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Seawater isotope constraints on tropical hydrology during the Holocene
Author(s) -
Oppo Delia W.,
Schmidt Gavin A.,
LeGrande Allegra N.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2007gl030017
Subject(s) - holocene , oceanography , geology , salinity , precipitation , monsoon , climatology , seawater , water cycle , advection , latitude , environmental science , geography , physics , ecology , geodesy , meteorology , biology , thermodynamics
Paleoceanographic data from the low latitude Pacific Ocean provides evidence of changes in the freshwater budget and redistribution of freshwater within the basin during the Holocene. Reconstructed Holocene seawater δ 18 O changes compare favorably to differences predicted between climate simulations for the middle Holocene (MH) and for the pre‐Industrial late Holocene (LH). The model simulations demonstrate that changes in the tropical hydrologic cycle affect the relationship between δ 18 Osw and surface salinity, and allow, for the first time, quantitative estimates of western Pacific salinity change during the Holocene. The simulations suggest that during the MH, the mean salinity of the Pacific was higher because less water vapor was transported from the Atlantic Ocean and more was transported to the Indian Ocean. The salinity of the western Pacific was enhanced further due both to the greater advection of salt to the region by ocean currents and to an increase in continental precipitation at the expense of maritime precipitation, the latter a consequence of the stronger Asian summer monsoon.