Figure 1: Data–model comparison for calcite δ¹⁸O in South Asia.

(a) Annual mean δ¹⁸O in precipitation in South Asia (~17°N–33°N and 87°E–116°E) with iLOVECLIM. (b) Same as a but for atmospheric temperature. (c) δ¹⁸O stack of benthic foraminifera (LR04) as a proxy for ice-volume changes⁴⁶. MIS denote Marine Isotopic Stages and T1–T2 denote Termination 1 and 2, respectively. (d) Comparison between annual mean calcite δ¹⁸O computed with iLOVECLIM (Methods) and Sanbao, Hulu and Dongge cave records^3,4,5 (indicated with different colours). Data and model results are shown as deviations from their respective long-term means. Speleothems U/Th control points are indicated^3,4,5. Blue arrows indicate periods of weak monsoon intervals (WMIs) at times of maximum northern hemisphere insolation^9,24. The dashed line highlights the different amplitudes of monsoon maxima during MIS 5. A low-pass filter (200 years) has been applied to the records in a) (full blue line), (b) (full red line) and (d) (full red line) that correspond to the lower resolution in speleothems. (e) ETP is constructed by normalizing and stacking Eccentricity, Tilt (obliquity) and negative Precession⁴⁷. The dashed line highlights the different amplitude of insolation maxima during MIS 5.