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Stepwise paleoceanographic changes during the last deglaciation in the southern South China Sea Records of stable isotope and microfossils

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Abstract

Quantitative analyses of microfossils and stable isotopic analysis were carried out for Core SCS-12 in the southwestern slope of the South China Sea (SCS). A high-resolution paleoceanographic record for the last 13 ka was revealed with the AMS14C dates. The southern SCS has experienced stepwise paleoceanographic changes since the last deglaciation. The oxygen isotopic stage 1/2 boundary around 12.05 ka B. P. and the end of the last deglaciation around 7.70 ka B.P. are two rapid change periods (corresponding to the terminationIa and terminationIb, respectively), in between is a slow change period. The authors infer that the sea level stood at - 110 m before the terminationIa, roughly the same as today after the termination IB, and about - 50 m in between. Subsequently, the average winter sea surface temperature and salinity obviously increased while paleo-productivity decreased since 12.05 ka B.P. The early Holocene CaCO3 preservation spike, coupled with a high abundance of pteropoda and CaCO3 content, occurred around 7.70 ka B. P.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Marine Geology of State Education Commission, Tongji University, 200092, Shanghai, China

    Zhimin Jian & Pinxian Wang

  2. Institute of Oceanography, Taiwan University, Taibei, China

    Minben Chen

  3. Institute of Marine Geology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Gaoxiong, China

    Huiling Lin

Authors
  1. Zhimin Jian
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  2. Minben Chen
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  3. Huiling Lin
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  4. Pinxian Wang
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Additional information

Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 49576286 and 49732086).

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Jian, Z., Chen, M., Lin, H. et al. Stepwise paleoceanographic changes during the last deglaciation in the southern South China Sea Records of stable isotope and microfossils. Sci. China Ser. D-Earth Sci. 41, 187–194 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02932439

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02932439

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