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Evolution and variation of the Tsushima warm current during the late quaternary: Evidence from planktonic foraminifera, oxygen and carbon isotopes

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Abstract

The evolution and variation history of the Tsushima warm current during the late Quaternary was reconstructed based on the quantitative census data of planktonic foraminiferal fauna, together with oxygen and carbon isotope records of mixed layer dweller G. ruber and thermocline dweller N. dutertrei in piston core CSH1 and core DGKS9603 collected separately from the Tsushima warm current and the Kuroshio dominated area. The result showed that the Tsushima warm current vanished in the lowstand period during 40–24 cal ka BP, while the Kuroshio still flowed across the Okinawa Trough, arousing strong upwelling in the northern Trough. Meanwhile, the influence of freshwater greatly increased in the northern Okinawa Trough, as the broad East China Sea continental shelf emerged. The freshwater reached its maximum during the last glacial maximum (LGM), when the upwelling obviously weakened for the lowest sea-level and the depression of the Kuroshio. The modern Tsushima warm current began its development since 16 cal ka BP, and the impact of the Kuroshio increased in the middle and northern Okinawa Trough synchronously during the deglaciation and gradually evolved as the main water source of the Tsushima current. The modern Tsushima current finally formed at about 8.5 cal ka BP, since then the circulation structure has been relatively stable. The water of the modern Tsushima current primarily came from the Kuroshio axis. A short-term wiggle of the current occurred at about 3 cal ka BP, probably for the influences from the enhancement of the winter monsoon and the depression of the Kuroshio. The cold water masses greatly strengthened during the wiggle.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Marine Geology and Environment, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Li TieGang, Sun RongTao, Li Qing & Jiang Bo

  2. Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, China

    Sun RongTao, Li Qing & Jiang Bo

  3. School of Resources & Environment Engineering, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo, 255049, China

    Sun RongTao

  4. The First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao, 266003, China

    Zhang DeYu & Liu ZhenXia

Authors
  1. Li TieGang
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  2. Sun RongTao
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  4. Liu ZhenXia
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  5. Li Qing
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Correspondence to Sun RongTao.

Additional information

Supported by the CAS Pilot Project of the National Knowledge Innovation Program (Project No. KZCFX3-SW-233), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 90411014 and 40506015) and International Cooperation Projects of Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Project No. 2002DFG00034) and Sino-French Joint Research Project (Project No. 40421150011)

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Li, T., Sun, R., Zhang, D. et al. Evolution and variation of the Tsushima warm current during the late quaternary: Evidence from planktonic foraminifera, oxygen and carbon isotopes. Sci. China Ser. D-Earth Sci. 50, 725–735 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-007-0003-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-007-0003-2

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