Daniel Gebregiorgis Yirgaw is a postdoctoral researcher at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean research. He is mainly working on reconstructing the physical properties (e.g. SST, SSS) of the South Asian monsoon and assessing the link between Earth's orbital cycles (Eccentricity, Obliquity, Precession cycles) and the monsoon climate.

Abtract:
Due to the lack of long-term records of surface seawater conditions from the core convective region over the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, our understanding of how the South Asian monsoon (SAM) responds to changes of the most basic boundary conditions, such as insolation and global ice volume remains very poor. Here I present the first record of surface seawater conditions from the South Asian monsoon core convective region over the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea and outline the various forcing mechanisms of the summer monsoon over orbital timescales. In the context of the broader Asian monsoon system, the independent response of the South Asian monsoon with respect to the East Asian monsoon and the role of interhemispheric insolation are discussed in detail.