Thorium-230 ages and oxygen isotope ratios of stalagmites from Dongge Cave, China, characterize the Asian Monsoon and low-latitude precipitation over the past 160,000 years. Numerous abrupt changes in ¹⁸ O/ ¹⁶ O values result from changes in tropical and subtropical precipitation driven by insolation and millennial-scale circulation shifts. The Last Interglacial Monsoon lasted 9.7 ± 1.1 thousand years, beginning with an abrupt (less than 200 years) drop in ¹⁸ O/ ¹⁶ O values 129.3 ± 0.9 thousand years ago and ending with an abrupt (less than 300 years) rise in ¹⁸ O/ ¹⁶ O values 119.6 ± 0.6 thousand years ago. The start coincides with insolation rise and measures of full interglacial conditions, indicating that insolation triggered the final rise to full interglacial conditions.

Monsoon Cave Recordings: Rocky deposits in caves in central China record the changes over time in the Asian Monsoon through the oxygen isotopic composition of the minerals from which they are formed. These deposits can be precisely dated and provide an absolute time line for climate system changes. Cheng et al. (p. 248 ; see the Perspective by Severinghaus ) present oxygen isotope data from speleothems collected from Sanbao Cave, China, for the three glacial terminations that occurred between 120,000 and 350,000 years ago. The data reveal variations in the amount of precipitation delivered by the Asian Monsoon over time. Comparison of the timing of these changes with corresponding changes in ice core and marine sedimentary records provides mechanistic insights into how variations in insolation affect ice sheets and ice age terminations.

Speleothem records of Indian monsoon provide climatic context to societal changes in Indian subcontinent over the last 5700 years.

Floods and megadroughts affected the Neolithic cultures in the Yangtze River Delta between 4300 and 4000 years ago.

Past precipitation water sealed in stalagmites from Switzerland gives insight into temperature changes for the past 14,000 years.