Open AccessHigh‐resolution U K 37 temperature reconstructions in the South China Sea over the past 220 kyr
Author(s) -
Pelejero Carles,
Grimalt Joan O.,
Heilig Stephanie,
Kienast Markus,
Wang Luejiang
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
paleoceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1944-9186
pISSN - 0883-8305
DOI - 10.1029/1998pa900015
Subject(s) - interglacial , geology , glacial period , alkenone , oceanography , sea surface temperature , younger dryas , climatology , holocene , last glacial maximum , marine isotope stage , latitude , paleontology , geodesy
Past sea surface temperatures (SST) in the northern and southern areas of the South China Sea have been reconstructed for the past 220 kyr using the U K 37 alkenone index. The SST profiles follow the glacial/interglacial pattern exhibiting differences between Last Glacial Maximum and Holocene that are 1°–3°C larger than those observed at the same latitudes in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In Termination I both planktonic foraminiferal δ 18 O and SST exhibit well‐defined Bølling‐Allerød and Younger Dryas events with temperature differences between both periods of 0.8° and 0.4°C in north and south, respectively. SSTs record a constant north‐south difference of 1°C in the interglacials and nearly 2.5°C in the glacial stages. These differences define two distinct climatic and water circulation patterns that correspond with glacial/interglacial sea level oscillations which opened and closed water exchange with the tropical Indo‐Pacific Ocean through the present Sunda Shelf.