Precipitation in the Yellow River drainage basin and East Asian monsoon strength on a decadal time scale

Paleomonsoon strength is difficult to reconstruct. The strength of the East Asian monsoon and precipitation over large areas correlate well on a decadal time scale. Thus, monsoon strength can be reconstructed through proxies of sediments originating from large areas. In the present study, we investigated the characteristics of a sediment core from the Northern Yellow Sea Mud. The results showed that sedimentary characteristics are mainly controlled by discharge changes of the Yellow River. The relationships between median grain size (MZ), magnetic susceptibility (MS) and the SiO2/Al2O3 ratio of sediments and spatially averaged precipitation around the Yellow River Drainage basin reveal that changes in MZ and MS are correlated with variation in precipitation. The agreement of temporal trends in MZ, MS and the monsoon strength index confirm that spatially averaged precipitation changes in the Yellow River Drainage basin on decadal time scale are driven by the monsoon strength. These characteristics of marine sediments from the Northern Yellow Sea Mud can thus be used as proxies for monsoon strength.