Holocene moisture change revealed by the Rb/Sr ratio of aeolian deposits in the southeastern Mu Us Desert, China

Systematic analysis of the Rb and Sr contents and Rb/Sr ratios in different lithological units of the palaeosol-aeolian sequence in the southeastern Mu Us Desert revealed that the Rb/Sr ratio is an accurate proxy for past East Asian summer monsoonal strength and moisture change. A lower Sr content and a higher Rb/Sr ratio, chemical index of alteration (CIA), and clay and organic matter (OM) content in the palaeosol are coincident with stronger Asian summer monsoons and increased precipitation, whereas a higher Sr content and a lower Rb/Sr ratio, CIA, and clay and OM content correspond to a dry climate with weaker summer monsoonal strength. Based on these results, the history of Holocene moisture changes was reconstructed as follows: the moisture was lower before 7.5 ka and approached an optimal climate between 7.5 ka and 4.6 ka, afterwards, the climate tended to be dry. Additionally, six millennial-scale dry events were recorded at the times of ∼7.5 ka, 7.0–6.8 ka, 6.6–5.7 ka, 4.6–4.1 ka, 3.7–3.5 ka, and 3.3–2.5 ka, which were very accordant with cold phases evidenced by ice cores and deep-sea deposits in the low and high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. These were also coincident with weaker Asian summer monsoonal intervals revealed by stalagmites within the dating uncertainties, probably implying a prominent synchronism of Holocene millennial-scale climate changes in the Mu Us Desert and global climate changes.