Abstract
The Arizona monsoon, a major source of precipitation in the Southwest, shares many features with the monsoons of other continents. Computer modeling and fossil data indicate maximum extent of the African and Asian monsoons 9000 years ago. Fossil data indicate increased summer precipitation 9000 years ago, synchronous with the maxima of the African and Asian monsoons and, paradoxically, with the early-Holocene xerothermic of the Pacific Northwest. Climate model runs for 6000, 9000, 11,500, 13,000, and 18,000 years ago indicate increased summer precipitation 9000 years ago and a reciprocal relationship between precipitation in the Northwest and Southwest, but they relegate insolation to a role secondary to the North American ice sheet in regulating climate, and suggest a non-monsoon source for much of the summer precipitation in the Southwest prior to 9000 years ago.
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