Holocene Climate across the ITCZ, Hainan Maar Lake records vs. NE Queensland

Abstract

The Asian/Australian monsoon is a coupled climate system through the cross-equatorial flow over the tropical Pacific-Indian Ocean and the migration of the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). We present differences and correlations between a key sites from Hainan Island (China) and the Atherton tablelands, NE Queensland (Australia). Both sites have good chronological control and have been analysed using high resolution micro- XRF. We aim to explain the significance of the 9.2 ka, the 8.2 ka, the 2.8 ka and the Little Ice Age climate events in both regional and global context and its significance on the Asian/Australian monsoon system. The following geochemical proxies including the ratios of Rb/Sr, Rb/K, Zr/Rb and Si/Ti were analysed using an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) core scanner.