Topic
Monsoon
About: Monsoon is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 16087 publications have been published within this topic receiving 599888 citations.
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
More filters
TL;DR: In this paper, the past change of the East Asian monsoon since 20 Ma using samples from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1146 in the northern South China Sea based on a multi-proxy approach including a monomineralic quartz isolation procedure, identification of clay minerals by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and grain-size analysis of isolated terrigenous materials.
360 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a subset of the recently published salinity database of the global oceans is utilized to characterize and explain the observed seasonal variability of sea surface salinity of the north Indian Ocean, in greater detail than has been possible previously.
Abstract: [1] A subset of the recently published salinity database of the global oceans is utilized to characterize and explain the observed seasonal variability of sea surface salinity of the north Indian Ocean, in greater detail than has been possible previously. The influence of salinity on the seasonal evolution of near-surface mixed layer depth is highlighted. The relative importance of freshwater flux (evaporation minus precipitation) and horizontal advection in accounting the observed seasonal variability of sea surface salinity is evaluated. The influence of massive river outflow in producing the observed sea surface salinity minima in the coastal northwestern Bay of Bengal during August–September is highlighted. The observed interannual variability of sea surface salinity along two major shipping lanes in the tropical Indian Ocean in relation to El Nino is examined. The annual average of sea surface salinity shows contrasting distributions in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal due to differences in hydrological forcing. The seasonal variability of sea surface salinity is most pronounced in the coastal region of the northern Bay of Bengal, northwestern Arabian Sea, and the southeastern Arabian Sea. The incorporation of salinity effect reduces the thickness of the near-surface mixed layer, and this reduction is most pronounced in the Bay of Bengal, where it builds up from June to July and becomes most prominent by February in the following year, when the freshening effects of hydrological forcing through local rainfall and river discharges are felt the most on the near-surface layers. The salt budget analysis of the mixed layer shows a broad agreement between the patterns of observed and diagnosed seasonal changes caused by freshwater flux and horizontal advection, despite limitations in the accuracy of these estimates. The freshwater input through rainfall and river discharges in the Bay of Bengal far exceeds evaporation, causing surplus freshwater for export. Horizontal advection of salinity is found to be important in the southeastern Arabian Sea during winter and in the western and eastern Arabian Sea during the summer monsoon season and in the Bay of Bengal throughout the year with the exception of premonsoon season. The pronounced dilution observed during the height of the summer monsoon season in the coastal northwestern Bay of Bengal is attributed to peak discharges from major rivers. Historic data along two major shipping lanes in the tropical Indian Ocean have clearly revealed the signature of El Nino in the interannual variability of sea surface salinity.
360 citations
TL;DR: A comprehensive review of the global monsoon that encompasses findings from studies of both modern monsoons and paleomonsoons can be found in this paper, emphasizing the direct drive of seasonal pressure system changes on monsoon circulation and depicting the intensity in terms of both circulation and precipitation.
Abstract: This article provides a comprehensive review of the global monsoon that encompasses findings from studies of both modern monsoons and paleomonsoons. We introduce a definition for the global monsoon that incorporates its three-dimensional distribution and ultimate causes, emphasizing the direct drive of seasonal pressure system changes on monsoon circulation and depicting the intensity in terms of both circulation and precipitation. We explore the global monsoon climate changes across a wide range of timescales from tectonic to intraseasonal. Common features of the global monsoon are global homogeneity, regional diversity, seasonality, quasi-periodicity, irregularity, instability, and asynchroneity. We emphasize the importance of solar insolation, Earth orbital parameters, underlying surface properties, and land-air-sea interactions for global monsoon dynamics. We discuss the primary driving force of monsoon variability on each timescale and the relationships among dynamics on multiple timescales. Natural ...
360 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a new compilation of seismic data from the marginal seas of Asia now shows that only the Red River reached its historic peak after 4 Ma, and that sediment flux from Asia first peaked in the early-middle Miocene (24-11 Ma), well before the initiation of a glacial climate, indicating that rock uplift and especially precipitation are the key controls on erosion.
359 citations
TL;DR: In this article, stalagmites collected from Jiuxian Cave in the Shaanxi Province in central China have been studied with U-series dating and stable isotope analysis, showing that significant monsoonal climate changes occurred in eastern Asia as far north as the Qinling Mountains during the LGM interval.
358 citations