International Ocean Discovery Program
Expedition 346: Asian Monsoon
July 2013 - September 2013
Expedition 346 will core and log seven sites in the Japan Sea and one site in the northern East China Sea. The research plan is oriented toward exploring the relationships between atmospheric processes, rainfall, and oceanic processes through the study of sedimentary succession up to 5 m.y. old. Multiple timescales are targeted in order to assess climate sensitivity variations through time and space.
The main goal of Expedition 346 is to:
- reconstruct the onset and evolution of orbital- and millennial-scale variations of summer and winter monsoons, Westerly Jet position and intensity, desertification in East and Central Asia, and their interrelationships during the last 5 m.y.; and to
- test some possible linkage with the Pliocene–Pleistocene uplift of the Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau through a topographic effect.