Oceanography The Official Magazine of
The Oceanography Society
Volume 32 Issue 01

View Issue TOC
Volume 32, No. 1
Pages 48 - 59

OpenAccess

Blowing in the Monsoon Wind

By Pinxian Wang , Steven C. Clemens, Ryuji Tada, and Richard W. Murray 
Jump to
Article Abstract Citation References Copyright & Usage
Article Abstract

From Maswin (Arabic), to Monção (Portuguese), to Moesson (Dutch), to Monsoon (English), the etymology of the word is not entirely clear, nor is its definition precise, although these different terms all refer to seasonal changes in wind and rainfall, depending on where they occur. However, it is clear that monsoonal climates are characterized by strong seasonality in wind and rainfall patterns, typically with onshore winds and increased rainfall during summer and offshore winds and reduced rainfall during winter. The Northern Hemisphere monsoons are one of the most prominent examples of Earth system interactions in which the solid Earth influences the circulation of the atmosphere and ocean, consequently forcing aspects of both regional and global climate. The monsoons also represent a climate phenomenon that has large direct and indirect societal impact. In this paper we review the contribution of scientific ocean drilling to our understanding of Earth’s current monsoons as well as those through geological history, back to tens of millions of years ago.

Citation

Wang, P., S.C. Clemens, R. Tada, and R.W. Murray. 2019. Blowing in the monsoon wind. Oceanography 32(1):48–59, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2019.119.

References
    Amano, K., and A. Taira. 1992. Two-phase uplift of Higher Himalayas since 17 Ma. Geology 20:391–394, https://doi.org/​10.1130/​0091-7613​(1992)020​<0391:TPUOHH>​2.3.CO;2.
  1. Berger, A.L. 1978. Long-term variations of daily insolation and Quaternary climate changes. Journal of Atmospheric Sciences 35:2,362–2,367, https://doi.org/​10.1175/​1520-0469​(1978)​035​<2362:LTVODI>​2.0.CO;2.
  2. Betzler, C., G.P. Eberli, D. Kroon, J.D. Wright, P.K. Swart, B. Nagender Nath, C.A. Alvarez-Zarikian, M. Alonso-García, O.M. Bialik, C.L. Blätttler, and others. 2016. The abrupt onset of the modern South Asian monsoon winds. Scientific Reports 6:29838, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep29838.
  3. Betzler, C., G.P. Eberli, C.A. Alvarez-Zarikian, and the Expedition 359 Scientists. 2017. Maldives Monsoon and Sea Level. Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program, 359. College Station, TX, https://doi.org/10.14379/iodp.proc.359.2017.
  4. Betzler, C., G.P. Eberli, T. Lüdmann, J. Reolid, D. Kroon, J.J.G. Rejimer, P.K. Swart, J. Wright, J.R. Young, C. Alvarez-Zarikian, and others. 2018. Refinement of Miocene sea level and monsoon events from the sedimentary archive of the Maldives (Indian Ocean). Progress in Earth and Planetary Science 5:5, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40645-018-0165-x.
  5. Bolton, C. T., L. Chang, S.C. Clemens, K. Kodama, M. Ikehara, M. Medina-Elizalde, G.A. Paterson, A.P. Roberts, E.J. Rohling, Y. Yamamoto, and X. Zhao. 2013. A 500,000 year record of Indian summer monsoon dynamics recorded by eastern equatorial Indian Ocean upper water-column structure. Quaternary Science Reviews 77:167–180, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.07.031.
  6. Clemens, S.C., W.L. Prell, D. Murray, G. Shimmield, and G. Weedon. 1991. Forcing mechanisms of the Indian Ocean monsoon. Nature 353:720–725, https://doi.org/10.1038/353720a0.
  7. Clemens, S.C., and W.L. Prell. 2003. A 350,000 year summer-monsoon multi-proxy stack from the Owen Ridge, Northern Arabian Sea. Marine Geology 201:35–51, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0025-​3227(03)00207-X.
  8. Clemens, S.C., W. Kuhnt, L.J. LeVay, and the Expedition 353 Scientists. 2016. Expedition 353 summary. Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program Volume 353, College Station, TX, https://doi.org/10.14379/iodp.proc.353.101.2016.
  9. Clemens, S.C., A. Holbourn, Y. Kubota, K.E. Lee, Z. Liu, G. Chen, A. Nelson, and B. Fox-Kemper. 2018. Precession-band variance missing from East Asian monsoon runoff. Nature Communications 9(1):3364, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05814-0.
  10. Clift, P.D., S.M. Wan, and J. Blusztajn. 2014. Reconstructing chemical weathering, physical erosion and monsoon intensity since 25 Ma in the northern South China Sea: A review of competing proxies. Earth-Science Reviews 130:86–102, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2014.01.002.
  11. Ding, Z.L., J.M. Sun, T.S. Liu, R.X. Zhu, S.L. Yang, and B. Guo. 1998. Wind-blown origin of the Pliocene red clay formation in the central Loess Plateau, China. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 161:135–143, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(98)00145-9.
  12. France-Lanord, C., V. Spiess, A. Klaus, T. Schwenk, and the Expedition 354 Scientists. 2016. Bengal Fan. Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program, 354. College Station, TX, https://doi.org/10.14379/iodp.proc.354.2016.
  13. France-Lanord, C., V. Spiess, S. Feakins, A. Galy, V. Galy, P. Huyghe, and Expedition 354 Scientists. 2017. Expedition 354 on the Bengal Fan: Implications on Neogene erosion regime, climate and vegetation. Abstracts, IODP-PAGES Workshop on Global Monsoon in Long-term Records, September 7–9, 2017, Shanghai, China.
  14. Gebregiorgis, D., E.C. Hathorne, L. Giosan, S. Clemens, D. Nürnberg, and M. Frank. 2018. Southern Hemisphere forcing of South Asian monsoon precipitation over the past ~1 million years. Nature Communications 9(1), 4702, https://doi.org/​10.1038/s41467-018-07076-2.
  15. Guo, Z., W.F. Ruddiman, Q. Hao, H. Wu, Y. Qiao, R.X. Zhu, S. Peng, J. Wei, B. Yuan, and T. Liu. 2002. Onset of Asian desertification by 22 Myr ago inferred from loess deposits in China. Nature 416:159–163, https://doi.org/​10.1038/​416159a.
  16. Higginson, M.J., M.A. Altabet, L. Wincze, T.D. Herbert, and D.W. Murray. 2004. A solar (irradiance) trigger for millennial-scale abrupt changes in the southwest monsoon? Paleoceanography 19, PA3015, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004PA001031.
  17. Holbourn, A.E., W. Kuhnt, M. Schulz, and H. Erlenkeuser. 2005. Impacts of orbital forcing and atmospheric carbon dioxide on Miocene ice-sheet expansion. Nature 438:483–487, https://doi.org/​10.1038/nature04123.
  18. Holbourn, A.E., W. Kuhnt, M. Schulz, J.-A. Flores, and N. Andersen. 2007. Orbitally-paced climate evolution during the middle Miocene “Monterey” carbon isotope excursion. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 261:534–550, https://doi.org/10.1016/​j.epsl.2007.07.026.
  19. Jia, G., P. Peng, Q. Zhao, and Z. Jian. 2003. Changes in terrestrial ecosystem since 30 Ma in East Asia: Stable isotope evidence from black carbon in the South China Sea. Geology 31:1,093–1,096, https://doi.org/10.1130/G19992.1.
  20. Kroon, D., T. Steens, and S.R. Troelstra. 1991. Onset of monsoonal related upwelling in the Western Arabian Sea as revealed by planktonic foraminifers. Pp. 257–263 in Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program: Scientific Results, vol. 117. W.L. Prell, N. Niitsuma, P.A. Meyers, and K.K.-C. Emeis, eds, College Stations, TX.
  21. Lisiecki, R.E., and M.E. Raymo. 2005. A Pliocene-Pleistocene stack of 57 globally distributed benthic δ18O records. Paleoceanography 20, PA1003, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004PA001071.
  22. Littler, K., T. Westerhold, A.J. Drury, D. Liebrand, L. Lisiecki, and H. Pälike. 2019. Astronomical time keeping of Earth history: An invaluable contribution of scientific ocean drilling. Oceanography 32(1):72–76, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2019.122.
  23. Loulergue, L., A. Schilt, R. Spahni, V. Masson-Delmotte, T. Blunier, B. Lemieux, J.M. Barnola, D. Raynaud, T. Stocker, and J. Chappelaz. 2008. Orbital and millennial-scale features of atmospheric CH4 over the last 800,000 years. Nature 453:383–386, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06950.
  24. Murray, R.W., R. Tada, C.A. Alvarez-Zarikian, and Expedition 346 Scientists. 2014. Examination of the Asian monsoon: Ongoing studies from IODP Expedition 346. Abstract T31E-02, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, December 15–19, 2014.
  25. Pandey, D.K., P.D. Clift, D.K. Kulhanek, and the Expedition 355 Scientists. 2016. Arabian Sea Monsoon. Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program, 355. College Station, TX, https://doi.org/10.14379/iodp.proc.355.2016.
  26. Petit, J.R., J. Jouzel, D. Raynaud, N.I. Barkov, J.-M. Barnola, I. Basile, M. Bender, J. Chappellaz, M. Davis, G. Delaygue, and others. 1999. Climate and atmospheric history of the past 420,000 years from the Vostok ice core, Antarctica. Nature 399(6735):429–436, https://doi.org/​10.1038/20859.
  27. Pisciotto, K.A., J.C. Ingle Jr., M.T. von Breymann, J. Barron, and others. 1992. Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program: Scientific Results, vol. 127/128, Part 1. College Station, TX, https://doi.org/​10.2973/odp.proc.sr.127128-1.1992.
  28. Prell, W.L., N. Niitsuma, et al. 1989. Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program: Scientific Results, vol. 117. College Station, TX, https://doi.org/10.2973/​odp.proc.sr.117.1991.
  29. Prell, W.L., and J.E. Kutzbach, 1992. Sensitivity of the Indian monsoon to forcing parameters and implications for its evolution. Nature 360:647–653, https://doi.org/10.1038/360647a0.
  30. Quade, J., T.E. Cerling, and J.E. Bowman. 1989. Development of Asian monsoon revealed by marked ecological shift during the latest Miocene in northern Pakistan. Nature 342:163–166, https://doi.org/​10.1038/342163a0.
  31. Rea, D.K. 1994. The paleoclimatic record provided by eolian deposition in the deep sea: The geologic history of wind. Reviews of Geophysics 32:159–195, https://doi.org/10.1029/93RG03257.
  32. Rosenthal, Y., A.E. Holbourn, D.K. Kulhanek, and the Expedition 363 Scientists. 2018. Western Pacific Warm Pool. Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program, 363. College Station, TX, https://doi.org/10.14379/iodp.proc.363.2018.
  33. Sun, X., and P. Wang. 2005. How old is the Asian monsoon system? Palaeobotanical records from China. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 222:181–222, https://doi.org/​10.1016/j.palaeo.2005.03.005.
  34. Tada, R., T. Irino, and I. Koizumi. 1999. Land-ocean linkages over orbital and millennial timescales recorded in late Quaternary sediments of the Japan Sea. Paleoceanography 14(2):236–247, https://doi.org/10.1029/1998PA900016.
  35. Tada, R., R.W. Murray, C.A. Zarikian, and the Expedition 346 Scientists. 2015. Proceedings of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, 346. College Station, TX, https://doi.org/10.2204/iodp.proc.346.2015.
  36. Tada R., T. Irino, K. Ikehara, K. Ikehara, A. Karasuda, S. Sugisaki, C. Xuan, T. Sagawa, T. Itaki, Y. Kubota, and others. 2018. High-resolution and high-​precision correlation of dark and light layers in the Quaternary hemipelagic sediments of the Japan Sea recovered during IODP Expedition 346. Progress in Earth and Planetary Science 5:19, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40645-018-0167-8.
  37. Thomas, E.K., S.C. Clemens, W.L. Prell, T.D. Herbert, Y. Huang, Z. Liu, J.S.S. Damsté, Y. Sun, and X. Wen. 2014. Temperature and leaf wax δ2H records demonstrate seasonal and regional controls on Asian monsoon proxies. Geology 42:1,075–1,078, https://doi.org/10.1130/G36289.1.
  38. Trenberth, K.E., D.P. Stepaniak, and J.M. Caron. 2000. The global monsoon as seen through the divergent atmospheric circulation. Journal of Climate 13:3,969–3,993, https://doi.org/​10.1175/​1520-0442​(2000)​013​<3969:TGMAST>​2.0.CO;2.
  39. Tripathi, S., M. Tiwari, J. Lee, B.-K. Khim, and IODP Expedition 355 Scientists. 2017. First evidence of denitrification vis-à-vis monsoon in the Arabian Sea since Late Miocene. Scientific Reports 7:43056, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep43056.
  40. Wan, S.M., P.D. Clift, A.C. Li, T.G. Li, and X.B. Yin. 2010. Geochemical records in the South China Sea: Implications on the East Asian summer monsoon evolution since 20 Ma. Pp. 241–259 in Monsoon Evolution and Tectonics-Climate Linkage in Asia. P.D. Clift, R. Tada, and H. Zheng, eds, Geological Society, London, Special Publication 342, https://doi.org/​10.1144/SP342.14.
  41. Wang, B., S.C. Clemens, and P. Liu. 2003. Contrasting the Indian and East Asian monsoons: Implications on geological timescales. Marine Geology 201:5–21, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0025-3227(03)00196-8.
  42. Wang, B., and Q. Ding. 2006. Changes in global monsoon precipitation over the past 56 years. Geophysical Research Letters 33, https://doi.org/​10.1029/2005GL025347.
  43. Wang P., W.L. Prell, and P. Blum, eds. 2000. Proceedings of Ocean Drilling Program: Initial Reports, 184 [CD-ROM]. Ocean Drilling Program, College Station TX.
  44. Wang, P., S. Clemens, L. Beaufort, P. Braconnot, G. Ganssen, Z. Jian, and M. Sarnthein. 2005. Evolution and variability of the Asian monsoon system: State of the art and outstanding issues. Quaternary Science Reviews 24:595–629, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2004.10.002.
  45. Wang, P., J. Tian, and L.J. Lourens. 2010. Obscuring of long eccentricity cyclicity in Pleistocene oceanic carbon isotope records. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 290:319–330, https://doi.org/​10.1016/j.epsl.2009.12.028.
  46. Wang, P., B. Wang, and T. Kiefer. 2012. Global monsoon across time scales. Climate Dynamics 39:1,043–1,044, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-012-1459-0.
  47. Wang, P., B. Wang, H. Cheng, J. Fasullo, Z. Guo, T. Kiefer, and Z. Liu. 2014. The global monsoon across time scales: Coherent variability of regional monsoons. Climate of the Past 10:1–46, https://doi.org/​10.5194/cp-10-2007-2014.
  48. Wang, P., B. Wang, H. Cheng, J. Fasullo, Z. Guo, T. Kiefer, and Z. Liu. 2017. The global monsoon across time scales: Mechanisms and outstanding issues. Earth-Science Reviews 174:84–121, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.07.006.
  49. Wang, P., R. Tada, and S. Clemens. 2018. Global monsoon and ocean drilling. Scientific Drilling 24:87–91, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-24-87-2018.
  50. Wei, G., X.-H. Li, Y. Liu, L. Shao, and X. Liang. 2006. Geochemical record of chemical weathering and monsoon climate change since the early Miocene in the South China Sea. Paleoceanography 21, PA4214, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006PA001300.
Copyright & Usage

This is an open access article made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format as long as users cite the materials appropriately, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate the changes that were made to the original content. Images, animations, videos, or other third-party material used in articles are included in the Creative Commons license unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If the material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission directly from the license holder to reproduce the material.