Pronounced typhoon landfall imprints in the Holocene precipitation isotope record from coastal South China

Abstract Typhoon-induced heavy rainfall profoundly affects coastal society and economies, yet predicting its future remains challenging. Historical typhoon records are crucial for deciphering the mechanisms behind typhoon variability, but they seldom span the entire Holocene Epoch. Given the distinctively negative isotopic signatures of typhoon precipitation, this study examined a Holocene precipitation isotope record derived from the hydrogen isotope composition (δD) of leaf-wax n-alkanes in a lake sediment core from the South China coast to assess its potential for reflecting past typhoon activity. The reconstructed precipitation δD (δDp) values were less negative during 9.2–3.5 ka (1 ka = 1000 calendar yr B.P.) and more negative during 11.2–9.2 ka and 3.5–0 ka, showing an oscillating “negative-positive-negative” pattern. Superimposed on this pattern were millennial-scale negative excursions coinciding with North Atlantic Bond events. Unlike typical East Asian monsoon stalagmite δ18O records, we demonstrate that our δDp record reflects regional typhoon activity at millennial and multi-millennial time scales. It is likely that a weaker Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and larger El Niño amplitude synergistically resulted in stronger typhoon activity and thus more negative δDp values in coastal South China during the early and late Holocene, respectively, as well as during Bond events.