Open AccessChanges in the vertical profile of the Indonesian Throughflow during Termination II: Evidence from the Timor Sea
Author(s) -
Xu Jian,
Kuhnt Wolfgang,
Holbourn Ann,
Andersen Nils,
Bartoli Gretta
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
paleoceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1944-9186
pISSN - 0883-8305
DOI - 10.1029/2006pa001278
Subject(s) - thermocline , throughflow , geology , oceanography , climatology , deglaciation , sea surface temperature , monsoon , glacial period , holocene , paleontology , soil science
We use a multiproxy approach to monitor changes in the vertical profile of the Indonesian Throughflow as well as monsoonal wind and precipitation patterns in the Timor Sea on glacial‐interglacial, precessional, and suborbital timescales. We focus on an interval of extreme climate change and sea level variation: marine isotope (MIS) 6 to MIS 5e. Paleoproductivity fluctuations in the Timor Sea follow a precessional beat related to the intensity of the Australian (NW) monsoon. Paired Mg/Ca and δ 18 O measurements of surface‐ and thermocline‐dwelling planktonic foraminifers ( G. ruber and P. obliquiloculata ) indicate an increase of >4°C in both surface and thermocline water temperatures during Termination II. Tropical sea surface temperature changed synchronously with ice volume (benthic δ 18 O) during deglaciation, implying a direct coupling of high‐ and low‐latitude climate via atmospheric and/or upper ocean circulation. Substantial cooling and freshening of thermocline waters occurred toward the end of Termination II and during MIS 5e, indicating a change in the vertical profile of the Indonesian Throughflow from surface‐ to thermocline‐dominated flow.