Work

Influence of the western Pacific warm pool and East Asian climate on late Holocene typhoon activities affecting Taiwan

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Reconstructing paleo-typhoon activity in East Asia is essential for understanding long-term changes in cyclone frequency and intensity under ongoing anthropogenic warming. This study investigates high-resolution laminated sediments from Core MD18-3574, retrieved from the western levee of the Gaoping submarine canyon (southern Taiwan), using hyperspectral imaging, XRF core scanning, grain-size analysis, bulk mineralogy, and radiocarbon dating to reconstruct typhoon events over the past 4200 years. The core displays alternating dark and light laminae. Dark laminae consist of coarser, quartz- and feldspar-rich sediments with lower clay content and low log(Fe/Ca) ratios, showing upward fining and asymmetric sorting, consistent with deposition by hyperpycnal flows within the canyon associated with extreme river floods mainly attributed to typhoon-related events. A total of 2404 dark laminae are interpreted mainly as deposits induced by the most intense typhoon events. The frequency of the most intense typhoons in southern Taiwan varies between ∼8 and 40 events per 40 years, with reduced activity during the periods 3300–2500 and 1800–400 cal yr BP, which coincide with time intervals with enhanced El Niño relative to La Niña-like conditions. In contrast, relative increases of La Niña-like conditions favor more frequent typhoons in southern Taiwan. Typhoon intensity remained stable until ∼1800 cal yr BP, then increased, likely in response to elevated western tropical Pacific SSTs. Comparison with regional typhoon records reveals ENSO-driven spatial patterns. El Niño conditions shift cyclone genesis eastward inducing an increasing tendency for typhoon tracks to recurve northward reducing frequency in southern Taiwan but increasing it in southern Japan and Korea. La Niña conditions promote westward genesis and zonal typhoon trajectories inducing higher frequency of less intense typhoons in the SCS. Overall, these results indicate a decoupling between typhoon frequency and intensity in southern Taiwan, controlled by interactions between ENSO and SST variability. They also provide new insights into past tropical cyclone behavior and contribute to the forecasting of typhoon hazards under changing climate conditions.

Source: Quaternary Science Reviews

DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.110282