Open AccessA 900 year stable isotope record of interdecadal and centennial change from the California Current
Author(s) -
Field David B.,
Baumgartner Tim R.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
paleoceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1944-9186
pISSN - 0883-8305
DOI - 10.1029/1999pa000480
Subject(s) - varve , thermocline , climatology , geology , centennial , climate change , oceanography , structural basin , holocene , current (fluid) , geography , geomorphology , sediment , archaeology
This paper describes the development of a high‐resolution record of interdecadal and centennial variability of ocean climate of the California Current from continuous 5 year sampling intervals based on varve counts from Santa Barbara Basin sediments. We show the importance of the choice of species and size fraction as well as the practice of making multiple measurements per interval to obtain a clear environmental signal capable of resolving interdecadal change. Changes in temperature and salinity from oceanographic surveys of the past 50 years indicate that thermal variability dominates the δ 18 O signal. A δ 18 O record from Neogloboquadrina dutertrei spanning 1030–1905 A.D. contains interdecadal thermal fluctuations within the upper thermocline that are centered around periods of roughly 55, 70, and 90 years. The interdecadal changes comprise the major share of total variability compared to a low‐amplitude mode of underlying multicentennial variability corresponding to the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age.