The orbital-timescale dynamics of the Quaternary Asian summer monsoons (ASM) are frequently attributed to precession-dominated northern hemispheric summer insolation. However, this long-term continuous ASM variability is inferred primarily from oxygen isotope records of stalagmites, mainly from Sanbao cave in mainland China, and may not provide a comprehensive picture of ASM evolution. A new spliced stalagmite oxygen isotope record from Yangkou cave tracks summer monsoon precipitation variation from 124 to 206 thousand years ago in Chongqing, southwest China. Our Yangkou record supports that the evolution of ASM was dominated by the North Hemisphere solar insolation on orbital timescales. When superimposed on the Sanbao record, the precipitation time series referred from Yangkou cave stalagmites supports the strong ASM periods at marine isotope stages (MIS) 6.3, 6.5, and 7.1 and weak ASM intervals at MIS 6.2, 6.4, and 7.0. This consistency confirms that ASM events affected most of mainland China. Except for the solar insolation forcing, the large amplitude of minimum δ18O values in Yangkou record during glacial period, such as MIS 6.5, could stem from the enhanced prevailing Pacific trade wind and/or continental shelf exposure in the Indo–Pacific warm pool.

A stalagmite with high ²³⁸U content from Yangkou Cave, China, revealed the evolution of the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) between 49.1 and 59.5 ka, and the δ¹⁸O values recorded Dansgaard/Oeschger (D/O) events 13–17. The Yangkou record shows a relatively gradual transition into the D/O 14 and 16 events. The discrepancy between the abrupt and gradual transitions of D/O 14 in the records from northern and southern China, respectively, suggests different responses of the ASM to climate changes in the high northern latitudes. The higher resolution δ¹⁸O record and more precise ²³⁰Th dating indicate that the timing of D/O 14 and 17 in the Hulu records at 53 and 58 ka should be shifted to 54.3 and 59 ka, respectively. The gradual strengthening of the ASM at the onsets of D/O 16 and 14 in our record is different from the abrupt temperature rise in the northern high latitudes. Some other factors must contribute to this relatively gradual ASM change in southern China, but the actual reason is still unknown.

Comprehensive comparison of paleoclimate change based on records constrained by precise chronology and high-resolution is essential to explore the correlation and interaction within earth climate systems. Here, we propose a new stalagmite-based multidecadal resolved Asian summer monsoon (ASM) record spanning the past thirty-seven thousand years (ka BP, beforead1950) from Furong Cave, southwestern China. This record is consistent with the published Chinese stalagmite sequences and shows that the dominant controls of the ASM dynamics include not only insolation and solar activity but also suborbital-scale hydroclimate events in the high latitudes of the northern hemisphere, such as the Heinrich events, Bølling-Allerød (BA), and Younger Dryas (YD). Benefit from the unprecedented accurate chronology, the timings of these events are precisely dated, with uncertainties of, at most, 40 years (2σ). The onset of the weak ASM during the YD began at 12.92 ka BP and lasted for 430 years. The occurrence of the 200-yr Older Dryas during the BA period was dated from 13.87 to 14.06 ka BP. The durations of the three Heinrich (H) events, H1, H2, and H3, are 14.33–18.29, 23.77–24.48, and 28.98–30.46 ka BP, respectively. Furong record shows surprisingly variable onset transitions of 980, 210, and 40 years for the corresponding weak ASM events. These discrepancies suggest different influences of the H events on ASM dynamics. During the periods of H 1–3, the obvious difference between our Furong record and NGRIP δ¹⁸O record indicated the decoupling correlation between the mid-low latitudes and high latitudes. On the other hand, synchronous climate change in high and low latitudes suggests another possibility which different to the dominant role of Northern high latitudes in triggering global climate change. Our high quality records also indicate a plausible different correlation between the high and mid-low latitudes under glacial and inter-glacial background, especially for the ASM regimes.