Abstract
In this paper, we reviewed and discussed the recent progress and perspectives mentioned in the research of paleo Asian monsoon activities from the records of loess-paleosol sequences and lacustrine sediments in East Asia. Loess-paleosol sequences and lacustrine sediments in East Asia have been recorded terrestrial environmental changes associated with East Asian monsoon activities since the beginning of Quaternary. The researches to reconstruct the activities of paleo East Asian monsoon started in 1982 by Heller and Liu (1982), and has been stored much information on the formation and variability of the monsoon in the last two decades. Onset of loess deposition might begin in 2.6 Ma, and after that the fluctuations of the monsoon activities have been reflected the glacial-interglacial cycles controlled by the Milankovitch forcing. Also, the millennial time-scale variation of the monsoon activities can be recognized in the last glacial time. The recent research on Red Clay underlying the loess-paleosol sequence may point out that the formation of the monsoon activities dates back to 7 or 8 Ma.
