A low-latitude framework for climate variability over the last 60,000 years

Hai Cheng; Xiyu Dong; Hanying Li; Xiaowen Niu; Baoyun Zong; Xu Zhang; Xue Jia; Le Kang; Jian Wang; Jingyao Zhao; Kexin Wang; Lijuan Sha; Liang Yi; Ashish Sinha; Zhengguo Shi; Zhifeng Zhang; Yanjun Cai; Haiwei Zhang; Youwei Li; Carlos Pérez-Mejías; Gayatri Kathayat; Youfeng Ning; Dianbing Liu; Shitao Chen; Yongjin Wang; Pingzhong Zhang; Francisco W. Cruz; Nicolás M. Stríkis; Xianfeng Wang; Christoph Spötl; R. Lawrence Edwards

doi:10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2026.100243

The Innovation Geoscience > 2026 Vol. 4 > No. 3 > 100243

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A low-latitude framework for climate variability over the last 60,000 years

1.
Institute of Global Environmental Change, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
2.
Yunnan Key Laboratory of Plateau Geographical Processes & environmental changes, Faculty of Geography, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
3.
Ice Dynamics and Palaeoclimate, British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge CB3 0ET, United Kingdom
4.
State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
5.
Department of Earth Sciences, California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson CA 90747, USA
6.
State Key Laboratory of Loess Science, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an 710061, China
7.
State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China
8.
Key Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environment, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China
9.
Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources in Western China (Gansu Province), School of Earth Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
10.
Instituto de Geociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo-SP CEP 05508-080, Brazil
11.
Earth Observatory of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637616, Singapore
12.
Institute of Geology, University of Innsbruck, Innrain 52, Innsbruck 6020, Austria
13.
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA

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Corresponding author: cheng021@xjtu.edu.cn
Received Date: May 15, 2026

Accepted Date: June 29, 2026

Published Online: June 30, 2026

The Innovation Geoscience 4(3), https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2026.100243 | Cite this article

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

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PUBLIC SUMMARY

PUBLIC SUMMARY
1. A new high-resolution and precisely dated Asian composite cave record covers past 60,000 years.
  
  The record’s precise chronology provides benchmarks for calibrating and correlating global climate variability.
  
  The monsoon dynamics were coupled with the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation instead of ice volume.
  
  The most prominent millennial cycle is ~4.5-ka, close to precession cycles, implying an external forcing.
  
  Multidecadal-centennial climate variations in periodicity and amplitude changed from glacial to interglacial.

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT

Climate variability during the last 60,000 years exhibited pronounced fluctuations on glacial-interglacial to sub-orbital timescales, yet fundamental questions remain regarding the timing, phasing, and cyclical structure of global climate fluctuations. Here we present ASM-2026, a composite of multiple high-resolution speleothem oxygen isotope (δ¹⁸O) records from the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) domain spanning the last 60 ka. Anchored by a rigorously constrained U-Th chronology (XJTU-1.0), this record resolves monsoon variability at multidecadal to millennial scales and provides robust geochronological benchmarks for correlating inter-regional climate variability. Our analysis indicates that ASM dynamic variability is only weakly linked to high-latitude ice-sheet forcing in either hemisphere, but closely tracks changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Terminations of Heinrich Stadials are consistently preceded by centennial-scale weakening of the South American monsoon, likely associated with a shift in the Antarctic Oscillation from positive to negative phase, implicating a low-latitude and/or Southern Hemisphere trigger for abrupt climate reorganization. The record contains pronounced ~4.5-ka cycle close to one-quarter of the precession period, consistent with the modulation by the equatorial insolation forcing. At multidecadal to centennial timescales, the amplitude and periodicity of variability in the ASM and Greenland climate records diminish from glacial to interglacial conditions, whereas Antarctic variability displays an opposing response, highlighting a fundamental reorganization of teleconnections and forcing pathways across climate states.
- Asian summer monsoon /
- Cave oxygen isotope record /
- The past 60,000 years /
- Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation /
- South American monsoon /
- ~4.5-ka cycle

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Cheng H., Dong X., Li H., et al. (2026). A low-latitude framework for climate variability over the last 60,000 years. The Innovation Geoscience 4:100243. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2026.100243

Cheng H., Dong X., Li H., et al. (2026). A low-latitude framework for climate variability over the last 60,000 years. The Innovation Geoscience 4:100243. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2026.100243

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A low-latitude framework for climate variability over the last 60,000 years

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