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Changes in Deep Water Oxygenation of the South China Sea Since the Last Glacial Period
Author(s) -
Li Gang,
Rashid Harunur,
Zhong Lifeng,
Xu Xing,
Yan Wen,
Chen Zhong
Publication year - 2018
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 - 10.1029/2018gl078568
Subject(s) - oceanography , geology , last glacial maximum , north atlantic deep water , deep sea , glacial period , period (music) , benthic zone , circumpolar deep water , deep water , stadial , climatology , holocene , paleontology , physics , acoustics
The Pacific meridional overturning circulation is thought to have a significant influence on global climate. However, the extent to which intermediate and deep circulations have changed in the Pacific Ocean since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) is not well known. At present, the South China Sea Deep Water (SCSDW) is fed by the upper Pacific Deep Water. Here we present new benthic foraminiferal δ 13 C and redox‐sensitive elemental data from a sediment core retrieved from the southern deep SCS to reconstruct the oxygenation history of the SCSDW since the LGM. Oxygenation records from the deep SCS and intermediate and deep waters in the Pacific Ocean demonstrate that the SCSDW deeper than 1,600 m has been sourced by the Pacific Deep Water since the LGM. Our data suggest that the well‐ventilated North Pacific Intermediate Water would not have influenced the SCSDW during cold stadials of the last deglacial period.