Jason Cosford for providing the
Jintanwan speleothem data set, and Rodrigo Caballero, Ludvig
Lwemark, Agatha de Boer, Sakonwan Chawchai, and Daniele
Reghellin for helpful discussions. The speleothem and planktonic
foraminifera 18O data sets were retrieved from NOAA and
PANGAEA. We also thank Min-Te Chen, Pai-Sen Yu, Sander van
der Kaars, Ping Fu, and Zhen Li for many helpful suggestions with
respect to the palaeo-proxy records. The careful review and comments made by D. Jiang and an anonymous reviewer greatly
improved the manuscript.
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Asian monsoon climate during the Last Glacial Maximum:

The Asian monsoon is one of the largest climate

The Asian monsoon is generally divided into two

LGM Asian monsoon climate

considerably (Elenga et al. 2000; Tarasov et al. 2000;

Akkaneewut Chabangborn et al.

Lat () Long () Elevation

Ding et al. (2002)

Spooner et al. (2005)

Anshari et al. (2001)

Wang et al. (2009)

Pelejero et al. (1999)

Chen et al. (1999)

Chen et al. (2002)

Pelejero et al. (1999)

Hayashi et al. (2010)

LGM Asian monsoon climate

Lat () Long () Elevation

Budziak et al. (2000)

Sonzogni et al. (1998)

21002300 Terrestrial Pollen

on carbonate bulk sediment were excluded; (iii)

Akkaneewut Chabangborn et al.

Fig. 2. Flow chart illustrating the different

(Takahara et al. 2000), and South-East Asia (Pickett

LGM Asian monsoon climate

Climate model output data

Akkaneewut Chabangborn et al.

Major pollen component during the LGM

References for biome

Pickett et al. (2004)

Dacrycarpus imbricatus, Altingia, Castanopsis comp.,

Warm-temperate rain forest

Stuijts et al. (1988)

Pickett et al. (2004)

Low-montane forest II: Dacrycarpus, Distylium,

van der Kaars &

Pickett et al. (2004)

Dipterocarpaceae, Eucalyptus type (Myrtaceae),

Warm-temperate rain forest

van der Kaars et al.

Pickett et al. (2004)

Macaranga/Mollotus, Oleaceae, Lithocarpus,

van der Kaars et al.

Pickett et al. (2004)

Gluta renghas (Anacardiaceae), Calophyllum

Anshari et al. (2001)

Pickett et al. (2004)

Dacrycarpus, Dacrydium, Lithocarpus/Castanopsis,

Warm-temperate rain forest

Newsome & Flenley

Pickett et al. (2004)

Dacrycarpus, Dacrydium, Engelhardia comp., Eugenia

Wet sclerophyll forest,

Pickett et al. (2004)

Dacrydium, Cartanopsis comp., Quercus, Eugenia,

Warm-temperate rain forest

Pickett et al. (2004)

Podocarpus, Dacrycarpus, Lithocarpus/Castanopsis

Warm-temperate rain forest

Pickett et al. (2004)

Quercus, Euphorbiaceae, Palmae, Cyperaceae

Wang et al. (2009)