Quantification of temperature and precipitation changes in northern China during the “5000-year” Chinese History

• Published in: Quaternary science reviews Vol. 255; p. 106819
• Main Authors: Zhang, Can, Zhao, Cheng, Zhou, Aifeng, Zhang, Haixia, Liu, Weiguo, Feng, Xiaoping, Sun, Xiaoshuang, Yan, Tianlong, Leng, Chengcheng, Shen, Ji, Chen, Fahu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2021
• Subjects: brGDGTs; Chinese loess plateau; Cultural changes; Quantitative precipitation; Quantitative temperature; Chinese loess plateau; Quantitative temperature; brGDGTs; Quantitative precipitation; Cultural changes
• ISSN: 0277-3791; 1873-457X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.106819

High-quality paleoclimate reconstructions can provide crucial climate context to test the hypothesis of climatic impact on historical culture changes. Here we report high-resolution and quantitative temperature and precipitation records covering the entire “5000-year” Chinese history in northern China. Our temperature record shows a slight decrease before 1800 cal yr BP and a ∼4 °C rapid cooling afterwards, superimposed with four major ∼2–3 °C centennial-scale cold events, potentially corresponding to the widespread North Atlantic ice-rafted debris Bond events. While precipitation record shows high value before 3000 cal yr BP, and a gradual decrease of ∼250 mm with two distinct ∼100 mm centennial-scale dry intervals after 1100 cal yr BP. Our data not only provide a more complete climate background for Chinese dynasties, but show the coincidence in the timing between abrupt cold and/or dry events and large-scale social unrests and southern migration of nomads. This finding reveals climate fluctuations, in particular variations in temperature, played an important role in affecting Chinese historical cultural changes. •Quantitative temperature and rainfall records provide a new climate background for the entire “5000-year” Chinese history.•Temperature and precipitation reconstructions reveal incomplete coupled changes before 1000 cal yr BP.•Climate fluctuations influenced Chinese historical cultural changes.