Effect of Yunnan-Guizhou topography at the southeastern Tibetan Plateau on the Indian monsoon

Topographic insulation is one of the primary origins for the influence of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) on Asian climate. The Yunnan-Guizhou (YG) Plateau, at the southeastern margin of the TP, is known to block the northern branch of the Indian monsoon circulation in summer. However, it is an open question whether this blocking feeds back to the monsoon. In this study, the effect of the YG topography on the Indian monsoon and its comparison with that of the TP were evaluated using general circulation model experiments. The results showed that the TP strengthens the monsoon precipitation, especially during the onset. However, the YG topography significantly weakens the monsoon. With the YG topography, strengthened low-level airflow around the YG Plateau induces anomalous anticyclonic winds to the southwest, and the changes remodulate the whole circulation structure over Asia. As a result, the Indian monsoon becomes weakened from the Bay of Bengal to the Indian subcontinent and Arabian Sea, as does the associated precipitation. In addition, the YG topography affects the anomalous warming center over the TP and the precipitation during the monsoon onset. The YG-reduced summer precipitation occupied approximately one-third of the total increment compared to the entire TP. The Indian monsoon weakened by YG topography distinctly opposes the traditional paleoclimatic viewpoint that all of the TP topography contributes to the monsoon strengthening. In fact, the climatic effect of the TP depends closely upon both its central and marginal topography, and the topography of its subterrains does not necessarily play a similar role.