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Comparison of modern pollen distribution between the northern and southern parts of the South China Sea

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Abstract

The authors conducted a palynological analysis based on different number of air pollen samples for the northern and southern parts of the South China Sea, respectively, in order to give a reference to reconstruct the paleoclimate of the area. (1) Fifteen air pollen samples were collected from the northern part of the South China Sea from August to September 2011, and 13 air pollen samples were collected from the southern part of the South China Sea in December 2011. The pollen types were more abundant in the north than in the south. The total pollen number and concentration in the north was 10 times more than that in the south, which may be because of the sampling season. Airborne pollen types and concentrations have a close relationship with wind direction and distance from the sampling point to the continent. (2) Seventy-four samples were collected from surface sediments in the northern part of the South China Sea in the autumn. Thirty-three samples were collected from surface sediments in the southern part of the South China Sea in the winter. Pollen concentrations in the north were nearly 10 times higher than that in the south. This is because trilete spores are transported by rivers from Hainan Island to the sea and also by the summer monsoon-forced marine current. (3) Ten air pollen samples and 10 surface sediments samples were selected for comparison. The pollen and spores in the air were mainly herbaceous and woody pollen, excluding fern spores, having seasonal pollen characteristics. Pollen in the surface sediments were mainly trilete, Pinus, and herbaceous, and may also show a combination of annual pollen characteristics.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (no. 2013CB956102), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants NSFC 91228207, 41176049, and 41376058), and the open research fund of the Key Laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanography, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

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  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 164 Xingang Xilu, Guangzhou, 510301, China

    Chuanxiu Luo, Muhong Chen, Rong Xiang, Jianguo Liu, Lanlan Zhang & Jun Lu

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  1. Chuanxiu Luo
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  2. Muhong Chen
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Correspondence to Chuanxiu Luo.

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Luo, C., Chen, M., Xiang, R. et al. Comparison of modern pollen distribution between the northern and southern parts of the South China Sea. Int J Biometeorol 59, 397–415 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-014-0852-2

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