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Export Depth of the TEX 86 Signal
Author(s) -
Zhang Yi Ge,
Liu Xiaoqing
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
paleoceanography and paleoclimatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.927
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 2572-4525
pISSN - 2572-4517
DOI - 10.1029/2018pa003337
Subject(s) - geology , deep sea , pelagic zone , equator , zonal and meridional , water column , deep water , oceanography , deep ocean water , sea surface temperature , sedimentary rock , subsurface flow , waves and shallow water , surface water , climatology , paleontology , environmental science , latitude , groundwater , geodesy , geotechnical engineering , environmental engineering
TEX 86 is widely used for evaluating ancient ocean temperatures. However, the debate on the export depth of the TEX 86 signal in the water column has not been settled. Consequently, TEX 86 has been interpreted as/calibrated to surface, shallow subsurface, or deep subsurface temperatures. Here we examine the published core top TEX 86 data between 30°N and 30°S where the ocean temperatures at the surface show a clear latitudinal gradient, but not at the deep subsurface. The meridional distribution of the TEX 86 data exhibits an inverted U shape with the peak near the equator, which closely resembles the surface and shallow subsurface ocean temperature profiles. And the strongest correlation was identified between TEX 86 and sea surface temperatures. These results suggest that on the global scale, sedimentary TEX 86 is a proxy for temperatures of the epipelagic ocean less than 200 m deep.